Flatiron Chinese Restaurant Baodega Serves More Than Just Great Soup Dumplings | Eater NY

"Punning on the Latin American corner grocery, Baodega recently opened in the Flatiron District at 7 West 20th St., and offers a Shanghai-rooted menu that also stretches into other regional Chinese cuisines. The brick-walled space has an independent Indonesian-sourced coffee shop out front, a glass-walled kitchen, and a dining room that looks into a derelict back garden that should become a pleasant accoutrement in warm weather — outdoor dining is a nice bonus. Weekday lunch specials ($12 or $15) pack a voluminous meal — soup, a large main, a big hump of rice, a side vegetable, with optional dumplings and tea — though many of those dishes read like good Cantonese carryout; grandma’s braised pork stands out there, with dark, wobbly fatty obelisks of pork belly on bok choy brightened by shaoxing wine. From the regular menu, a hot scallion pancake ($7.50) arrives flavored with bacon for extra oomph, and the lion’s head meatball stew ($18.95) presents three large, water-chestnut-studded meatballs perfumed with star anise and sweet spices. Chefs Salil Mehta and Kenny Yie shine on duck: chao mai feng ($17.95) tosses thin Singapore rice noodles with chewy duck and pickled cabbage for a pleasant sour aftertaste, while the crispy duck noodle soup ($15.95) is a generous, family-size serving of soft, fat wheat noodles and plenty of duck. I most enjoyed the Huang Feihong hot chicken ($18.95), a beguiling Chongqing-style riff with lightly breaded boneless chicken, breaded (and therefore edible) dried red chiles, spicy peanuts, and fresh green peppers. There are four kinds of Shanghai soup dumplings (pork, pork-and-crab, chicken, vegetarian); when a couple of friends and I tried the pork-only they were deflated and a bit dry, but the pork-and-crab (six for $8.95) were near perfect — thin-skinned, bulging with soup, and properly crabby. Overall, Baodega is a very serviceable spot that hits Shanghai standards while adding regional specialties; the very large, family-style entrees and casual-yet-comfortable setting make it a great place to gather with friends, and you can even have coffee and a European pastry afterward, though there’s no beer for now." - Robert Sietsema