Nom Wah Tea Parlor

Nom Wah Tea Parlor has been part of Chinatown since 1920, when it opened as a modest tea parlor with a bakery on site. In 1968 it relocated within the neighborhood, settling on Doyers Street, where it eventually became a local fixture–first known for its almond cookies, and later for reliably good dim sum.

Today it’s intentionally old-school: simple, worn-in, and largely unchanged for decades. A place where the focus is entirely on the food, not the room. Skip the details of the setting–the point is the steady stream of dim sum from the kitchen: straightforward, satisfying, and hard to replicate elsewhere in the city.

Here's the thing people forget to mention: in 2015 this place hosted a pre-Met Gala party. Anna's crowd, in here, eating char siu bao at folding tables. Famous people still come – quietly, regularly – and nobody makes a fuss, which is very much the only correct way to behave at Nom Wah.

Order dim sum. All of it. Point at things you don't recognise and say yes. The dumplings, the noodles, the steamed buns – there's a reason this place has outlasted every trend this city has thrown at it.