[NYC - Chinatown] Joe's Shanghai - Famous Soup Dumplings and More

On another stop of the Manhattan Chinatown food tour, I had to finally introduce you to Joe's Shanghai. I have eaten here so, so, so many times, I just have never blogged about it before now.

If you're a fan of soup dumplings, or even if you only just know what they are, I'm sure you've heard about Joe's Shanghai. It's one of the restaurants that always comes up whenever someone mentions soup dumplings in New York City.

They do not take reservations, so you will probably find yourself waiting for a bit if you go at peak hours (think like lunch time/brunch time on weekends). There's an interior photo if you scroll down all the way, but there are quite a few tables and they're pretty big, so if you're in a smaller group, you'll probably be seated with strangers. This also means that you can seat a larger group, but just keep in mind that it may take longer.

These are the Shredded Turnip Cakes. One order comes with 2 cakes. It has a nice flaky outside and is filled with shredded turnip inside. Honestly, when I ordered this, I thought this was going to be something completely different, but it is probably due to my inability to read Chinese. This was good, but I probably won't order it again because it's a little expensive for what I got, in my opinion, and it isn't the turnip cake I was imagining.

I am kind of obsessed with sesame noodles. I am still on the hunt to find the best ones in the city (leave a comment below if you have any recommendations). This particular dish has been hit or miss at Joe's Shanghai in terms of the sauce. The noodles are always the perfect texture, it's just that sometimes the sauce seems to taste a little more on the peanut side than on the sesame side.

What is a trip to Joe's Shanghai without an order of soup dumplings. These are the original pork steamed soup buns. For me, pork is a bit of a risk. My body is not a huge fan of me trying it for the most part, but I am willing to risk it for these soup dumplings. They're always pretty darn consistent in terms of quality and flavor.

You should definitely eat them right away when they come out of the kitchen because if you don't they may get stuck to the bottom of the steamer and then you'll rip a hole in them as you lift them onto your spoon, losing all the soup.

I would also highly recommend the crab and pork steamed soup dumplings. It's a good mix of both types of savory. They do use real crab, too, which is something I always like to note. There's also a chicken version of the soup dumplings...it's fine, but even with my minor aversion to pork, I prefer the pork to the chicken.

Note that Joe's Shanghai has moved at the end of December 2019. This post was about a visit from the old location.

The new location is 46 Bowery.

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