Restaurant Review: Joe's Shanghai, New York City

Chinese food in New York City is a tricky thing. We have 3 Chinatown areas (Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn), and each one has an overwhelming number of restaurants. Add all the Chinese restaurants outside of Chinatown and the number is even more astonishing. It takes a special place to stand out, but Joe's Shanghai does just that.

There are 3 separate Joe's Shanghai locations - one in Midtown, one in Manhattan's Chinatown, and one in Queens' Chinatown. I'm most familiar with the midtown Joe's Shanghai, which is right around the corner from my office on 56^th St. This location is a bit more upscale than your average Chinese take-out joint, with cool Asian-themed décor, black lacquered tables and cloth napkins. Service is quick and professional, and if you call in your order, delivery is extremely fast. The Manhattan Chinatown Joe's Shanghai is a little less formal, but still nicer than many of the hole-in-the-wall restaurants in that neighborhood. The menus are mostly the same at all three locations, but the Queens Chinatown location has a special Chinese-language menu available with some extremely unusual dishes due to the high concentration of native Chinese speakers in the area. My guess is that you could request these dishes in the other locations as well, as long as you speak Chinese!

The first thing you notice upon looking at the menu at any Joe's Shanghai location is how many dishes you don't recognize. While Joe's does offer many Chinese-American favorites like Sweet and Sour Chicken, they specialize in Shanghainese cuisine, which is a bit different from the Chinese food to which most Americans are accustomed. The menu is chock full of oddities like shredded jelly fish, crispy spicy shredded eels, braised sea abalone and black sea cucumbers - most of which I am not brave enough to order. However, there are many other dishes, like Lion's Head (pork meat balls), Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings), Shanghai Style flat noodles with pork and old-fashioned Shanghai spare ribs that showcase more traditional ingredients in an entirely new way.

Soup dumplings are the Shanghainese specialty that made Joe's Shanghai famous, and I must admit they are delicious. The unique wrapper holds not only a lump of meaty filling, but a savory meat soup as well, and bursts in your mouth when you take a bite. Be sure to let these cool off a bit before eating, as the filling is like lava when fresh from the kitchen! All of their noodle dishes, braised duck, spicy chicken with peanuts and Shanghai spare ribs are also winners. Though some of the menu offerings may be a little intimidating, there is something for everyone at Joe's Shanghai. Someday I might even work up the nerve to order sea cucumbers!

Address: Midtown Location 24 W. 56^th St., near 5^th Ave.
Website: www.joeshanghairestaurants.com
Phone: 212-333-3868
Hours: Mon-Sat 11:30am-10:30pm, Sun 1pm-10:30pm
Price Range: appetizers $3-$10; entrees $10-$20