25 Pell Street
New York, NY
Joe's Ginger is good if you are craving soup dumplings and you do not want to deal with the crowds at Joe's Shanghai. I wanted to compare the difference in soup dumplings between Joe's Ginger and Joe's Shanghai. I ate first at Joe's Ginger, and the soup dumplings were divine. Tender skin, juicy, almost buttery filling of crabmeat and pork. Also tried the Crispy Beef, fried strips of beef with a spicy sweet tangy sauce that was pretty good. Also sampled the spicy beef noodle soup, which was not too good. In fact, it was terrible. They should not add jalapeno peppers to anything. The other time jalapeno peppers ruined a dish, it was at Sushi Samba, when they added jalapenos to a lobster roll. Ugh. Why mess with perfection? Jalapeno peppers should not be in any Asian food, and that's my humble opinion.
I witnessed a funny scenario while I was there. A white guy was eating lunch by himself, and they put him at the big round table in the back with two girls. When another table became available, the two girls jumped up as if to get away from him and to their own table. The guy ate peacefully by himself for a minute, until a couple, another white guy and Asian girl walked in and sat at the round table. The lone guy looked sad eating his big bowl of noodles all by himself in the corner, sitting with two strangers at the round table. So, this is what you need to deal with if you want to eat in Chinatown.Ok, back to the Joe's Shanghai comparison. I ordered a take out of the soup dumplings at Joe's Shanghai, and they tasted pretty much the same, except nothing tastes as good as in a restaurant. So, here's my verdict. The soup dumplings at Joe's Ginger are the same at Joe's Shanghai, except Joe's Ginger is less crowded. Another observation: sometimes, the waiters put the checks on the table before they are requested. This is kind of rude. They also do not take credit cards, so it always feels I spend more money in Chinatown. But then again, this is what you need to deal with if you want to eat in Chinatown.
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| Soup dumplings at Joe's Ginger |
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| Crispy beef |
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| The Spicy Beef Noodle Soup |
