"With gold mesh curtains, glass bricks, and striking round light fixtures that resemble celestial bodies, YongChuan looks kind of like a high-end sauna from the future. This sleek Lower East Side restaurant specializes in the seafood-centric cuisine of Ningbo, near Shanghai. Besides exciting regional delicacies like cold, deep-fried “smoked” fish, YongChuan also serves playful fusion-y bites, like impeccably crisp, swan-shaped puff pastries, and some great Sichuan dishes, like mala prawns that achieve just the right balance of crunch and give. Come to YongChuan for an unstuffy but still elegant-feeling special occasion, like a group chat reunion when someone’s visiting from out of town, or a double-date birthday dinner. Ideally, you should bring a few friends to sample widely from the stacked menu, and for a particularly memorable centerpiece to your meal, consider the Ningbo Eighteen Cuts. This signature raw crab dish must be preordered a week in advance, but for a celebration, it’s well worth it. photo credit: David A. Lee photo credit: David A. Lee photo credit: David A. Lee Food Rundown photo credit: David A. Lee Platter This selection of cold appetizers is a great introduction to your evening—we especially love the crisp Ningbo fish with XO sauce and the century eggs with charred chilies. photo credit: David A. Lee Crispy Swan-Shaped Pastry No mere gimmick, the swan puffs are, in fact, delicious. Each order comes with two savory puffs, filled with juicy grilled eel, and two sweet, filled with durian. (Both are great, but the lightly funky fruit is the one you’ll still be thinking about days later.) photo credit: Molly Fitzpatrick Spicy Crawfish Dumplings These glistening, ruby red beauties have a bouncy filling and are especially good when doused in the lightly smoky house chili oil (which we’d encourage YongChuan to start selling by the jar, please). photo credit: Molly Fitzpatrick Mala Prawns Crispy, hot, and extremely snackable. The mala soft-shell crabs are also good, but the prawns are uniquely difficult to stop eating. photo credit: David A. Lee YongChuan Fried Rice Find room for this excellent fried rice—crispy sausage, bright scallions, and great wok hei—on your crowded table. photo credit: David A. Lee Half Duck YongChuan makes a lovely duck, sliced tableside, with crisp skin and juicy meat. For a group of four or more, it’s a great portion size to enjoy alongside the many other dishes you’ll want to try here. photo credit: David A. Lee Lobster Porridge Don’t order it expecting a thick congee. This is a different style of porridge—a thinner soup with intact grains of rice. The broth is sweet and well-seasoned, but given that this sizable tureen serves four to six, we’d advise you to allocate your belly room differently (at least on your first visit to YongChuan) in favor of smaller dishes and greater variety. photo credit: Molly Fitzpatrick The Ningbo Eighteen Cuts This signature Ningbo dish features flash-frozen female crabs from Zhouzan with melt-in-your-mouth flesh and sweet red and orange roe. They’re sliced into 18 pieces and served raw in a gingery, slightly boozy-tasting sauce." - Molly Fitzpatrick
