No Carts, but Great Dumplings, at Flatiron’s Newest Dim Sum Destination | Eater NY

"Opened Saturday, January 29, I strolled in and found a modern fast-casual spot on 23rd Street just east of Madison Square with a glass case of dome-shaped baked bao filled with char siu pork ($2.50) encrusted with sugar in the Hong Kong fashion, little custard tarts associated with Macao, and other daily-changing pastries. A counter with a backlit menu board lets you order and take a number, and a long, shallow glassed-in kitchen lets you watch chefs fold and steam dumplings; the kitchen includes a lap mei station heralded by a hanging duck (with more ducks and about six other cured meats kept out of sight), dumpling steamers, a round flat-top griddle, convection ovens, and vegetable boilers — in short, a chance to inspect the workings of a classic Chinese restaurant kitchen. The rear dining room seats about 50 in a tile-clad space whose lacquered lathe walls curve toward the ceiling like an antique railroad dining car. The food leans Hong Kong: a big, bouncy scallion pancake ($5.95) (you’d have to go to Flushing to find one this large), a rough-hewn cruller to dip into congee (most congee $8.95; pick the pork and thousand-year egg), and rice noodle rolls ($5.95) that are magnificent, freshly made and actually stuffed rather than merely topped — choices include shrimp, minced beef, sweet corn, ham, and dried shrimp (add a second filling for $1). The lap mei mirrors Chinatown standards, with roast duck the best of those I tried ($11.95 for a generous serving, though about twice Chinatown specialist prices) and a very brown, very large roast chicken leg ($6.95) sliced perpendicular to the bone. Dumplings I sampled were equal to Chinatown’s better places: pot stickers (three for $5.95) bulge with pork-and-chive filling and are carefully browned; soup dumplings are technically perfect but served with a cloying red sauce instead of black vinegar; the siu mai, learned in Hong Kong, are notable for a whole piece of shrimp inside each and flying fish roe on top; wonton soup has outsized dumplings but a meager, dark, indifferent broth. The menu runs to around 70 items (various noodle soups with a choice of four noodles — pick the Hong Kong egg — and several rice dishes); avoid the beef stew, which I found tough and full of gristle. Overall, the food is generally delicious and faithful to Chinatown dim sum, with a distinct Hong Kong flourish similar to places like Tim Ho Wan." - Robert Sietsema