Ever since we moved to our new office, at the border of Chinatown and Soho and what's left of Little Italy, we've become convinced that we are at the center of the Manhattan food universe. Five-for-a-dollar dumplings, fresh mozzarella, Spanish cured meats, fruit markets, $4 lunch specials, cannoli—it's all right here. These are a few of the spaces we've hit up so far; but don't worry, you'll be hearing about many, many more. More

Leah Cohen is known to New Yorkers as the former executive chef at Centro Vinoteca, and to the rest of the nation as a runner-up on Season 5 of Top Chef. She spent the last year cooking, eating, and trekking around Southeast Asia (and keeping a travel blog) and now returns to New York to open a Gramercy restaurant that showcases "the bold flavors of Asian street food." But in the meantime, she's previewing the menu of that restaurant at LTO, the semi-permanent Chinatown establishment that opened earlier this year as a space for chefs to rotate through in a series of one-week pop-up stints. More

Growing up I used to make these steamed rice balls at home, small and chewy mochi balls stuffed with a molten filling of sweet black sesame bean paste. Heaven! But here in New York, you can find me at Shanghai Cafe with at least two orders of their very fine Black Sesame Rice Balls. More

Given how well Xi'an Famous Foods (full review here), the Flushing noodle and soup joint that made a successful leap across the East River to the East Village is doing, it was only a matter of time before a few of its competitors began to follow suit. Henan Flavor, the brand new Chinatown spinoff of Flushing's Henan Feng Wei, serves a menu that resembles Xi'an's in many ways. Wide hand-pulled noodles available in soups or platters, simple homestyle stews, and pork-stuffed sandwiches. But despite these superficial parallels, a few bites in and it's quite clear that you're in a different province entirely. More

The Brown Cafe sits in the crook of Hester Street that's part Lower East Side, part Chinatown; it's a small spot, but a good-looking one, particularly before noon, all wood in the morning light through the full-length windows. Since it doesn't open for breakfast until 9:00am, it's perhaps not the best pre-work stop-off, unless you're located in the area or you're just snagging a pastry. But if you've got time for a leisurely morning meal, the fresh, thoughtful food at Brown will do you right. More

Bánh mì seem easy to come by these days, with mainstream spots like Baoguette making the classic Vietnamese sub a household name; but funky little shops like Sau Voi Corp that sell them for $4 beside packs of cigarettes and lotto tickets are still a rare gem. More

These days, Mosco Street, the little hill that runs between Mulberry and Mott in Chinatown, is mainly known for its decent Thai grocery store and the mediocre five-for-a-dollar Fried Dumpling shop. But anybody who lived in Manhattan through the 80's and 90's knows Mosco Street for a different one-dollar-treat: the Hong Kong Cake. More

Our desert island dumpling would be the chewy-crispy, pork-filled, Beijing-style guo tie. You'll see them on the menu as fried dumplings or potstickers. Last week, we visited every dumpling shop in Chinatown to see whose were best. More

Country of Origin: Japan Locations Worldwide: Over 120 in Australia , Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the US NYC Locations: One in Manhattan's Chinatown and one in Flushing's Most people don't... More

Though I've always loved New York's Chinatown—the food carts and fish markets, fake purses and dazed tourists, and of course all of the food shops, bakeries, and restaurants—eating in the neighborhood can be enough to make any vegetarian a little wary. Still, choose your destination wisely, and it's definitely possible to have a vegetarian meal in Chinatown fashion. More