This restaurant was opened in 2013 by personnel from the defunct South China Garden, which used to be around the corner on Mott St. The portions are large and the food is delicious. This is in the estimation of many people the best Cantonese restaurant in Chinatown right now, and best to go to with at least a couple of friends and a big appetite, so that you can share a few dishes. If you like chicken, get the garlic fried chicken, which is one of their standout dishes.
11AM-11PM every day·Appetizers: $3-6; Soups: $3-9.95 (the $9.95 ones serve 4); Salads: $6-7 (except Lobster Salad: seasonal price); Sandwiches: $2-5; Mains: $7.50-28, plus some seasonal-priced ones, but clustering between $12 and $16 for mains not based on rice or noodles; Lunch specials: $6.95 (11AM - 4PM)
This restaurant, which is open late, has the feel of a Chinese diner. It can be very crowded at peak hours. Try the noodle soups ($5.25-7.95) and congees ($2.50-8.50), the ginger-scallion lo mein ($5.50), the barbecued items, and the salt baked dishes, but don't neglect the less inexpensive specials, like the dishes with chives or pea shoots (around $11.95-15.95, with different charges depending on choice of beef, chicken, shrimp, scallops, etc.).
This is the most famous of the Shanghainese restaurants in Chinatown, but not the best. Like most every other Shanghainese restaurant, it serves the popular "soup dumplings" (xiaolong bao in Chinese) which contain either pork or crab+pork with soup all within a dumpling. However, due to its popularity, here are some tips: Don't wait on line, go only at odd hours and order adventurously (get things like eel).
Enjoy the "regular" flavors like taro, green tea, lychee, black sesame, mango, and coconut (or the "exotic" flavors like strawberry, vanilla...), and don't neglect the sorbets. The owner also experiments and creates new flavors. Even though there is a Haagen Dazs down the street from this ice cream store, Chinatown Ice Cream Factory is the go-to place for ice cream when you visit Chinatown. On a nice, sunny day, you'll most likely find a long line of customers outside the store waiting to purchase their ice cream. That is how popular this store is. If you really like the ice cream, you may purchase one of their Chinatown Ice Cream Factory t-shirts.
11AM-10PM·$8/1 scoop, $11.50/2 scoops, $15.50/3 scoops, $15.50/pint, $25/quart