Welcome To New York City’s Chinatown!
It’s an area that spans many blocks in lower Manhattan, and houses countless restaurants serving up tradition Asian cuisine, along with shops selling all sorts of other merchandise as well…
I saw people on the streets holding laminated cards with images of designer handbags…I am NOT in any way suggesting they were counterfeit, just noting that these street vendors were everywhere – and I’d see people being led away into a more secluded area to shop for a bargain…however, I kept moving until I reached this restaurant on the very lower east side:
Welcome To Wu’s Wonton King!
My friends Karen and Bruce told us about this culinary adventure – and so along with several other friends, we decided to try it!
The restaurant is located at 165 E Broadway, New York – standing outside, you can look at what’s on offer: to the left of the door they have their Peking Ducks ready to order:
They note on their website that they offer a wide array of authentic Chinese Food, such as Sesame Chicken, Pepper Steak, Moo Shu Pork, Sauteed Bok Choy, Stir Fried Noodle…the menu literally goes on forever!
But, to the right of the door is this sight:
Giant Dungeness Crabs!
Inside the door is a large tank, and inside that tank are many giant Dungeness Crabs…you will soon see just how “giant” they are, and they are a specialty of the restaurant!
As you can see, they have a sign announcing these giant crabs – but what makes this Dungeness Crab so “special?”
Take a look!
Bring On The Crab!
This incredible culinary adventure begins when your crabs are brought to the table to inspect!
Here’s how they are presented:
They are truly spectacular: look at this giant Dungeness Crab! Since there were twelve of us at the table, we ordered two of them and I got Bruce to help me!
Yes, each crab feeds six people – and the best part is that they serve it 3 different ways for each crab – so we were about to get SIX different crab preparations to share!
First however, they whet your appetite with this!
Before the Crab feast begins, they offer each of you a Roasted Duck Bun, which was incredible flavorful, and some duck legs and breasts to gnaw on as well!
Absolutely delicious!
Then, it was time for crab!
Time to dig in, beginning with this stunning presentation:
Alex and our friend Chris were wowed by these beautifully portioned crab legs, steamed in a wok with ginger, scallions and Shaoxing wine.
They were fresh, slightly sweet as Dungeness crab is, and meaty good!
Chris brought a jeroboam of the stunning Morlet La Proportion Doiree – perfect with crab!
The next dish was served Cantonese style; note that the chunks of crab are still in their shells and part of the fun is to grab one, dig the meat out, and then lick your fingers!
Next up was Dungeness crab with garlic ginger and scrambled egg – served inside one of the giant crab heads…
If you love deep fried crab, these were battered, deep-fried and delicious!
The meat comes out easily, and again, much of the fun is to dig in and make sure you get all of the meaty flavor inside the shell!
The sauces and seasonings were incredible, and we ate ate and ate crab – and what could possibly be next?
A classic!
Crab Fried Rice!
This is where the other crab head comes into use: a delicious fried rice stuffed with crab!
The restaurant is “BYOB” – and the great news is they do not charge any corkage fee at all, so our friends Karen, Bruce and Chris brought some incredible wine – take a look!
This was quite a crab-macular feast but there’s more!
They have another specialty as well:
A Whole Suckling Pig!
And yes, the table next to us had ordered it!
Not this time for us, but they still brought over some beef with vegetables to make sure everyone was stuffed!
And here’s how it ended – it was Kevin’s birthday so he was surprised with a special dessert and a gift as well – and as you can see, he loved it!
As part of the birthday celebration, the Hostess brought us all Wu’s hats – she made us an offer we couldn’t refuse:
“They’re $15 each – but I’ll lower it to $11 and give you six for free!”
Alex was sold on the deal!
As you can see behind us, we closed the place down, and it was a truly memorable and wildly delicious food adventure!
This was just one of many great food adventures we’ve had in the big apple – watch:
Yes, I did shots two separate times, and you can see them both by clicking on my story here:
I also ate at one of the New York’s most iconic restaurants!
Katz’s Deli serves up delicious food, and was of course immortalized int eh film “When Harry Met Sally” – click here to see how!
I also had a unique experience wandering through Centra Park:
Turtles everywhere!
Not only that, you can pet them!
Click here to see that video!
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Bravo to Wu’s Wonton King – make sure to head there and get your own “crab selfie!”
Categories: Exotic Travel, Food, food blog, Food Review, Funny Pictures, Memoirs, New York, Pop Culture, Recipes, Restaurants, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, Wacky Food, wine
johnrieber 
Hello, I enjoyed your post and love Wu’s Wonton King, I’ve been several times. But I feel the need to point out that what you enjoyed was actually their King crab meal, not Dungeness. They do serve Dungeness there (as pictured in the wall photo) but that’s a different dish from what you got- it’s also a portion for just one or two people as it’s a smaller crab with much shorter legs and a larger carapace by proportion.
Just figured I’d let you know for accuracy’s sake. Hope you’re still out there enjoying great meals!
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What a great experience! It’s hard to conceive that 2 crabs could feed 12 people. I loved this post.
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Both
Looks both fun and delicious!
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Looks fun and delicious
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A great post, John. I’m not sure if I could enjoy eating crab that I’d been introduced to live, so I would skip that bit I think.
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HA! Robbie, I understand…who wants to meet the chicken first, right?
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😂 exactly
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Classic New York experience. It looked like great fun!
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It was indeed! Thanks for commenting!
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John, I want that meal now!
Dungeness is a rather bleak place in the county of Kent, south-east of London by 77 miles.
I have been there many times over the years, and it is best known for having a nuclear power station on the shingle beach, and for being where film-maker Derek Jarman lived.
But in my entire life, I have NEVER eaten a Dungeness crab.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeness
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks for sharing that Pete! Dungeness Crab thrives near Seattle, so I grew up on it – the meat is slightly sweet, with a texture like braised meat – and it is delicious! Doesn’t sound like your Dungeness is crab-worthy!
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Now those are some big crabs!Looks delicious and a fun place to eat!
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It was!
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