Half assed hitting of Taste of Chinatown

The impossible happened Saturday - thanks to Taste of Chinatown, even more people than usual packed the smelly, cluttered streets below Canal St for $1 dishes.

We meant to take full advantage but we had skipped breakfast and were simply too hungry to wait for the 1 pm start time. We grabbed some Vietnamese and only went to one table for cake. Still, it was nice to be able to stroll down the normally unnavigable Mott St since the street was blocked to auto traffic. Not feeling all claustrophobic in the heart of Chinatown: Priceless and whatnot.



I was a little skpetical of the value of these dollar dishes since a single George Washington gets you a long way in Chinatown restaurant as it is (say, dumplings). But I suppose more than the price, the event was worthwhile for the opportunity to sample a bunch of restaurants in one afternoon. By far the most popular was Peking Duck House at 22 Mott. There, the line went a couple of doors down and the table was the further crowded by onlookers curious to see how much duck you could get for a buck (one pancake - not bad, but not worth the wait in my opinion).



Most of the action was on Mott, but we saw a few good looking dishes on less travelled streets like Pell. Am I sorry we missed out on the big gorgefest? Eh. Not when the neighborhood is in stumbling distance of my apartment and I hate waiting for food.