The BEST Food In CHINATOWN That’s NOT Chinese (Mexican, Korean, Japanese)

Andrew, they got Saigon beer, Qingdao beer, that's Lao beer, Asahi, Sapporo, and then they got soju. It's very Pan-Asian, very Pan-everyone. Let's go in. For many decades, Chinatown was primarily known for delicious foods and serving as a community hub for Southern Chinese, and it's still that. But recently, it's been able to adopt other businesses well within its borders, now home to great foods such as Korean stews, suadero tacos, Japanese fusion, Northern barbecue, even chef-driven Chinese concepts. So if you look hard enough, you'll find more than your typical Chinatown gems here. Andrew, we kind of took it upon ourselves as one of our missions to try to do what we can to save Chinatown. But by the same token, Chinatown's trying to do what it can to save itself. There has been an incredible change and shift in diversity in terms of the types of food that are available, the types of people that you can see. I mean, I guess you could say Chinatowns are becoming a little bit more like Asiatowns. And today, we are showcasing the diversity that is Chinatown, NYC. We're here at Tofu Tofu, and correct me if I'm wrong, anybody out there, but I believe this is the first Korean-owned tofu house in Chinatown, New York. In a hundred years. This is actually one of our favorite places to eat. Let's go. Looking at the menu at Tofu Tofu, and it has like a wide range of dishes, almost like this was maybe in the Korean community, David. This is my favorite, Andrew. I'm a fan of the macaroni. It's good, it's good. My favorite actually is the sprouts right here. One thing you'll notice here about the kimchi at Tofu Tofu is very fermented. It's very leafy. It's a little bit more saucy or a little bit more red. And of course you got your fish cakes. Oh, cucumbers. Wow. We are such good friends with Kelly here at Tofu Tofu. She told us they are launching a new Korean fried chicken called Tadak here in Chinatown. Just to let you guys know. All right, you guys, here we go. We have the original ginger crispy. It's pretty hot. It's not undercooked. It's not overcooked. It's just right in the middle. Kind of tastes like an original regular wing, but just with a slight ginger kick. All right, Andrew, moving through the different flavors, they have a Tadak fried chicken. This is honey soy garlic. Oh, this is sauce perfection. Look at this. That's beautiful. This one's good. Get the honey soy garlic at Tadak fried chicken. Oh, these wings are so tender. David, our next flavor of chicken wing is the 1982 heritage wing. The reason why it's called that is because in 1982, that's when the first time that this sauce was made. Kind of strong gochujang flavor. It's a spicy Korean flavor that people love. This is the last one. It's called the G-Dam spicy. It looks great though. Yo, I really like this one. The flavor is great. Mm. That's it, we got a winner. That's my favorite wing, bro. For the Tadak Korean fried chicken challenge, the G-Dam spicy is crowned the champion. It's good. All right, you guys, some of the appetizers have arrived, and we're looking at a few dishes that are kind of influenced by the Chinese culture. I think that theory is probably correct, and I think it's very cool that Tofu Tofu offers some Chinese-Japanese-Korean dish. That's definitely more of the Japanese style, which is much lighter, has more of a cabbage flavor to it. Yeah. All right, so I believe that this maybe more directly came over from Northern China. I want to say that there's some japchae in here, some clear rice noodle. This is one of my favorite Korean appetizers, the Korean seafood pancake with scallions in it. You just got a little bit of dipping soy garlic sauce right here. Boom, just dip that thing. Mm. It's like the Chinese chungyo bing, except just loaded up with more stuff. We are looking at a seafood bibimbap. I've never had a seafood bibimbap, guys. All right, take that one with the muscle. It's a fresh muscle. Tofu Tofu being one of the few Korean spots in Chinatown means that they're going to serve a wide range of dishes. This is the gamjatang, and we've got gigantic pieces of pork neck, a ton of perilla seeds, gigantic pieces of potato. This is personally my favorite Korean dish. I think they have tuned the flavors to even fit more of a Chinese palate, even better than certain Korean spots that are in the Korean zone. One of my favorite dishes is the steamed bossam, which is steamed pork belly. You have tofu. You have some radish, and you have kimchi. Oh, don't forget, you have this anchovy dip. Oh my gosh, and this is key. Guys, this is my steamed bossam. Of course, we're looking at a Calvi short rib right here. Had to pick it up with my hands like we're at the barbecue. Yeah, are you like the type to eat all the gristle? I am. I'm a gristle person. I get it done under any circumstances. I gotta say, when I first had budae jjigae, I was kind of like, man, what are we eating? Just instant noodles with hot dogs and spam? But actually, man, you come to really like it, and you find the beauty in it. Oh, yeah, right there. That's it. You get a little hot dog, dude. I won't forget the hot dog. And then a little bit of this pork, dude. Ah, there we go, dude. I remember having this in Korea. It was really good. I remember it not being cheap in Korea either. Oh, Andrew, this is, oh, ho, ho. This is the jjajangmyeon. So they also serve the jjajang sauce over jjajang rice, which they call jjajangfan, which is the same word in Chinese because it's a Chinese dish, so they kind of carry over the Chinese word. Damn, I feel like it's 2 a.m. We're in Seoul. One bowl of this. This is it. That's it. Come to Tofu Tofu. I'm Bowery. I'm gonna drop the Yelp right here. Come say hi to Kelly. It's a wrap. Shut it down. Check out Dada Chicken. I'm going. All right, you guys, you gotta check out Tofu Tofu. I'm Bowery here in Chinatown. It's so important because there's only gonna be one or two Korean restaurants in Chinatown at any given point, but let me tell you this. It's a good one. Tofu Tofu, Dada Chicken, onto the next spot. Like we said, guys, Chinatowns across the nation are changing, they're morphing, they're adapting, and one of the things they're incorporating into their ranks, Andrew, is more diversity from mainland China. This restaurant right in front of us is Friendship BBQ. Now, it started in Flushing, Queens. It might've came from China, but we don't know because we're gonna go find out. Let's go. Raw beef. Yes. It's very famous in the Northeast. Yo, she said get the raw beef. I said, hell yeah. Raw beef. Think about beef tartare. That's raw beef. Is this brand from China or is it from Flushing? It's originally from Flushing, but the owner is from the Northeast. All right, you guys, we are at Friendship BBQ. They give you a little bit of side dishes to open up with, Andrew. These peanuts are fire. I had some off camera. Hold on. It's kind of spicy, too. Straight up, Andrew, Friendship BBQ. Crazy. This is not the plate of peanuts that you used to get at your old Chinese restaurant. Some of the skewers have started to arrive here at Friendship BBQ, Andrew. Probably the most stark and shocking. Oh, it's the raw beef. Andrew, you just went in. That's so good. That raw beef is delicious, man. A Dongbei favorite. Bro, this is seasoned perfectly. Cumin, sesame seeds, spice, a little bit of oil. Yeah. That is so good. We're getting skewers on skewers on skewers right now. This is the hot dog? Yeah, that for sure is a Chinese hot dog. I like the spices, but I'm not a big fan of Chinese hot dogs. So this is a part of the cow's back that's really chewy, but actually has a really crazy beef flavor to it. Not bad, but almost too chewy. This is a Dongbei classic, the tofu pea, aka tofu skins. This is better, bro. It's smooth. It's soft. It's like a tofu ribbon. That's fire. Grilled corn skewer, aka caoyuni. I respect for them just giving me the whole piece of corn. Bro, you took a big boy bite of that. All right, Andrew, round two has arrived here at Friendship BBQ. I am so excited to have these. Never really had garlic skewers with the garlic clove still on top. You eat the garlic, but then the skin comes together. I gotta have one. In fact, I'm gonna have two. Dude, it's actually really easy to eat. I'm enjoying this. This is fun. If people learn one Mandarin word, I think it should be yang grou twan. That is the best Chinese lamb skewer I've ever had in New York City to this day. We gotta get to the scallop. This dish is really popular at any barbecue spot. This sauce right here, God. You know, I'm not gonna lie, guys. I'm still... Oh my gosh, man. I want it. I'm all about the chicken neck, actually. It's one thing that I actually would eat as long as it's fried. I'm gonna get down on that neck later. The chicken neck is worthy. It's worthy. This is their version of ji gu jia. I don't know how many times we've covered this. The cumin rack of chicken. Tastes more like straight off the fire. Yeah. David, last but not least, we have the eggplant. It's just garlic. It's oil. It's pepper. It's salt. It's just delicious, man. Yo, Andrew, I forgot. I misspoke. This oyster is straight off the grill, still boiling in the tin foil right now. Oysters are one of those things that you have to eat it, actually. If you look at it, it will never make sense. Yeah. Just eat the oyster, bro. Man, don't bet people know how to kick it. And let me tell you this, Chinese barbecue has a certain flavor, but this is just a really good version. I'm just glad a spot like Friendship BBQ is here, man. All right, you guys, Chinatowns across the nation are becoming more diverse. So this spot right behind us, Shenzhen, is on Baori, and it's actually owned by our friend Tony, who's actually like a fifth generation Chinese guy, and he actually opened up a sushi bar. It's not the most traditional Chinatown spot, but I don't think it has to be. And that's the thing, all types of people come to Chinatown, so you should have something for everybody. And that's what this entire video is about. Guys, we also gotta show the other sides. You know, sometimes you gotta go to somewhere where you're new, you know, and introduce a new concept. I think it's so cool that a lot of people previous to this would not have thought about, yo, let's go get sushi in Chinatown. That element was missing for this area. And you know what? There's a lot of different people in Chinatown now. Shenzhen is a place for everybody. To keep this thing alive, we need people like you, and more people like you to think modern, and to take it to the next level. Because otherwise, if you don't modernize and adapt a little bit, the whole thing's gonna go away. Right, that's a great point. All right, you guys, we are looking at the spread here at Shenzhen Baori. Andrew, I know you're a big salmon belly guy. This is the salmon Osaka here at a vibey Japanese spot in Chinatown, Shenzhen. Wow. I had no idea it was gonna be that fatty and good. Wow, crazy. Man. It's rich. Salmon belly. If you guys ever get the chance to try salmon belly, definitely do it. All right, I'm gonna go in here, and then we're gonna save the ahi tower for last, because that one's crazy. Crispy, spicy tuna. Mixture of textures in my mouth. For me, you don't even need soy sauce with that. We have the ahi tower. I heard this is a family recipe from Alaska. It was featured on the Food Network. So this obviously, you know, visually is crazy. It's off the charts. There's no proper way to eat it. You just gotta eat it. We eating it like a pie. That's so, in a way, refreshing. I knew the ahi tower looked good. I did not expect it to taste this good. You know what it is? It's familiar enough to, like, everybody, but it's still got, like, that kick that I think everybody can respect, too. In my youth, used to be a hater of fusion sushi, and then I got older and I realized it actually has way more to do with the execution. And this is executed super well. Shinsen. KFC, I'm talking about Korean fried chicken, Andrew, has blown up all across Asia over the past 10 years. Chinatown, New York is reflecting those trends. This is even the second spot in Chinatown, other than Tofu Tofu, that you can get Korean fried chicken at. But both spots do them a little differently. So we are in front of Boca right now. Andrew, they got Saigon beer, Qingdao beer. Beer, that's a lot of beer. Asahi, Sapporo, and then they got soju. It's very Pan-Asian. Let's go in. I think we gotta get into, Andrew, what Boca is known for. Of course, what goes better with Korean beer than Korean chicken. Boca chicken. Mm, I smell that sweet, spicy, fermented sauce. Do you eat the spicy one or the soy garlic? Soy garlic. Yeah, I got the spicy one. It was hot. And a shout out to wings that say they're spicy actually being spicy. What I love is that the batter's not too thick and it's still really crispy. And the sauce is like tossed in there. It's sticking it. I'm not even gonna use chopsticks, Andrew, for these mandus. Korean fried mandu always reminded me more of a gyoza. Lighter crispiness, but very chewy and stretchy. It's almost like an ultra thin empanada skin. Last but not least, man. I love the Korean pancake. In fact, I love all pancakes. Oh man, almost like a slice of pizza right now. Yeah, look at that. Yo, the food is great here. I think this would go perfect with alcohol. It's cool to have a Korean-based drinking spot in Chinatown. I think that's cool. And I think that it's cool to say that. Another spot that is fairly new to Chinatown is Sweet Moments Desserts. Andrew, this is a Korean-owned patbingsu. If you guys don't know, bingsu is like Korean shaved, crushed ice. I really like those clear jellies they put on there. Yeah, it's blowing up. I think the Korean one's got a wave, so I'm excited to try it. We was having a discussion about latte art, whether it was gonna live up or not. I think it's safe to say, my man did his thing. Go for it, man. It's got a little bit of raspberry flavor on top. They gave you the Korean vibe. It's pretty sweet. It's good. Oh, it's cold. I've never had a cold latte in a cup like that before. Let's get to the sandwiches. This is the B-E-L-T, bacon, egg, lettuce, and tomato. There's corn in the egg. Straight up, it's good. Wow, that's a good sandwich, man. Honestly, all around, it's good. Save that for later. Here we got the avocado one. Avocado, egg, little spicy mayo. Let's get it. I can see it. If I was a vegan, I wouldn't go against it. No meat needed. This is actually not a vegan product, because it has eggs. I think you meant vegetarian. That's what I meant. This is the melon bingsu. Hot bingsu. Very aesthetic. I love it, I love it. Let's go. The honeydew is in season. This pink ice cream, whatever flavor this is. We got confirmation it was cotton candy ice cream. I've got to say, Andrew, I was super impressed by everything here at Sweet Moments NYC. If you guys want an Instagramable lunch, come to Sweet Moments. Very mushy salt. Yo, so good, guys. All right, you guys, continuing on our diverse Chinatown crawl, just to show you guys that there's a lot more than what you think in Chinatown. We've got El Gallo Taqueria behind us. People would find it very interesting that an authentic Mexican-owned taqueria, which I think is owned by second generation Mexican-Americans from Brooklyn, came to Chinatown. Let's check it out. This is one of those spots that's trying to bring authentic Mexican food here. And it's in Chinatown. Gallo carne asada fries. All right. Wow, very smoky. Fries are great. Super crispy, super soft. This is the first time I've had carne asada fries. It was almost that more European-style french fry. Lightly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Real smoky. All right, man. Moving on. Dave, we got to move on to the tacos, bro. Yo, these taco sides don't play around, bro. So they cut this off the spit. Al pastor carne asada. You got the corn tortilla. Very LA. Oh man. It has all the elements of a LA taco. I'm going to go on to the next one. So this is the carnitas. Look, it's shredded. It's saucy. It's got radish, cilantro, onions. I noticed that they already put the radish on for you, which is a little bit rare. A lot of taco trucks, you have to put that on yourself. Exactly. And David, isn't it weird that the radish, it doesn't look spicy, but it's actually kind of spicy. Adds that kick to it. Doesn't that carne asada taste like it's off the truck? It does, it does. So this is the suadero. This is the chopped up tongue. It's supposed to be very soft, David. So I had to get it because, you know, that's something that I actually never had before, the suadero. The suadero was the best one. That was the best taco that I've had in New York City in a long time. Yo, that was so good. So good that it ended up falling apart over here. When I try to talk and inhale at the same time. This is the chipotle chicken. Mm, yo. Right, yeah? Those last two. All right. Those last two. David, the suadero and the chipotle chicken. This is a semita. This is a sesame bun kind of sandwich, almost like a torta, but something I've never had before. I've never even seen that before, bro. Let's try it. I taste that deep, rich poblano, the smoky peppers. You want a spicy sandwich? That's it right there. Yeah, that's right there. Andrew, we've got the pozole. Pozole is a authentic Mexican soup. Everybody likes it. I wanted to get the pozole because not every taco spot, things that are called a taco spot, would have soup. Pozole is a universal hit. You think of New York as a city that has everything, but it actually, the city is lacking a few things. As far as like New York locals that are born and raised here, they're going to get introduced to a clean, elevated version. El Gallo Taqueria is a good version. It's here in Chinatown. Andrew, anytime I miss the LA tacos, I'm coming back. As we move along this crawl to explore all the new ways that Chinatown is changing, Andrew, right behind us is a modern Cantonese elevated restaurant called August Gatherings. This is a spot that kind of reminds me of something that I'd seen in Hong Kong before. So it kind of goes to show you, two, three blocks down, you can find a Cantonese recipe that might be a hundred years old. And I think some of the stuff here at August Gatherings just got invented last year. Let's check it out. Okay. Wow. This is the Berkshire pork chashu. It looks really nice. I can tell that they torch the top and then it comes with lotus root on the side as a refreshment. It was next level. It was worth it. It's good guys. There's a lot of pork flavor and it's sitting in this like really light, sweet soy sauce, which actually has a lot of other flavors in it. So it's not too salty. It's really juicy. And it just breaks down in my mouth. Listen, this one's nice. This one kind of reminds me of the Malaysian one that we had. And we are looking at a grilled Angus short rib, but with like Cantonese flavors on top. Yo, I'm really excited, man. It came out looking super presentable. It's very beautiful. Fresh off the grill. Incredibly tender. Grilled Angus short rib. Wow. Oh wow. As far as Cantonese short ribs go, that has got to be one of the best ones I've ever had, easily. Yo, that literally melted in my mouth, man. That was a little bit unexpected, I have to say. Man. So far on the meats, they are delivering. If you're sharing it amongst a few people and you guys want some really, really tender short rib, that was great. So this is actually a hybrid beef noodle soup ramen. All right, man. This is really well put together. I got to say the placement of the wood ear mushrooms, even the little peppers on top and the scales on the side. Not gonna lie. I have high expectations now because everything else was good before, so. Spicy beef stew ramen from August Gathering. Thought the beef in this one could have been a little bit more tender. But other than that, they give you plenty of noodles and plenty of other things. I would definitely share this between two people. This, like I said, of all the dishes, more than the short rib, Andrew. I'm excited for this. It is toppled, impaled with tons of scallions. I can smell there's a little bit of hot oil they poured on top. Listen, you get what you pay for in life, guys. Oftentimes, it's not 100% of the time. I'd say seven out of 10, maybe eight out of 10 times you get what you pay for. Chew Pie Guy, how special chicken? You got a piece that was soaking in the soy sauce. It was very solid. You know, I'm a chicken guy. Let me get one more piece. The soy sauce at the bottom is similar to the soy sauce in the char siu. This is something that you would find at the bottom of an international hotel in Guangzhou. Seafood noodle with the uni sauce. Wow. You got squid, you got shrimp, you got scallops. That definitely tastes like an Asian pasta. Dave, you like squid in your pasta? Very 50-50 on it. I think it's all about the execution, but I do think it's difficult to pull off. All right, David. Last but not least, to finish off, is a samping fan, aka the three-meat rice bowl. The char siu is actually not the same char siu over here. Right. The Berkshire, this is the next level one. This is like the regular one that they have. Roast chicken. I like that roast chicken more than the Chew Pie Guy. Try a new spot and try August Gatherings. Trust me, it's gonna be worth it because the flavors and the quality is different. There are a lot of Japanese, Korean concepts popping up in Chinatown. This happens to be a Japanese chain from Osaka, Japan called Keki's Cakes. I'm excited, man. Osaka things, always very fun. Oh, I got the ube one. Yes. I feel like we should do original first. Do the original first. Yeah, it makes more sense. Let's go. Keki. So this is a very Japan-specific style of cheesecake. They kind of do it their own way in their own twist. Man, I think two bites is all I need, but that's pretty good. I really taste the cheese in it. Let's go. Ube, this is interesting because ube is kind of one of those Asian flavors that are sweeping all dessert spots now. Yeah, ube keki. Ube's good, man. When executed right, ube is really good. It has more of that yam, sweet potato vibe than taro does. Oh, yeah. Yo, you wanna try one of these? You wanna be on camera with us? We're here with a good friend from college, Roberto. Man, you dub. I think I got a brown sugar one, maybe. You got the matcha one, nice. Okay, I got the ube one. It was almost like a cheese whipped cream filling for me. This ube one is good, man. Hey, pleasure to see more Huskies in New York City. The reason Keki's Cakes totally fits within our crawl is because one, it's Japanese, and number two, it opened up in Chinatown within the past two, three years. Creating this video reminded me how inclusive the Chinatown community can be. Becoming a little more Pan-Asian and Pan-American is gonna prove beneficial in the long run because not everyone comes to Chinatown only to eat Chinese food, so it's honestly just expanding the offerings. Besides, New York City as a whole will never be short of Chinese food, so why not bring in some new flavors? Chinese people do enjoy all types of cuisines, so if it's got the taste, it's got a place in Chinatown. Actually, a lot of people from Seattle like New York. They do. Specifically, they're always in Chinatown.