Joe's Shanghai
There's a scant list of Chinese words that non-Chinese people sometimes learn, usually having to do with food. The average American knows "lo mein," "bok choy," and even "cha siew bao," but I think another one that's making its way out of anonymity is "xiao long bao." Xiao long bao are Shanghainese soup dumplings. It's pretty much what you would imagine when you hear "soup dumpling": there's a meaty filling and a soupy broth inside a dumpling wrapper. My cousin says that Joe's Shanghai has some of the best in the city, so he treated us to some xiao long bao there. Joe's Shanghai is a small restaurant on Pell Street in Chinatown that is infamous for long waits and famous for its xiao long bao. I kid you not, we waited for an hour and a half on the narrow sidewalk for a table. It was worth it, though. When you first step inside the restaurant, your nose is filled with this almost-offensive sour...