"If there's one constant in Chinatown over the last five decades, it's the people crowding the sidewalk on Broadway outside Yang Chow on the weekends. The main attractions are the namesake fried rice and the slippery shrimp—crispy morsels of tangy, peppery crustacean so good that the staff wears shirts telling you to order them. And while those two things are the foundation of any meal here, almost everything on the classic American Chinese menu is good. Plenty of people get takeout, too, but they line up to dine in because the dining room is a portal to a bygone era complete with '70s-style carpet and upholstery and photos of old celebrity guests lining the walls. Yang Chow even has surprisingly strong—and reasonably priced—cocktails, so you can sip a mai tai or lychee martini while you wait for that pile of golden (well, orangey) shrimp to hit the table. photo credit: Kim Fox photo credit: Kim Fox photo credit: Kim Fox Food Rundown photo credit: Kim Fox Slippery Shrimp This dish is so popular that Yang Chow used to give diners a postcard for how to make it at home. Which feels like bragging, because you'll never make it as good as they do here—this combo of ketchup, cayenne, and vinegar is something like alchemy. photo credit: Kim Fox Sizzling Rice Soup The limp presentation of this usually flamboyant dish makes us think the crispy rice hasn't seen an actual sizzle since M.A.S.H. went off the air. But it's hard to complain about a little bowl of shrimp, chicken, and bamboo shoots floating in chicken broth. photo credit: Kim Fox Baby Cabbage with Chinese Mushroom This vegetable dish is as filling as any meat entree, with giant shiitakes and whole bulbs of baby bok choy so shiny they look like they just came back from the spa. photo credit: Kim Fox Yang Chow Fried Rice If there's any dish that tastes exactly like it should, it's this shrimp and pork fried rice: lightly seasoned, eggy, and covered with a thin veneer of oil. photo credit: Andrew Ryce Moo Shu Pork This lands at the table as four large, already-prepared burrito-sized rolls. You might miss the fun of wrapping them yourself, but in return you get balanced bites of soft proteins and crispy vegetables slathered in hoisin. photo credit: Andrew Ryce Pan-Fried Noodle With Pork Shreds The noodles at Yang Chow are a bit one-dimensional, but if you really want them, go for the pan-fried kind, slathered with gravy so that the crispy noodles soften as they absorb the liquid, instead of the lo mein." - Andrew Ryce
