NYC Events: Taste of Chinatown 2006

P was right all along (although I'd never admit it to his face). This had been an insane idea. It started with me wanting to go to the Taste of Chinatown's 5-hour "eating marathon" last Saturday.

This event was created by Asian Women In Business (AWIB) as a way to bring business back to Chinatown after the devastation of 9/11. Obviously, it has been a tremendous success which is why it is now a permanent bi-annual community event, taking place in the Spring and Fall. People flock to Chinatown on this day to taste and explore a dozen Asian cuisines from over 50 restaurants (51 this Spring), tea houses, bakeries and specialty food shops. Each restaurant becomes a "Tasting Station" and offer a menu with plates of their best dishes at the set price of $1 or $2.
For this price, my goal was to try at least 15 restaurants. "Are you freaking nuts?!!" P guffawed. "You and S would both blow up and burst!" "Harrummph!!!" I snorted, slightly peeved that I was being made fun of. So S and I were out of the apartment by 12 noon to prove him WRONG!
Our first stop was Jaya Malaysian (90 Baxter St.) Here, we tried the flavorful Malaysian Curry Noodles (shown). They also had Stuffed Bean Curd, Singapore Fried Rice and Pineapple Fried Rice.

The second stop was Chanoodle Express ( 79 Mulberry St.) wherein we tried the Curry Fish Balls and Peking Duck in Steamed Bun (shown). The steamed bun's dough was semi-sweet, pretty much like our "Siopao" back home. Also offered was Fried Rice, Lo Mein, Spring Rolls, Vegetable Dumplings, Sesame Chicken and General Tso's Chicken. I was hoping to try the Fried Squid but it wasn't ready yet when we dropped by. Too bad. We couldn't spare a few minutes of waiting - gotta move on to the next one...
Third stop was the Mandarin Court (61 Mott St.) where I got to taste one of the most delicious Fried Shrimp Dumplings (shown seconds before being devoured by S) I have ever tried. It was 2 dumplings for a dollar and we had to come back for seconds since 1 each simply wasn't enough. They also had Steamed Roast Pork Buns, Sticky Rice and Chicken in Lotus Leaves, Spring Rolls, Jin Dui (Deep Fried Sesame Balls) and Vegetable Dumplings.


We got Roast Duck (shown) and Pork Fried Rice (shown) at our 4th stop, the Big Wong Restaurant (67 Mott St.). Their menu stated that they were supposed to have Roast Pig - but not a snout I see. We skipped the BBQ Spare Ribs. Neeexxxt...
By this time, S wanted to chomp on something familiar. So the 5th stop was at Eastern Villa Restaurant (66 Mott St.) where she had an order of Fried Chicken Wings (shown) whilst I had the Chicken with Mixed Veggies (shown). We were filling up fast, so the Sweet-n-Sour Ribs, Buffalo Chicken, Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup, and Sliced Crispy Fillet Steak didn't appeal to us anymore.
We decided to split a small egg custard for dessert and then call it quits. Not so fast... When we passed by East Ocean Seafood (53 Bayard St.), we saw hordes of people gathering around their table. Curious, we stopped by to see what the big fuss was all about. It's their crunchy Fried Fish(shown)! It was selling out like hotcakes, with people ordering faster than it can be doled out. No wonder - the batter was very light, like tempura, and very tasty! Forget dessert - we had this instead. Thus, our 6th stop. Other dishes available was Seafood Rolls, Moshu Pork Rolls and Mixed Mushroom Stir-Fry.

A brief 7th Stop was at the Moon House Restaurant where we got intrigued by a warm, slightly sticky drink with some glutinous stuff in it (shown). "Fungus". The vendor volunteered. "It's sweet". He added. As if that would make it more palatable. Whatever - our goal was to "explore" anyway. So S and I shared a cup. Not bad - though I had to consciously ward off thoughts of Athletes Foot while drinking this.
Our 8th and last stop was the Egg Custard King (76 Mott St) where we got blindsided by more Fishballs and Singapore Mei Fun. I preferred their fishball's brown, slightly spicy sauce sauce more than the curry one I tried earlier. Their Mei Fun was bland, though. Cannolis? No thank you. I was stuffed to my throat at this moment and gladly conceded defeat. I didn't even take pictures of our last stop for fear of heaving at the sight of more food. Today, I stand guilty of committing one of the seven deadly sins - GLUTTONY.
We paused for a brief moment to enjoy a dragon dance, then hauled ourselves (plus about 3 pounds of added belly weight) home. In fairness to the the other 43 Tasting Stations that I didn't mention, the link below has a list of all the participating restaurants in this event . Burp...

LINK: http://www.explorechinatown.com/Gui/Special.aspx?Page=TOC2006A