When in New York City: Dimsum USA, a trip to the Big Apple's Chinatown

The cold of winter, the overcast sky, the occasional shower of flurries. Somehow the posh heated New York City boutiques can’t seem to be warm enough. You know you have to step out into the cold again. The shopping bags on hand won't block the cold.

Times like these, the hot champurado (chocolate porridge) and tuyo (fried dried fish) or the scalding binignit (coconut dessert soup) would be the perfect dishes for cold weather. I just had to roll my eyes and wonder where in this Western cosmopolitan city one will find these so-Pinoy food I wanted. New York City may be a melting pot of culture and cuisine, I'm pretty sure a restaurant or two will list it on the menu. Nothing is impossible. 

Came noon, the perennial issue of what and where to eat came up once more. Everyone went through their lists. Voila, dim sum was a common denominator. The hot, steaming Chinese food was the perfect dish to feast on at wintertime. Off we went to Chinatown.

Chinatown is just about in every city you can visit around the globe. In the Big Apple, it's on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. All Chinatowns may exude the same vibe wherever they are, but each location has a unique story to tell. The Big Apple’s Chinatown has one of the highest concentrations of Chinese people on this side of the globe (read: the Western Hemisphere). Not only that, it is one of the oldest ethnic Chinese enclaves outside of Asia, with its first permanent immigrant, a Cantonese cigar businessman by the name of Ah Ken, arriving in 1958 in New York City.

As we say, it starts with one. Now this section of the city is a thriving community offering just about anything, the cuisine being the most popular. From take-away, delivery or dining in, who doesn’t crave for the no-fuss and tasty cuisine of this Asian country?

Well, we found our comfort food. Soon enough, the bamboo steamer baskets are piling as high as the Empire State Building we visited a few days ago. And we said that we were not too hungry when we came in. Yeah, right. The piles of steamers revealed otherwise.

Maybe that’s how tasty the food was. It was one of the most popular in the area. “Best to reserve in advance” or “come before the lunch rush” were the suggestions from the locals. The sudden surge of guests was enough proof that it is a sought-after restaurant.

It may not be the Pinoy comfort food I was longing for, but feasting on the different varieties of steaming hot dim sum was heavenly! Our huge round table was the constant stop of the dim sum carts. The smiling faces of the Chinese servers seem to say, “Go for it and eat more. The more orders, the bigger the tip.”

Hunger sated and bodies warmed, plus making the servers happy with a large tip, we went out to the cold NYC climate once more. Next destination? SOHO. To shop. Again.