Dumond A.
Yelp
Came here yesterday after trying my luck at two other Chinese restaurants in the area. Both of those spots (Wah Fung No 1, and Mei Lai Wah) are well-known for offering great food at utterly affordable prices.
And both of those places had lines of people around the block, even as late as 2:30 / 3:00 pm in the afternoon. Minimum wait of 20-30 minutes just to get to the front door I'd say.
Not willing to wait half an hour to order some food, we tried our luck here.
The mall entrance and the interior have definitely seen better days - it looks like COVID really did a number on the complex, sadly. Most of the other establishments were shut, barely half a dozen people were around.
And yet. This one restaurant operating out of the basement, tucked away from the throngs of tourists, is still going strong with a crew of half a dozen chefs/bakers apparently working around the clock.
The reason is simple enough - they offer a SUPER simple menu of options (steamed buns with meat, fried dumplings, steamed dumplings, bamboo shoot cakes, or a couple soup-based dishes), and every option is ultra-cheap. And ultra-tasty! You can literally watch them fold, bake and cool off tray upon tray of their steamed buns while you eat.
This is the definition of a great hole-in-the-wall Chinese food stop, and I'm so grateful I found it. Just to give you an idea: for $5 you can get 6 of their (freshly-made) steamed pork buns. That is a filling meal for most people.
Part of me hopes they stay hidden, to avoid the stressful throngs of international (and local) tourists packing the area (as they do for other big-shot Chinese restaurants)...but part of me thinks that'd be fine, because the owners of this place clearly deserve regular customers.
Glad to have this place on my radar for great, simple eateries in Chinatown, Manhattan.