Café China
Yiming Wang and Xian Zhang moved Café China one avenue west in 2021. It reopened at 59 West 37th Street. The kitchen chops the soft shell crab before frying it, so the crust covers every edge.
Why go
The building is 1930s brick. The restaurant takes three floors of it, with private dining at the top. The address the room left held a Michelin star for most of the years it traded there. The guide does not list this one. Wang and Zhang also run Birds of a Feather in Williamsburg.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the spicy soft shell crab, $38 in February 2022, under dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns.
- Order: the cumin lamb, $25 at the same date, carried over from the first room.
- Avoid: the vegetarian mapo tofu.
What locals & experts say
- Amber Sutherland-Namako, reviewing the new room for Time Out New York in February 2022 and rating it three out of five: the mapo tofu is
designed for the heat averse, absent the expected numbing, fiery effect. The restraint is puzzling.
1 - Yiming Wang and Xian Zhang, on their own site: the card runs
new and longtime-favorite Sichuan dishes, as well as unique and traditional cuisine from other regions in China.
2
Good to know
- The cocktails: $15 in February 2022, the Fallen Angels built on bourbon and the Flowers of Shanghai on gin.
Verdict
could-visit — The bar is big enough to drink at before you are hungry. Book a table, and order across it.