PrintRoasted Delights, Chinese Barbecue At Its Best [Update: no longer open]
"Pork chops, I'll miss you the most."
Roasted Delights
5 Catherine Street, New York, NY 10038 (b/n Bowery and East Broadway; map); 212-966-6558
Service: Friendly and accommodating
Setting: Pristine storefront with a few tables in the back
Compare It To: Big Wong
Must-Haves: Roast pig, roast duck, roast pork, bacon and egg fried rice
Cost: $10 a person plus tax and tip for a ridiculous amount of food
Grade: A
[UPDATE: As of 6/4/2009, we learned that this establishment is no longer open.]
The serious eaters who read Nina Lalli's mouthwatering Chinese turkey post got just a glimpse of what awaits them at the wondrous and aptly named Roasted Delights. Roasted Delights has Chinese barbecue and much more, as I found out when I tried and failed to get a turkey without ordering it in advance six days before Thanksgiving. Roasted Delight's ridiculously friendly and engaging owner, Candy Huang, took my deposit for the bird we all ate with Lalli. She then implored me to try the roasted delights hanging in the window instead.
"You'll love them, Eddie [Candy had asked for my name for the receipt]. I promise."
She was right, of course. Between the turkey, the other roasted delights, and the dishes we ordered to accompany the turkey, I came to the inescapable conclusion that Roasted Delights is in fact one of Chinatown's great undiscovered eating spots.
Candy (whose grandfather founded the business 25 years ago) and her chef turn out to be pork grandmasters. Slices from the whole roasted suckling pig hanging in the window range from damn good (when it's been out of the oven awhile) to sublime (if you happen to be lucky enough to be there when the magnificent pig first makes an appearance in the shop).
Slices of roast pork ($6.50) with the familiar-tasting sweet glaze are incredibly juicy and just fatty enough.
Barbecued spare ribs ($7.50) are a full St. Louis cut, so fatophobes beware. If you are a baby back rib lover, these may not be for you.
Bacon and egg fried rice (how delicious does that sound?) ($7.95) was fluffy, properly pale, and most definitely brunchworthy.
Lotus root with vegetables ($8.95) was alternately tender and crunchy and was studded with delicious Chinese sausage.
To complete our pre-Thankgiving feast we ordered spare ribs (Candy called them pork chops) with Peking sauce ($8.25). Sticky, sweet, crunchy, porky, and oh yes, so seriously delicious. SE:NY's Zach Brooks had this to say when he left our little gathering early: "Pork chops, I'll miss you the most." Thank you Zach "Homer Simpson" Brooks.
If there are any non-pork lovers out there reading this, you should order roast duck ($7.50 for a half, $15 for a whole). Each duck has beautifully lacquered crisp skin with just a thin layer of nonrendered fat between the skin and the meat.
So when you're looking for your Chinese roast meat fix, look no further than Roasted Delights. Perhaps a post-Thanksgiving excursion to Roasted Delights is in order. Ask for Candy. Tell her Eddie sent you.
Read more of Ed's reviews.
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15 Comments:
Awesome Ed, wonderful tip
cmballa at 11:37PM on 11/25/08
Great post, Ed. One question: do they roast goose there as well? Ever since the Hong Kong episode of No Reservations aired, it has haunted me deliciously in my dreams...and New York is much closer.
missvenuz at 2:07AM on 11/26/08
Nice! Particularly roboppy's pics ... Prices don't appear to be too shabby either.
LunaPierCook at 5:45AM on 11/26/08
My mom told me about this place when it first opened. I was hoping that it would keep flying under the radar. way to ruin it ed. =)
xospecialk at 9:38AM on 11/26/08
Robyn, nice photos! and it's the hanging roasted pig thing I was telling you about!
mmm.... piggies
foodinmouth at 9:38AM on 11/26/08
I would def check out this place if I'm ever in NYC. This looks awesome...
Yu Ming Lui at 9:43AM on 11/26/08
Mmmm, crispy pig's skin.
The bacon and egg fried rice looks really tasty.
gwong at 10:14AM on 11/26/08
Fantastic! I'm off to convince my apartmentmates to bypass cooking our own turkey this year...I'd much rather have this! heheheh ^_^
Kathy YL Chan at 10:15AM on 11/26/08
Wow, great find. fatophobes?? I'm a Fatophile
jeffsayyes at 8:44PM on 11/26/08
So, what's the difference between roast pig and roast pork? Can anyone out there tell me what the difference is?
Da_Vid at 10:26PM on 11/26/08
@Da_Vid The roast pig is a whole roasted pig where the skin crisps up really nice. Roast pork is a cut of pork that's been slathered in sauces and then roasted - the result is a red glazed piece of pork.
gwong at 10:35AM on 11/27/08
As a Hong-Konger here, I would say the fried rice would be alright but not in the full glory a fried should have. The rice is not supple enough; that is what can be judged from the pic . But I think we can't ask for too much about this. By the way,we called roast pig as 'Siu Yuk' in Cantonese(which actually means 'roasted meat') and roast pork as 'Cha Siu'(which means 'roasted on a skewer').
Just to share something with any Chinese food lover.
Enmamin at 4:35PM on 11/28/08
Thanks for cluing us into this place, Ed. We ventured down on Saturday. Had the roast duck with rice which was very tasty, with a great sauce. My son adored the bacon and egg fried rice. However, we found the “pork chops” to be waay too sweet; couldn't eat more than two pieces. But altogether a real find. (NB: We could not find the pork chops or the fried rice on the menu; we had to bring out the printout of the SE review and point to the pictures.)
Dee at 11:43AM on 11/30/08
Glad you liked Roasted Delights. It's a cool place. I agree with you about the pork chops. They're almost a pork dessert. You're right about the bacon and egg fried rice and the pork chops not being on the menu. I should have mentioned that in my post.
Ed Levine at 11:46AM on 11/30/08
I passed by Roasted Delights this weekend. It was shuttered.
The phone is also disconnected.
Any clue as to what has happened?
cocoa at 8:53AM on 06/01/09