Kam Hing Coffee Shop
Kam Hing Coffee Shop
119 Baxter Street
(Near Canal Street)
(212) 925-0425
Hours of operation: 8am-6pm
Kam Hing Coffee Shop
If you ask the locals of Chinatown, they will tell you that this coffee shop sells the best Chinese sponge cakes ever and I cannot agree with them more. Growing up in this neighborhood, my mother would take my brother and I after school to this small and old shop and order many warm and individually wrapped sponge cakes to go. Of course she also orders a cup of coffee for herself and two warm cups of milk teas for my brother and I to drink with the cakes. Those were happier and more delicious times.
Kam Hing Coffee Shop
Kam Hing Coffee Shop Store Front
Recently I was in Chinatown to meet a dear friend of mine from work. She wanted to try all the delicious food that this town has to offer and I figure that the infamous Kam Hing Coffee Shop should be the first stop because they were closing soon and it would be something that I know she will like. We walk in there around 5:50pm which was perfect because the store closes on time at 6:00pm, and was greeted by a Latino cashier who speaks fluent Cantonese. Ever since I was a child, there was always several Latino cashiers who speaks fluent Cantonese which impressed me each and every time. We were fortunate enough to order the last two cakes. The cakes are $0.60 and was $0.50 when I was a kid. Nonetheless it’s quite a bargain and you will never find a bargain like this anywhere else. Even at that time, the cakes were still nice and warm and we decided to eat it right away. While we were eating, this guy came in and ordered a cake and was disappointed with the bad news that it was all sold out. So my advice to you is to come here way before it closes because you never know.
Kam Hing Coffee Shop's Sponge Cakes
The difference between this sponge cake and the other sponge cakes in the other Chinese bakeries is that this cake is very moist, light, fluffy and slightly sweeter. You just have to try it to see the difference!
Anyways, until next time,
<3 FCG
Penang Malaysian Restaurant – Chinatown, NY
Penang
41 Elizabeth Street
New York, NY
(212) 431-8722
Penang Malaysian Restaurant - Chinatown, NY
One of the few Malaysian restaurants in Chinatown, Penang is located right off of Canal Street and right into the heart of Chinatown. Growing up, if I was hankering for Malaysian food, it was either at Penang or Nyonya, which is on Grand Street. There are a few more Malaysian restaurants that has popped up in Chinatown, but they are not as popular as the two that I mentioned about.
To be quite honest, I have always enjoyed the food at Nyonya. But this isn’t a post about Nyonya, it is on Penang. The atmosphere in Penang seems very quiet and desolate. I guess you’ll have to pick the right time, but I came here at 7pm with my party of eight and there were only two people there. No music was playing in the background and let me stress how quiet it was. Not only that, the lighting seems to be kind of dim which made me feel a little creeped out. Let me tell you, the atmosphere/feng-shiu at Nyonya is definitely not like that. I have only eaten the Hainanese chicken and the roti canai here since they were signature dishes which I will talk about that later.
Yes, if you can do take-out, do it!
Penang Menu
When you eat at a restaurant in Chinatown, most locals eat it family style. Hence the nice round tables with multiple seats. Let me know you the dishes my friends and I ordered:
Cheap Authentic Vietnamese Food for the Hungry: Nha Trang One
Nha Trang One
87 Baxter St (near Canal St)
New York, NY
(212) 233-5948
Of the three Vietnamese restaurants on this block, I think this by far is the better tasting one.
When I came here with my boyfriend and his friends, we were really reluctant to come here, but his friends reassured us that this is the place to be. And inside, the decor of the restaurant looked pretty plain, plus there were a lot of tourists in there which pretty much is a turn off for me. I usually avoid this restaurant because of the tourists the reason being that I think touristy food = junk/fast food. Plus the decor in the other two restaurants looks better than this one, but I’ll soon learn that image isn’t always everything.
Beef cube with Rice
$5.75
This beef cube is the very tender and oh so juicy, unlike the other Vietnamese restaurants in Chinatown. Usually the beef would be rolled up and then grilled ’til charred. I really hate that. But the way they make it here is right on the money and it’s cut into small piece, which I really enjoy.
My rating: 4.5/5
Highly Recommended!
Next came the Grilled pork chop w/tomatoes and cucumbers over rice.
$5.75
Pretty soon, you’ll see the same consistency with the way their meats are cooked. This lovely young pork chop is tender, juicy, and oh so succulent, and not at all dried as you will see in the other vietnamese restaurants due to over grilling. It would be nice if there’s a little more sauce with this dish, but it’s still pretty good. For the price, you really can’t go wrong.
Recommended!
My Rating: 4/5
Steak w/Fried Rice
$6.50
I really can’t give much credit to this dish, I can’t. The downfall of this dish is the fried rice. It is probably the blandest fried rice I have ever have, and it does not look fried at all. Not to say that it is a failure, but I’m saying that it’s pretty much some soy sauce and probably subtle hints of oyster sauce. Honestly, I think they would make it with and least some green peas and carrots and maybe, just maybe some pineapple. But hey, at least the steak was not disappointing. It wasn’t the greatest, but it was tender and juicy. I did needed more salt for this.
Not recommended
Rating: 2/5
House Special Rice Noodles in soup with beef brisket, tendon, eye round and omoza
$5.50
Having a good soup really sets the mood for this bowl. When you have a really pretty brown color that’s not too light and not too dark, you have yourself a delicious bowl of noodles. The reason why this dish is so popular is because the rice noodles complements the soup so well. All the rich flavor from the soup is absorbed in the noodles as well as the raw beef brisket, which you’ll have to dip in your soup. Usually when I have this signature dish at other Vietnamese restaurants, the beef is usually flavorless due to a bland soup. But here, they do it very well.
Highly recommended!
Rating: 4/5
Of course there are so many dishes here to try since the menu seems to be absolutely endless, but definitely try their house special rice noodle soup, spring rolls, rice vermicelli
NHA TRANG REST.
87 BAXTER STREET, MANHATTAN 10013
212-233-5948
Current violation points: 7
Inspection Date: 03/05/2007
Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.
1.) Cold food held above 41°F (smoked fish above 38°F) except during necessary preparation.
May Wah Fast Food Restaurant (Chinese)
May Wah Restaurant
190 Hester St
(btw Baxter & Mulberry St)
New York, NY
OPEN THROUGH FEB 18, 2007
ACT NOW!!
Sometimes I forget to do reviews for the little ma & pa restaurants because I take it for granted. Like how fast food restaurants are, I go in, get my food, get out and eat as fast as I can that I forget to take time to reflect on it. It’s really metaphoric of what life really is — a quick way to satisfied your insatisable life. Like, you go to the place you want because you desire it, and when that feeling of desire and want is gone you leave. To me, May Wah is hedonistic food, that’s what it is. And knowing that it’s going to close down soon, it really breaks a nerve and all I can do is immortalize it forever on wordpress.
After a zillion times eating from this place, I finally had the chance to take a picture of the restaurant and of the food. If it wasn’t for the rumor that softrice told me about this place closing down, I wouldn’t even had done this review.
I grew up knowing the original staff in May Wah and my parent’s even had a good relationship with the owners. This restaurant was a place to share love, good times, and happiness and you can literally taste it in their food. Their food I believe is primarily, Tawainese and they have a few signature dishes. The one I love the most is:
Chicken leg over May Wah’s specialty rice
Price: $4.75
I usually don’t have the time to stay and eat, so I order out.
Sigh, this will be the last time I’ll see all of this:
This also comes with pork chop and spare ribs. I prefer the chicken the most. I have no idea what’s the brown/meaty sauce, but it tastes so heavenly. Without this sly sauce, it would not be a party in my mouth. The rest are nappa (the green veggies) and this sour vegetable that I don’t know in English. But yes, you are definitely not going to find anything remotely like this. Mix the rice together to get the sauce flowing through the white rice to get extra flavor of course. The fried chicken, that’s not beer battered, is very very delicious. It’s salty and even saltier when you eat it with the rice. Believe it or not, it’s a great combination!
I regret not to take pictures of all the other dishes I had in the past. I have had their pork chop and spare ribs over rice, shanghainese fried rice, shanghai stir-fried rice cakes, and several of their other rice dishes that I eaten before. Of everything, their signature chicken leg over rice is the best. THE BEST.
So I will have to urge you all to try because this place shuts down forever. This place really meant a lot to me. Ever sinced I moved away from there, things drastically change. Their staff, containers, price and methods of making the food slightly changed. Sigh…I will definitely miss this place a lot more. I am not really looking forward to its vegetarian counter part.
Cleanliness
MAY WAH FAST FOODS
190 HESTER STREET, MANHATTAN 10013
212-925-6428
Current violation points: 9
PASSED
Inspection Date: 01/04/2007
Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.
1.) Plumbing not properly installed or maintained; anti-siphonage or backflow prevention device not provided where required; equipment or floor not properly drained; sewage disposal system in disrepair or not functioning properly.
2.) Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to vermin exist.
3.) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
