New Chao Chow Restaurant Review: New Chao Chow
You know what I love? A good marriage. No seriously, what else is better than an excuse to drink and eat cake? At Food in Mouth, that is what we are about, alcohol and sweets. Wow, what kind of example am I setting here? The other day an invitation came in the mail for my friend Linda’s wedding. On the response card there is a place to select beef, chicken, scallops, or vegetarian. We all know how I feel about vegetarians. Last year when Jonathan (you know, the guy who wrote about Andrzej Grill) got married, he did not give anyone a choice. I like that. Life is awesome when you can remove the paradox of choice. So I am deciding between beef and scallops. What say you, dear readers? Oh, speaking of marriages, let me talk about the marriage of duck and wontons, a match that will make you weep with tears of joy. (The kind of tears you shed when you realized what the internet is for…)
Lemme tell you, this place has pedigree. Two years ago, Ed Levine exclaimed that New Chao Chow had the best wonton soup in Chinatown. I went, and he was spot on with his recommendation. I have gone many times in the last two years just to get the wonton soup. A short while back, Kathy of A Passion for Food talked about New Chao Chow too. My friend Ming told me that any time you hear “Chao Chow” or “Chaozhou”, GET THE DUCK. Well my friends, wonton + duck = well, you know.
I got the Cha Chow Duck Noodle Soup and added wontons for a dollar. Price? $6 with tip. Seriously. It was ridiculously cheap and delicious. One of the best things about New Chao Chow is that the broth is seriously yummy. They used to have turnip/daikon cubes in the soup, along with bean sprouts and green onions. The turnip part was missing last time but the broth was still good. At most other places, wimpy soup accompanies wontons, but not here. Here the soup actually has flavor and mmmmmm, who does not love that? The wonton is meaty and not too small. The proportion of filling to wonton wrapper is good.
Another great part about New Chao Chow is that they have three different kinds of condiments (read: hot sauce) at the table. There is a bright red kind that you see often in Chinatown, you can skip that unless it is your fav. There is a second that has actual chilis in there, and if you go for that kind of stuff, awesome. But there is a third that is not too spicy and has some shacha. The thing to do is get yourself some of that, and dip your wontons in it. Mmmmmmmm… And they know it is good because when you sit down, they give you chopsticks, soup spoon, and a tiny saucer for sauce. Most places will not do that automatically but here? They know what is up. Do yourself a favor and try the sauce.
And the duck? The duck is delicious. Slightly more ducky than some other lame ducks out there in c-town. Wow, this is why I got a three on AP English in HS and stopped writing term papers soon after entering college. How pathetic am I? Anyway, the duck really is good but I think the broth kind of dilutes it somewhat. Next time, I will just get the wonton soup, skip the noodles, but get duck on the side. Yup, that is the move.
New Chao Chow Restaurant111 Mott Street .New York, NY 10079212-226-2590
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