Mabu Cafe NYC 麻布冰室

"Everything at this Chinatown cafe is over the top, from tables made of mahjong tiles to the teddy bear-shaped ice that comes with your milk tea. The oversized menu has a dizzying array of cha chaan teng classics, like a salted egg yolk french toast topped with a heap of pork floss, baked macaroni casseroles, and souped-up instant noodles. Mabu Cafe doesn’t take reservations, and you’ll probably have to wait in a line, but it’s worth it for the fun, photogenic food that actually tastes good." - neha talreja, will hartman

"At Mabu Cafe, a new Hong Kong-style diner in Chinatown, you’ll find a dessert that’s served in a miniature bathtub. The bathtub itself is not edible, to the disappointment of my own four-year-old (who does not, as far as I know, have a TikTok account), nor is it yours to take home. But everything that goes in it is: an adorable, finely rendered Teddy bear, made of frozen coconut milk, and a colorful assortment of treats, including grass-jelly cubes, sago pearls, and taro balls. Give Teddy a soak in more coconut milk, poured from an accompanying pitcher, and enjoy." - Hannah Goldfield

"The photo ops at Mabu Cafe start before you even walk into the Hong Kong-style cafe in Chinatown. Cozy up for a group selfie with the Kaws-style statues outside before descending a neon-lit staircase, which feels a bit like falling down Alice’s rabbit hole. Everything here is over the top, from tables made of mahjong tiles to the teddy bear-shaped ice that comes with your milk tea. The oversized menu has a dizzying array of cha chaan teng classics, like a salted egg yolk lava-stuffed french toast topped with a heap of pork floss, baked macaroni casseroles, and souped-up instant noodles. This is carb-heavy, cheesy, saucy comfort food at its finest. Mabu Cafe doesn’t take reservations, and you’ll probably have to wait in a line, but it’s worth it for the fun, photogenic food that actually tastes good. photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte" - Carina Finn

"A 'coming soon' hangs from the doors of Mabu Cafe, a new Hong Kong-style cafe in Manhattan’s Chinatown that insists it’s still in its soft opening. That hasn’t stopped New Yorkers from getting in line. By 11 a.m. on Thursday, a half-dozen people stood outside of the restaurant, turning over menus the size of travel brochures with pictures of pineapple bun breakfast sandwiches, spaghetti bakes with pork, salted egg yolk toasts, and pork chop croissants. An hour later, the small line had grown into a crowd of more than 30 people — the type of scene that’s typical on weekends at Nom Wah Tea Parlor, Chinatown’s oldest restaurant, located a few doors down." - Luke Fortney