Chubby Princess 胖格格

"Restaurateur Amelie Kang’s FiDi dumpling and noodle bistro, Chubby Princess, has closed its door for good. A sign hanging on the door, at 200 Water Street, at Pearl Street, indicates that the restaurant has been replaced by a new Uyghur restaurant called Caravan Uyghur Cuisine. A spokesperson for Kang says the financial downturn from the COVID-19 crisis forced the restaurant to shutter permanently. Chubby Princess initially closed in March following the state-mandated shutdown on dining in. March 17 was the last time the restaurant posted on its Instagram account, and informed customers that it wouldn’t be doing takeout or delivery for the duration of the shutdown. For Kang — who runs the hit dry pot restaurant MáLà Project — Chubby Princess marked the second venture at the same location. She previously ran the fast-casual restaurant Tomorrow, which opened in 2017 and focused on homey-fare from northern China, where Kang grew up. She pivoted to the new restaurant in January this year, saying that diners found some of the dishes at Tomorrow to be too “exotic.” Chubby Princess, instead, focused on more “familiar,” options, according to Kang, like noodles and dumplings, and most dishes cost under $10. Still, the pivot was upended by the pandemic, and the restaurant was forced to shutter just a couple of months after it opened. The restaurant now becomes the latest NYC establishment that has been forced to shutter due to financial fallout from the novel coronavirus crisis." - Tanay Warerkar

"There’s a certain satisfaction associated with picking up lunch and bringing it back to your office. You get to catwalk to your desk, toting your loot, and wait for your coworkers to ask where you got it from. And, when you pick up lamb noodles or dumplings from this counter-service spot in FiDi, you’ll get to announce that it’s all from Chubby Princess. This place is from the team behind MáLà Project (a dry pot restaurant in the East Village where we send everyone we know), but it feels almost completely different. For example, there are Chinese tacos on the menu and it looks like a Sweetgreen. While we can’t recommend planning a full, sit-down meal here, but it’s useful if you just want some quick Chinese food near Wall Street." - Hannah Albertine

"Chubby Princess, formerly known as Tomorrow, has transitioned into a full-service restaurant offering northern Chinese dishes with more familiar options like noodles and dumplings. The venue aims to attract patrons with dishes that are more recognizable to Americans while still highlighting traditional northern Chinese cuisine." - Serena Dai

"This is the first weekend that the MáLà Project’s FiDi restaurant will be open on the weekends, in its pivot into Chubby Princess. Still serving northern Chinese food but with more table service, the restaurant has added items like dumplings and noodles, plus a booze menu." - Eater Staff