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Taiwan Bear House, Taiwanese Snack Foods on Pell and Doyers Street in Chinatown


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Went to this nice place after reading about it in the times. A very welcome addition to the Chinatown landscape that increasingly fails in my book. It is very small but sort of sleek especially considering a lot of the restos down there. They specialize in the night market/ snack foods of Taiwan as well as the food served in trains as I recall (train food is a much bigger deal in parts of Asia as I understand it particularly in Japan). I had the night market crunchy chicken which I found to be delectable. It didn't taste disgustingly over breaded and it had a nice savoriness to it. The chicken itself was nice soft and meaty rather then bony and chewy which added to the general deliciousness of the product. The sausages were a special of the day and had that instinctive savory sweetness that characterizes a lot of taiwanese food. I also had a nice bubble tea there with the jasmine tea as I think it is sacrilege to not get bubble tea with Taiwanese food (bubble tea started in Taiwan as did other innovations of Chinese cooking such as Mongolian Hot Pot). I didn't get the bento box which is their bread and butter as I was eating dinner later (at the ever reliable en brasserie) and didn't want to get stuffed up. Nevertheless, this a nice place to come and eat something quickly that is also quite delish as well.

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8 hours ago, manolands said:

...A very welcome addition to the Chinatown landscape that increasingly fails in my book. It is very small but sort of sleek especially considering a lot of the restos down there...

I agree.  Although there are several places in Manhattan's C'town that are still worth going to, this area of NYC (in general) is not the best place for Chinese food in NYC.  In Manhattan, a # of Szechuan places have sprung up in midtown that are very good and worth frequenting but, more importantly, Flushing's C'town (in Queens) is by far the bigger, better place for ethnic Chinese food of several regions.  Recommendations upon request.   Actually, the Brooklyn C'town around Sunset Park is probably better than Manhattan's C'town as well, but mainly for small, storefront places representing only a couple of regions of China.  Of course, both Flushing, Queens and Sunset Park, Bklyn are pretty out of the way for Manhattanites or visitors staying in Manhattan, but a trip on the #7 train to Flushing is highly recommended for anyone who wants one of the best C'towns in the country.

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51 minutes ago, Steve R. said:

I agree.  Although there are several places in Manhattan's C'town that are still worth going to, this area of NYC (in general) is not the best place for Chinese food in NYC.  In Manhattan, a # of Szechuan places have sprung up in midtown that are very good and worth frequenting but, more importantly, Flushing's C'town (in Queens) is by far the bigger, better place for ethnic Chinese food of several regions.  Recommendations upon request.   Actually, the Brooklyn C'town around Sunset Park is probably better than Manhattan's C'town as well, but mainly for small, storefront places representing only a couple of regions of China.  Of course, both Flushing, Queens and Sunset Park, Bklyn are pretty out of the way for Manhattanites or visitors staying in Manhattan, but a trip on the #7 train to Flushing is highly recommended for anyone who wants one of the best C'towns in the country.

Agreed one hundred percent. You have touched on all the neighborhoods where you can find very good Chinese food. I am consistently amazed by the quality of the food in those areas. It seems Chinatown is becoming little italy'ified slowly but surely and in order to find the good spots that still exist takes some detective work. I haven't had as much luck in Sunset Park by the way…any places I should look into?? I always wanted to go to that Yunnan Noodle Resto but it closed sadly!!! 

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14 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown.

I still think there a few worthy ones. Spicy Village is quite nice for instances. Lam Zhou noodles is another good one. Have to think more about others as I just moved back here!!!! Generally Chinatown is going downhill ESPECIALLY THE DIM SUM. Oh my god what a steep decline in that category. NYC was never quite as good as the West Coast (including Vancouver!!) in this regard but Chinatown in Manhattan has really fallen by the wayside in this area. Maybe you guys disagree but recently my dim sum meals in Chinatown have been blah generally. I also haven't had Dim Sum further afield as much but those adventures where I do have it in the other areas of NYC also haven't been outstanding.

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There are a couple of big Dim Sum houses in Manhattan's C'town, like the one up the escalator in the Mall under the Manhattan Bridge,  in Flushing & in Sunset Park… but, overall, the quality has not been great in NYC since the heyday of World Tong in Bensonhurst (when Joe Ng was there).  There are places outside of C'towns that serve high quality, high price dim sum (like Chinatown Brasserie, where Joe Ng is the Exec. Chef) in an upscale setting… but they don't count (at least to me).

In Manhattan's C'town, NY Noodletown is still a solid late night genuine hole in the wall, good food place but, with every year that goes by, you have to order more carefully.

If you ever return to the area & want to explore Sunset Park or get out to Flushing for Little Pepper, Fu Run or any of the others let me know.  We still have groups who met years ago (when we were all young and food boards were just beginning) thru CH who go out regularly.

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Great read above. Tx to manolands and Steve R.  Confirms to this reader I am a tourist as to the vast NYC dining world where once long ago I was a denizen.  Damn the 7 line!!! The fans' access to the Big Shea and its new fancier replacement and a bigger better C'Town. Tx

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