Downtown Lunch: Big Wong
Midtown workers shouldn’t have all the fun, so to even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (ensuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food.)
For some reason whenever I hear someone mention Big Wong in Chinatown, I hear a gong sound go off in my head.. maybe I’m just thinking of an association with the Sixteen Candles character (of a different but similar sounding name). Word on the street is they have one of the cheapest lunch specials in the city, but I had never tried it so went with a friend to scope out the situation earlier this week. I was impressed with the number of lunch specials, all around the $4.50 range.
We started with a Fried Cruller Rice Crepe appetizer ($2.25) which arrived as a fried savory donut wrapped in a wet rice crepe. What’s not to like about a donut as an appetizer, although think I prefer them sans the crepe, and following a meal.
When a waiter carrying an order of the roast pork appetizer waltzed by us, the stare I gave it was worthy of a sexual harassment suit… so I knew we had to try a half order ($6). The two of us cleaned that plate and kept going back to it even after the lunch specials arrived. Neither lunch, such as the roast pork with pickled vegetables ($4.50) or the chicken with seasonal vegetables (also $4.50) was mind blowing, but it was satisfying, adequate, and an overall great value for your dollar.
One could easily visit this spot and with tax and tip have a nice lunch for under 7 bucks. The scene there is hurried and hectic, which is a good sign for the Big Wong, also sometimes referred to as Big Wong King (I’d make my last name “King” too if my first and middle name was “Big Wong”).
Big Wong, 67 Mott St. (btw. Canal & Bayard), 212-964-0540
Photos and post by Daniel Krieger
Posted by Daniel Krieger at 10:00 am, December 19th, 2008 under Big Wong, Chinatown, Chinese, Jury Duty Lunch.
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39 Comments
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But Wong & Lee don’t work in the joke “You have more chins than a Chinese telephone book”
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This brings about memories. I remember first hearing about this place in the newspapers. And I remember draging various friends down to have lunch at this place. It was so cheap and so good. Id always get the fish ball congee…it was just yummy to me. And of course u couldn’t leave the place without having those sweet fried crueller like things. Yum!
I remember having several meals that came in under 6 bucks…but so worth it and so much.
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just some inside information…Big Wong was at its peak in the ’90s. I used to stay with my grandma who lives in Chinatown. For the folks in chinatown, they were known for the roast pork and their congee…then their lease expired and the landlord took over the name and restaurant and kicked the original owners and workers out. Big Wong’s original crew have started their own restaurant a block away, called “Tsin Wong,” and has reclaimed their spot as the local favorite.
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@ Gordon & Daniel : Yes, I’m totally down for a downtown lunch meet-up, and I’ll use my Cantonese skillz if you please (though I can only say food items that I like, and I think Gordon’s Chinese far surpasses mine).
@ JustNancy : Lao Wai? Lao fahn no?
@ Gordon : that’s a good name, too, I just like jha leung as a name because “leung” (with that tone… don’t ask me what #) makes me think of those adorable gold “taels” or um, gold “hat” looking things. (To the furor of all Chinese people across the world, I think the money pieces of olden days looks like a hat. Sue me.)
@ Zach & Daniel : There’s a cart in Elmhurst outside my favorite Vietnamese place that sells fried dumplings. The sign/menu says “Fried Dumping 5/$1” (or used to; not sure how much the price is now). :P Just because the menu says so, doesn’t mean that’s what it should be called! I dunno, “wet crepe” just sounds so wrong… plus I am not sure what makes a crepe a crepe, but the rice noodle wrapping the fried dough is so far from a crepe (I don’t believe it ever gets heated in a skillet… and I don’t think it comes from batter…)… I don’t know. Sorry for being bratty and nitpicky, I’m in a goofy mood and when done right, that is one of my favorite dim sum dishes. Sweet and salty at the same time, with the smooth tenderness of the rice noodle against the crunchy chewiness of the cruller… it’s harmony and bliss in each bite.
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Yvo – this definitely is not harmony and bliss, it was pretty good though I can’t complain….but if you have a recommendation of a better one I’d check it out.
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@Yvo: “Jah Leung” refers to this particular dish with the fried cruller wrapped in the steamed (not WET!!! I am so with you on that one) crepe and not the fried cruller itself. I’ve heard the fried cruller called “yao tew” and “yao jah gwai”.
All I know is that it’s yummy goodness. Corner 28 does a bang up job for those in Flushing and the same folks who run that run Rice & Tea in Elmhurst.
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actually a few places I’ve seen call the steamed rice noodley thing a crepe. Saigon grill on the UWS comes to mind. But what the hell do I know, i just a wetter
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PS…. Zach, Daniel…Dim Sum in Brooklyn? How about it?
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@ Gastro888 : Yup, I was referring to this particular dish by ‘jha leung’. I generally hear/use ‘yoh tiew’ Mandarin for the fried crueller itself, or ‘yao jha gwai’ in Cantonese. Interestingly, that translates to oil-fried-ghost.
And I’m jhuk sing to the maxXx… like I said though, Cantonese skillz when it comes to food.
Seriously, though, I’m down for a Downtown Lunch meet up.
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Tips for ordering BBQ Pork (Char Siu) and @ Big Wong:
Tip 1: going to Big Wong and not ordering their congee is a mistake. They serve THE BEST congee in Chinatown. Forget all those Congee Village, Congee Bowery, Congee Blah Blah Blah. Big Wong is THE place for authentic fragrant rice congee
Tip 2: Not every order bbq pork is the same, not even at the same store. To get a good succulent piece of bbq pork (char siu) @ Big Wong, order it at the counter. Point directly to the piece of char siu with dripping honey glaze hanging at the counter that appeal to you, and tell the butcher “I want this piece, fatty please!”. That’s how you get a good piece of char siu, not the sad-looking dry meat that you got in the picture :P
Tip 3: As much as I love Big Wong, their fried crullers and crepes (all kinds) suck. Avoid.
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I’d like to surprise my deary-dear hubby with a special greeting for Christmas, so can you all in the know tell me what DocChuck is in Cantonese? Is he for example a ‘Big Wong’?
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Mohammed Lee Wong Chin
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I wish I had known about pointing to the fatty piece to ask for that.
And yes I knew I should get congee but I just am not a huge fan of it.
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their wontons and roast duck are the best. I always get the shredded beef congee.
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Actually, if you want to score mad points in C-town ask for the “boon sau, boon fay cha siu”. That’s Cantonese for “half lean and half fatty roasted pork”. Then you’ll get a nice balance of lean and fatty.
Although, I must admit that when my dad would make these at the family restaurant, I’d slice off the fatty pieces and eat them fresh and hot over rice.
@Yvo: Oh, okay – I got confused with what you were referring to, my bad! They’re called oil fried ghosts because they were a representation of a traitorous couple in ancient China.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtiao
GAH, now I’m going to have to eat one this weekend. Damn you, Midtown Lunch! (I kid!)
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Phonetic Cantonese of “DocChuck” = “Chuck Yee Sung”
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^^ That is, if the “Doc” part means “Doctor” ……
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Any Chinese reference to DocChuck must include “chee seen” as well as “hut yee”.
Unless you know a better term for crazy-ass white trash.
ah… Big Wong’s. Brings back memories of college. That place is good for some roast meats. The roast pork picture looks amazing. It does look leaner than most but hell, roast pork is awesome all of the time.