Chinatown Top Ten

I'm off to Chinatown today! The plan: lunch at Pho with Dona Dee and a little grocery shopping--the kind that can only be done in Chinatown. Here are the top ten reasons why I like that place...

1: I’m convinced it’s really like being in China, except for the other gawking non-Asian Americans, but without the drama of flying.

2: Chinese candy…straight sugar in cool packages.

3: The price of two avocadoes is the same as two caged turtles. {Ok, so the math on this one is weird but you can’t find those adorable creatures any cheaper anywhere else in NYC. Not that I would ever actually buy one}.


4: Speaking of inexpensive, almost every item in every grocery store in Chinatown is $1.50—from tofu in its many forms to a four-pack assortment of soap that actually smells good.


5: When every Vietnamese restaurant is named Pho, it’s nearly impossible to choose poorly. {The Pho Nha Trang on Baxter is especially good}.

6: With all the foot traffic, it looks like there’s something exciting going on even when it’s not Chinese New Year.

7: Sweet rice with red bean paste is strangely yummy! And it comes in a ready-to-steam banana leaf wrap.

8: Not being able to read the billboards. {They’re all decoration to me}.

9: The street vendors sell colorful origami birds and dragons made from dried palm leaves.


10: Sucking tapioca balls through a huge straw is so much fun.