UrbanCaffeine

NYC Blog #30 - Joe’s Shanghai

Added 2023-01-10 15:00:02 +0000 UTC

In case you never go out of your home, the weather in January is FRIGID. And frigid weather calls for warm food. The best thing to eat during this time of year in New York are soup dumplings.

Like everything else, there are so many places to get soup dumplings in the city. A dependable option is Joe’s Shanghai. The restaurant is in Chinatown on Bowery Street. They don’t make reservations and the wait can be up to 45 minutes. But the soup dumplings are so good that this is the only place in New York I’m willing to wait for a seat for food.

The wait process is an experience as well. You place your name with the host and you are given a ticket with a number. There’s no wait room so people just stand outside on the sidewalk with their ticket in hand. The host will come out and yell to the sidewalk crowd the number being seated. Luckily, there’s a Japanese bistro next door that has outdoor tables where you can get drinks while you wait. You’ll be able to listen for the numbers being called out from this bistro’s tables.

As for the dumplings themselves, they are worth the wait. I would recommend the pork dumplings over the seafood ones. There’s something about the broth that’s not too rich and perfectly seasoned. This says a lot since I usually eat vegan.

The service is super fast and the meal is quite affordable (for New York). I once took a couple people who were fresh New Yorkers and they were shocked at how cheap the bill was after we ordered a king’s meal.