Nom Wah Tea Parlor
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The fact that I went to Nom Wah three times in two weeks should alone be enough reason for you to visit. Every time my family and I go to Chinatown, we try a new place. We have a spot with the best soup dumplings, a spot with the best noodles, etc. Now I finally have my go to for all my favorites! I first heard about Nom Wah Tea Parlour on Bon Appetit’s Foodcast (one of my favorite podcasts I listen to). Days later, I watched a feature on Nom Wah on Mike Colameco’s Real Food (also a great place to find out about new spots in the city). I stopped in for lunch on a Saturday, waited maybe 20 minutes and got a seat at the counter. Pro tip: go next door the The Good Sort and order a colorful matcha beverage while you wait! My first visit, we ordered scallion pancakes ($4.5), original “OG” egg roll ($7), shrimp dumplings ($4.75) and pan fried noodles in superior soy sauce ($11). The scallion pancakes come out burning hot and amazingly flaky. The OG egg roll was unlike any egg roll I’ve ever tasted! They are a literal egg roll. First of all, the are giant. Two come to order, both cut in half, and could be your entire meal. They basically make an egg crepe, roll a chicken vegetable filling inside and fry them to order. They are light, fluffy, crispy and not greasy - a must order. The shrimp dumplings were plump with fresh filling, great consistency and steaming hot. Lastly, the pan fried noodles; amazing. I don’t usually get noodles when I go to Chinatown in fear of them being overly greasy and flavorless. These are now my Nom Wah go to. They’re perfectly fried, not greasy and filled with flavor. I love how they serve them with vegetables and no meat, allowing you to get more dim sum alongside. The second time I visited, I took my a much larger crew. We ordered everything I had originally plus Shanghainese soup dumplings ($4.75), house dumplings in soup ($5.75) and Chinese greens in oyster sauce ($9). Surprisingly, the fan favorite ended up being the Chinese greens! No one could figure out what they were. To me they looked and tasted like a crossover between broccolini and bok choy. Additionally, the soup dumplings were one of the best I’ve ever had. Teaching my cousin how to drink the soup before eating the dumpling was also a hilarious experience. Nom Wah now has spots in Nolita, Canal Street and Philadelphia, but the original Tea Parlour is on Doyers Street (fun fact: the most murders committed in NYC were on this block). |
Address: 13 Doyers St. New York, NY 10013 (212) 962-6047 Website: http://nomwah.com Price: $$ Cuisine: Chinese Reservations: No Recommendation: 10/10 |
