Cooking by the Book is a short fifteen minute walk from Chinatown in New York City. Chinatown is just what you might imagine: a maze of winding streets lined with shops and restaurants. Except it is more. Because those shops and restaurants aren’t just Chinese anymore. There are Japanese candy stores, Thai restaurants, and Southeast Asian markets that are the best in the city. It’s a treasure chest.
Brian and I, of course, have favorite restaurants, ones that offer the ultimate in Chinese regional cuisines. And Thai, too. Sometimes, like tonight, I skip the favorites and experiment with a new place, hoping to find another jewel. Real life is not the movies. Not all real life experiments work.
ABC restaurant at 34 Pell Street is at the end of a small byway famous for excellent restaurants. I tried fried dumplings, sweet and sour pork, and chicken fried rice.
The dumplings were the toughest I have ever eaten. And, air is not a culinary filling. There was very little inside.
The pork had a great sauce but these were economy pieces of pork, ones that Chinese might be used to but not Americans. I would have needed an ice crusher to extract the meat.
The fried rice was flat and there was no soy sauce on the table.
When I left, I noticed that they had graciously added a 20% tip for themselves, but left the tip line available on the credit card slip so I could decide — or I could error — to add additional money.
I declined the additional tip. I will decline to ever return.
Now, Pell Street has great food. In mid-block, you will find Joe’s Ginger. It has subtly balanced food, gracious staff, and they leave the tipping to you. It’s the perfect stop for you in Chinatown. ABC is not.