Lao Ma Spicy

"Lao Ma Spicy is a Chinese restaurant on 8th Street near NYU that specializes in dry pot dishes, and is spacious enough that you’ll easy find a table. The only options are dry pot (soup or noodles) and dumplings, and depending on how much you hate making decisions, you can order a seafood, vegetable, and meat combo directly from the menu, or customize your own soup or noodle dish at a counter. The DIY area is set up a little like a Chipotle, only with lobster tails, tripe, and a soul." - hannah albertine

"If, like me, your only experience of plum juice is to fix some… uh… bowel issues, then I understand the hesitation with trying suanmeitang. But this is an all-around winner: a sweet, sour, and very slightly salty plum juice, in an adorable bottle, that, yes, helps with digestion — because bowel movement is important! Grow up! You can likely find suanmeitang at most Chinese grocery stores." - Pelin Keskin

"Lao Ma Spicy is a Chinese restaurant on 8th Street near NYU that specializes in dry pot dishes, and is spacious enough that you’ll easy find a table. They have a few other locations in Flushing, but this is the first one in Manhattan. The only options are dry pot (soup or noodles) and dumplings, and depending on how much you hate making decisions, you can order a seafood, vegetable, and meat combo directly from the menu, or customize your own soup or noodle dish at a counter. The DIY area is set up a little like a Chipotle, only with lobster tails, tripe, and a soul." - Hannah Albertine