Hop Lee
Chinese restaurant · Chinatown ·
Cantonese seafood, Peking duck, walnut shrimp & more
Cantonese seafood, Peking duck, walnut shrimp & more
"Along with spots like Wo Hop and Hop Kee, Hop Lee is a Cantonese-American Chinatown classic. Of the three, Hop Lee has the least destination-worthy food, but there’s plenty to love about this cash-only place. The complimentary fried wonton strips, for example, and candy-apple-red blazers on the no-nonsense servers. Open since 1973, Hop Lee works for anything from a casual group dinner to a birthday celebration that involves a huge round table covered in bowls of wonton soup and plates of steaming honey walnut shrimp. Avoid the Sichuan dishes—the mapo tofu doesn't taste like much—and focus on seafood, like the whole steamed bass in salty, oily black bean sauce. photo credit: Bryan Kim Food Rundown Walnut Shrimp You love mayo, right? Good. There’s lots of it here. These plump fried shrimp are doused in a thick, sweet mayo-heavy sauce. Always a solid choice. Roast Duck The roast pork at Hop Lee is not our favorite. It’s a little too dry and chewy. The duck, on the other hand, is great. Gnaw on the bones until you get all the tender, juicy meat. photo credit: Bryan Kim" - Bryan Kim
"I think this is the Chinese restaurant my father used to take me to; the upstairs was closed but the well-lit lower level was packed and charming, full of families celebrating and regulars who knew the servers; I ordered super savory pan-fried noodles ($16.95) layered with beef and topped with gai lan, and I loved that the noodles arrived still crunchy." - Eater Staff
"Given the size of the menu here, Eng suggests dining with a group of 8-10 for dinner. The order? “Lobster Cantonese style, young chow fried rice, clams with black bean sauce, fried squid, steamed fish, and shrimp and walnuts.”" - anna rahmanan
"In June we had a little mini banquet of Peking duck, lobster Cantonese, crispy fried chicken with garlic sauce, yi mien, stuffed triple treasure, steamed sea bass with scallions and ginger, and stir-fried snow pea shoots with garlic — everything tasted extra delicious knowing the owner had survived a grim winter and spring after thinking he might not make it." - Eater Staff
"I’ve been very loyal to Hop Lee as one of the old-Chinatown restaurants that represent a last connection to immigrant cooking and cultural history." - Eater Staff