Chinese Food Finder: New York

by: Carl Chu

Manhattan Beach CA: Crossbridge Publishing Company 2004, $11.95, Paperback
ISBN: 1-932296-04-2

Reviewed by: Jacqueline M. Newman
Spring Volume: 2005 Issue: 12(1) page(s): 26 and 27

Carl Chu says: There is a Chinese Culinary revolution going on, thanks to an explosive influx of Chinese immigrants. China's vast array of regional cuisines is now easily within reach. Information about it and them and where to find Chinese restaurants in New York City is now within everyone's easy reach. All that is needed is a copy of this two hundred and four page book. It fits in pocket or pocketbook, and with it one gets to find and enjoy!

Besides a listing of restaurants, read about fourteen regional kinds of Chinese food. They are discussed in separate sections, as is tea drinking, vegetarian cuisine, and Chinese bakeries. How many are included? Nearly two hundred places to dine and/or snack on Chinese food. Everyone can thank Chu and his contributing editor, Andrea Rademan, for reporting and listing them. There are enough to try one every other day in a year. Most, if not all, are worth it. They are in Manhattan's Chinatown and in midtown, in Flushing and in Elmhurst in Queens, also in Sunset Park and Bay Ridge in Brooklyn. This book really makes it possible to 'Eat until you Drop' while learning and enjoying the plethora of Chinese foods available in New York.

Everyone who likes Chinese food and lives in or comes to the Big Apple needs this Chu Chinese Food Finder. It separates Chaozhou food from Fukien (Fujian) flavors, and tells you where to get either of them. It helps you find food from Shandong, Shanghai, or Sichuan. Learn what Chinese coffee shops serve and set out to try some of their offerings. Find them. Chu has included addresses and telephone numbers, where to find them in the city, and more. Just reading the book is an education.

Finding vegetarian or Islamic food or that of the Jiangzhe region is easy. The reader will be able to tell differences in all of the above and other regions and styles of Chinese food. For the record, we have eaten in about three-quarters of the listed places, and are planning to make it one hundred percent before the next edition appears. We know that Chu seeks, finds, and chews on lots of good Chinese food. We were planning to and now have) spoken to him about other places; you can, too, the address of the publisher is in this handy bible of New York Chinese food.

This fine volume says to look for the Chinese Food Finder for the Bay Area and San Francisco; we just located a copy, thanks to a friend, and we have already scheduled a trip to check it out. Everyone can now enjoy gaining depth and delights in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. Carl Chu, what’s next? How about Vancouver, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago, etc.?

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