Apologize greatly for the lack of updates. Been extremely busy with work and such but found this deal that is too hard to pass. Especially since the original spot was my second review.

Head on over to Scoutmob for this deal, I’m going to try it out personally tomorrow.

http://scoutmob.com/new-york/today/2011-12-06

27 Sunshine
46 Bowery
New York, NY 10013
212-374-1319

Waiters: patient and welcoming.
We had to wait for my brother to park his car, so we took a long time to order and decide what to eat, and we weren’t rushed.

Food was excellent. We had to ask the waiter for recommendations, and he was happy to describe the dishes. A little fact: Traditional Chinese like to order 6 or 8 dishes, not 7 when ordering family style. Why? for luck.

Dishes:
Fried tofu with sliced conch and green vegetables: Dip the conch either in shrimp paste or soy sauce (shrimp paste is a little more salty). Dip tofu in sauce. Conch was the perfect texture, not overcooked. Tofu could have been a little more golden/crispy.

Sunshine Restaurant famous fried rice:  It was pretty tasty. Many bits of foods in here, or shall I say leftover scrap. I usually don’t like to order fried rice because someone who worked in the kitchen said, its just soy sauce and leftover scrap meat and rice. The little crunchies, however, did make the rice tasty, but definitely not worth $13.

Dou Miao (Snow pea shoots): Waiter will ask if you want to stir fry with garlic or boiled with flavored soup. We usually do the soup.

Deep fried spare ribs: Tasty, crunchy. Too salty, and too much fat.

Ja Jee Gai: Crispy fried chicken filled with garlic and soy sauce flavor. Skin is paper thin. DELICIOUS! This dish can go wrong if the meat is too hard, but it was tender!

Deep fried Sea bass: As you can tell, we love unhealthy fried food. I normally don’t like to order fish because it is expensive, by the pound, and a fish can end up to be $45. However, our parents love fish. The outside crunch is nothing but delicious saltiness. The bones are very long, so sucking the meat in between the bones is the best part because it tastes like fat. I’m sure there’s some healthy omega-3 there.

And there you have it. The oranges were Americanized because they skinned it and sliced it and laid out with pretty toothpicks, so that you won’t have to use our hands. Either way works for me.

Should have posted this in the summer but the lovely Banh Mi Saigon has moved right around the corner to 198 Grand St. New York NY.

Same great sandwich but at a more roomier place. The jewelery store moved as well.

Tasty Hand Pull Noodles Inc.
1 Doyers St.
New York, NY 10013
212-791-1817

Noodles are my favorite Chinese dish, whether it be in broth, pan fried or even rice crepes. I had high expectations heading in to this place. A fellow reader told me about it last summer! Sorry I never had a chance to try them out (Pat).

The restaurant is located on a famous block in Chinatown with historical significance. Several scenes from Chow Yun Fat’s The Corruptor was filmed there. Okay, back to noodles. The restaurant is not very big, but for a hand pulled noodle place, its quite large because I’m used to real hole in the wall joints.

My noodles were quite bouncy and tasty, the broth was not overly salty which was a major plus. There are too many places where the broth is just MSG and water. I love how they give cilantro on the side so you can have as much as you want because often I feel that there’s not enough cilantro.

Buddha Bodai
5 Mott St.
New York, NY 10013
212-566-8388
http://www.buddha-bodai.com

I’m not a vegetarian, in fact, I’m probably the furthest from one. I love a thick steak or juicy burger anytime. But this place had some really good fake meats.

This is my first experience at a vegetarian restaurant. I’ve tried vegetarian dishes before but always crave meats after consumption. I guess its the lack of enough protein in my meal, however at Buddha Bodai I came out very full and satisfied.

Started off with the corn soup. It is made in the style of the ying yang where the dark portion is spinach. I felt the soup was kind of bland in taste but low sodium is what’s in right?

I wasn’t as impressed by the “char siu” meat. The texture did not feel like real meat nor tasted like char siu. The fried tofu was fantastic. Its a must order.

Finally, my favorite was the stir fried noodles with beef slices. The noodles had very nice texture and for a second I thought the beef slices were real.

Peking Duck House
28  Mott Street
New York, NY 10013
212-227-1810
http://www.pekingduckhousenyc.com

I guess I expected too much from a restaurant that specializes in Peking Duck. When I studied abroad in China, I went to the original Peking Duck house in Beijing. The restaurant served famous people such as Dr. Sun Yat-Sun and Mao Zedong. Perhaps you can say I was spoiled but I didn’t see what was so special about the duck there.

The house special Peking Duck dinner at Peking Duck House is too much. At $35 per head for a duck plus two entrees for four people. That means its $140 for a duck,  two dishes some hot and sour soup and dessert. Pretty ridiculous for a restaurant on Mott St. (I have a feeling the deal is for people who don’t know better.)

If you want to visit the restaurant, then just get dishes and share it family style, including the duck by itself. It’s much better deal and you get more ‘real’ food. Our group was split in half, so I had the chance to experience both. I really enjoyed the walnut shrimps because the shrimps were gigantic. Amazingly, I enjoyed the General Tsao’s Chicken and Sweet and Sour fried pork chops. The sesame chicken was not as good but really what is the difference?

There are extra seating downstairs in case you think its a full house. Decor is pretty modern and clean, they allow you to BYOB so you can get quite tipsy for cheap.

Lunch Box Buffet / 5 Combinations
195 Centre St.
New York, NY 10013

Right down the block from MOCA is one of the biggest rice box combination restaurant I’ve ever seen.

For $4 you can get a takeout box with 3 dishes, rice and a soup.  Dine in is 50 cents more. Guess this is not really a “buffet”. There is a huge number of different dishes at this place. I’m not going to name them all, but just take a look at the pictures. Surprisingly many tourists know about this spot, probably because it’s right off Canal St.

Museum of Chinese in America
215 Centre St.
New York, NY 10013
212-619-4785
http://www.mocanyc.org/

I got an opportunity to visit this museum for free (courtesy of Target free Thursdays) on a sunny afternoon. This museum was on top of my to-go list for a while.

The museum itself is quite small, although I heard that the old site was even smaller. Upon entry the museum is partitioned off to a few room. There’s a wall with influential Chinese Americans and on it you will find Yahoo’s Jerry Yang, the first Chinese governor Gary Locke. Rapper Jin the MC is placed right next to Bruce Lee which was one interesting juxtaposition.

You will find old movie posters of Caucasian Hollywood actors playing Chinese guys with the fumanchu mustache. Another interesting artifact is a little booklet for U.S. troops to use during World War 2 in the Pacific. There is a wall with old immigration documents from the late 1800 to early 1900′s, I didn’t even know so many Chinese people immigrated to the U.S. at that time. Check out all my pictures for a good sense of what the museum is about.

I think this museum is a must see for every Chinese American. Especially since it is free on Thursdays.

Corner of Canal St & Elizabeth St
New York, NY 10079

I have literally been their fan for over 15 years! Back then they use to occupy the current visitor center by Baxter and Canal St. There use to be a couple of food carts there but this couple made the best chicken wings. Back then $1 got you 4 delicious wings.

I’m so glad they prevailed when the city kicked the carts out from the triangle island. It’s a bit more expensive now but still very reasonable. Going there brings back a lot of good memories.

They’re at a very high traffic location so there is no reason why you should not try it out.

Columbus Park

67 Mulberry Street
New York, NY 10013

This little park in the heart of Chinatown is a good microcosm of the retired life. On any given day, the park is occupied with clusters of senior citizens around the tables. You might wonder why everyone is huddled around the tables. Turns out they’re playing Chinese chess.

The game can get intense and crowds can get as big as 30 strong. If you just bought some street food, say from the Chinese Couple Vendor on Canal St, you can take it to this park and watch the interesting people.