Manhattan Chinatown food guide: dim sum, dumplings and bakeries

Manhattan's Chinatown is one of the oldest and best places to eat in New York, a dense grid of streets below Canal Street full of dim sum halls, dumpling counters, noodle shops, bakeries and fruit stands. Cantonese and Fujianese cooking lead the way, with Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Malaysian and other Southeast Asian food mixed in. It is also one of the best neighborhoods in the city for eating well on a small budget.

Where is Chinatown in Manhattan?

Manhattan's Chinatown sits in Lower Manhattan, around and south of Canal Street, close to the Lower East Side, Little Italy and the courthouses near Foley Square. Mott Street is often called its unofficial main street, and the short, curving lanes nearby, including Doyers Street, are some of the oldest in the area. Canal Street is the busy commercial edge. Several subway lines stop at Canal Street, so it is easy to reach. New York has two other big Chinatowns, in Flushing, Queens and along Eighth Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

What is the history of Manhattan's Chinatown?

Chinese immigrants settled in this part of Lower Manhattan in the second half of the nineteenth century. The neighborhood grew sharply in the 1960s and 1970s, when many Cantonese-speaking families arrived from Guangdong Province and Hong Kong. Later waves brought Fujianese families and their cooking. Today Manhattan's Chinatown is the smallest by population of the city's three major Chinatowns, but it remains the borough's go-to place for Chinese food.

What should you eat in Chinatown?

What	What to look for
Dim sum	Dumplings, buns and small plates, traditionally eaten in the morning and early afternoon
Dumplings	Pan-fried and boiled dumplings, often sold by the piece or by the plate
Cantonese barbecue	Roast duck, roast pork and barbecue pork hanging in shop windows
Noodles	Hand-pulled noodles, wonton noodle soup and rice noodle rolls
Bakery buns	Barbecue pork buns, egg tarts, pineapple buns and sesame balls
Fujianese dishes	Fish balls, peanut noodles and other home-style dishes
Pho and banh mi	Vietnamese noodle soup and sandwiches

How does dim sum work?

Dim sum is a Cantonese meal of small dishes eaten with tea. At larger restaurants you order from a paper checklist or from carts wheeled between tables; at smaller places you order from a menu. Plates are shared, so go with a group and order a few rounds. Classic dishes include shrimp dumplings, pork and shrimp dumplings, barbecue pork buns, rice noodle rolls and egg tarts. Weekend late mornings are the busiest time, so expect to wait in line.

Nom Wah Tea Parlor on Doyers Street, which has served dim sum for more than a century, is one of the neighborhood's best-known institutions and a good place to start if you have never had dim sum.

How do you plan a Chinatown food crawl?

The best way to eat in Chinatown is in small portions at several places rather than one big meal. Start with dim sum or dumplings in the late morning, pick up a barbecue pork bun or an egg tart from a bakery, stop for a bowl of noodles or a plate of roast duck over rice, and finish with fresh fruit from one of the stands on the street. Share everything so you have room for the next stop. Weekday mornings are calmer than weekends, and many bakeries sell out of their most popular buns by the afternoon.

Is it worth visiting Flushing and Sunset Park too?

If you love Chinese food, yes. Flushing, in northern Queens, is a large, busy commercial center with food from many regions of China. Sunset Park's Chinatown, along Eighth Avenue in Brooklyn, grew from the mid-1980s as Cantonese-speaking immigrants settled there, and it has kept growing since. Both are a subway ride from Manhattan and make a good second trip once you know Mott Street.

How do you order at a Chinatown bakery or barbecue shop?

At a bakery, take a tray and tongs if they are offered, pick what you want from the cases and pay at the counter. Many bakeries also sell buns and tarts from behind the glass, so point and ask. At a barbecue shop, you order roast meats by the portion or by weight, to take home or over rice for a quick lunch. Tell the staff whether you want it chopped.

Is Chinatown good for cheap eats?

Yes. Dumplings, noodle soups, barbecue over rice and bakery buns are some of the best-value meals in Manhattan, and portions are usually generous. Many places are casual counters where you order, pay and eat quickly. Some smaller shops are cash only or have a card minimum, so carry a little cash.

At a sit-down restaurant, tip your server 18 to 20 percent, as you would elsewhere in New York; tips are not usually included in the check. At a counter where you order and collect your own food, a tip is optional. New York City sales tax on restaurant food is 8.875 percent, added to the menu prices on your check. Tax rates can change, so check if you are budgeting closely.

What else can you combine with Chinatown?

• The Lower East Side, just east, for bagels, delis and bars.
• Little Italy and Nolita, just north, for cannoli and pizza.
• The Brooklyn Bridge, a short walk south and east, for a walk off the dumplings.

Chinatown rewards repeat visits; every block has something new to try. On Mosey you can rate the places you eat and the dishes you order, with photos, keep a list of dumpling shops and bakeries to try next, and follow friends to see what they ordered.

More guides to read next:

• How to get a reservation at a hard-to-book New York restaurant
• Eating late in New York: what is open after midnight
• Cheap eats and lunch in Midtown Manhattan: where locals actually go

More in the US food guides and the ranked lists of places.