Jing Fong Review: Jing Fong is for chicken feet eaters
If you follow stuff like Yelp or whatever (and I’m not even giving them a linkback), those haters would have you believe that no good dim sum is to be had on the island of Manhattan. Man, there’s nothing more I dislike than haters. This blog is a no-hater zone. Please. Only happy people for this blog. If you eat chicken feet when you go to dim sum, how in the world can you not like Jing Fong? I know some people think it’s ‘expensive’ on that discussion board, but unless you’ve been to a dim sum joint by yourself and spent over $20 dollars by yourself… how often do you spend more than $10 per head at dim sum when you go with a few friends? How is that expensive? Goodness people.
Jing Fong is located in the heart of Chinatown, and it is pretty impossible to just walk in and get a seat on a Sunday at twelve. It is always packed. It’s probably a good idea to go either around 11 am or around 1 pm. There are other places in ctown where you can casually stroll in at 12:10 and find a seat, but we’ll cover that another time. If you’re really in a hurry, the hint is that it is under the bridge.
My favorite thing at dim sum is probably chicken feet and you have to get it at Jing Fong. Look, if you’re NOT going to eat chicken feet, WHY ARE YOU GOING TO DIM SUM ANYWAY? STOP CLOGGING UP THE PLACE ON SUNDAYS. k. thx. Wow, I am snarky today. The second favorite thing is these taro thingy that is meat-filled, and then it’s fried. It’s got these delicate and crispy stuff on top. It is heaven in taro form. My friends love it too, sometimes we get a plate for each head at the table. Gluttons? Duh. You only die once people. Eat it up.
The set up at Jing Fong is pretty generic. Big banquet hall, lots of round tables, and you generally share it with strangers. Then there are carts that come around and there’s food in the carts. If you are one of those fussy people that need to know exactly what is in a dish… well, you better have your Cantonese ready. It’s great though. You see your share of tourists therefore I believe if a tourist can navigate through the food, any New Yorker can do it.
For certain dishes, you have to walk up to the table they got set up for of in the middle of the room. Example, if you want turnip cakes, then you have to go up there and get it yourself, no carts for those. It is good because you see that they make it fresh for you. There’s a bunch of random stuff up there like vegetables and I think clams. And also this lotus root thing that I cannot describe. Slightly crunchy, but probably not worth your time. The one they they kind of lack at Jing Fong is chive pockets. The literal translation from mandarin is like chives box. But uh, I am pretty sure that’s not the real name. There probably are better places in Flushing, and other places deeper in ctown where they speak even less English, but this is pretty good. I walked by Chinatown Brasserie the other day and looked inside. Call me a racist, but dim sum just feels more authentic when the ambiance is right, and by right I do not mean the Soho crowd.
Jing Fong20 Elizabeth Street.New York, NY 10013212-964-5256
Posted by Danny on October 16, 2007 at 3:47 am
After two months of being a parent, I can say that it doesn’t get any easier! The food blogging pretty much has stopped but it’s nice to take… [more]
0 comments
April 1, 2016 at 2:26 am 
I am a dad now! It’s only been about a month, and it’s as surreal to write that now was it was when my son first came into the world. Being… [more]
2 comments
February 29, 2016 at 2:27 am 
For the food loving couple that’s hobbled by the exclamation of, “I’m getting too old for this,” there’s some usefulness in food courts…. [more]
0 comments
January 10, 2016 at 1:12 am 
When the semester cycles to an end, my brain basically cannot fit everything all in, and that’s why the blog has really suffered. My plan for the… [more]
0 comments
December 31, 2015 at 8:39 pm 
The other day wifey and I woke up at 3 am and took the train into the city. Weather had not yet turned cold. It wasn’t the kind of wind that would… [more]
0 comments
November 30, 2015 at 9:54 pm