Bun Boy Eats NYC – WO HOP – CHINATOWN

WO HOP – CHINATOWN – DINNER

March 14, 2016 5:43 am

Wonton Egg Drop Soup

Wo Hop, open since 1938, is a total throw back to old school, East Coast Chinese food.

Also reminds me of the small town Chinese food we had growing up.

Words like Foo’s and Chow’s are strewn about the menu. Familiar and comforting dishes many of us grew up with. Fried meats. Greasy noodles. MSG galore.

Dishes to be found in local cafes in Shanghai? Doubtful.

But who cares!

Sometimes we want more of a Panda Express experience. Sometimes we don’t want to wonder what odd fish parts are floating about in our soup. If our wonton soup contains anything other than slices of bbq pork or ultra thick-skinned pork-filled wontons, I don’t want any part of it!

I first was introduced to Wo Hop in 2004, when I came to run the NYC Marathon. My dear friend Stella Mars took me and my other friend Nancy (of Sid and Nancy fame, from my Bun Boy LA blog) down this dark and desolate staircase to what I assumed would be my immediate doom.

I was, thankfully, quite wrong. Wo Hop is a national treasure.

Another throwback component to Wo Hop are the obvious lack of chopsticks. Every place setting is a fork and spoon. We asked two different waiters for chopsticks and never saw either of them again.

Besides the deep fried dumplings (fried beyond reason), which are a sight to behold (definitely have never seen those on a Chinese menu before) we also ordered the Shanghai Chow Mai Fon (Thin curried noodles with shrimp, chicken and pork) and the boneless bbq ribs.

Just like Chinese food you grew up with, nothing was even remotely spicy or really all that flavorful. Salt is the key component to every vintage Asian dish, everyone knows that. That and sugary sweet sauces, like plum/orange and whatever that red sweet and sour sauce is. I’m not sure it contains any real food and I’m fine with that.

The only foodstuff with substantial flavor was the hot mustard, which you would dip the $1 deep fried wonton crisps into. The wonton’s are really very bland, so they need that mustard.

Would I come back? Absolutely. Would I bring my own Sriracha? Absolutely.

FYI, this place always has a line to get in. It doesn’t always move that fast, but stick with it. The divey joint is a NYC institution and is worth checking out at least once.

17 Mott St
Basement
New York, NY 10013
b/t Mosco St & Park Row
Chinatown, Civic Center
(212) 962-8617
wohopnyc.com