Nom Wah Tea Parlor

Nom Wah Tea Parlor opened in 1920 at 13–15 Doyers Street, as a bakery and tea parlour on one of Chinatown's oldest and most crooked lanes. When it lost the lease on number 15 in 1968, it moved next door to number 13, where it has stayed ever since. The Choy family owned it in the 1940s, and in 1974 it was bought by Wally Tang, who had started working there in 1950 at the age of 16. The family still runs it today.

The interior has kept its vintage look, with booths, a tiled floor and old signage, and it feels far removed from the modern city a few streets away. Unlike Hong Kong-style dim sum halls, there are no trolleys; you tick what you want on a paper menu and everything is cooked to order, so dishes arrive fresh and hot. Shrimp dumplings, pork soup dumplings, roast pork buns, turnip cakes and the fluffy, fried egg rolls are all favourites, and the bakery tradition lives on in almond cookies and buns with lotus paste or red bean filling. Moon cakes appear in season.

Nom Wah is open every day from 11am to 9pm, including major holidays. Parties of three to five can reserve through Resy from Monday to Thursday, while couples are walk-in only. Queues are common at weekend lunchtimes, so a weekday afternoon is the easiest time to visit. Prices are modest, making it one of the better-value sit-down meals in Lower Manhattan, and plates are designed for sharing.

It suits families, groups of friends and solo diners who want a few plates at the counter. Order a couple of dishes at a time rather than everything at once, so they keep arriving hot. The family has also opened other locations, including a test kitchen in Nolita, but the Doyers Street parlour is the original. Contact the restaurant through its website for private events.

Doyers Street runs between Pell Street and the Bowery, and the nearest subway stations are Canal Street, served by several lines, and Chambers Street on the J and Z, each a walk of about ten minutes. Columbus Park is around the corner, and Chinatown's markets and bakeries along Mott Street are a minute away.