"This St. Marks institution serves a menu full of Sichuan, Hunan, Cantonese, and Taiwanese specialty dishes. But your focus should be the namesake xiao long bao with nearly translucent skin and a loose, light-brothed center. The pork and spicy wasabi pork varieties (with a thinner skin and a bit less soup than what you’d find at other Chinatown faves) both have an extra savory meatiness that nicely contrasts the light broth. If you’re looking to expand beyond the classics, The Bao offers a whole variety of soup dumpling flavors, like “super spicy xiao long bao,” salted egg yolk, a semi-sweet black sesame, and one filled with pork and black truffle." - hannah albertine, nikko duren, carlo mantuano, molly fitzpatrick