06 March 2009

I Ate at Wo Hop at Midnight


Not a big deal, I know. A lot of people eat at this Chinatown staple after hours. Well, not a lot. But enough. There was a large Chinese family (complete with kids) and a group of three Euro-hipsters when I was there.

The interior is stark, stark, stark. No frills. Clean, with large, round communal tables in the back, and a row of red booths along the wall, and one of those hideous, backlit, framed scenes of some exotic locale. (Why are those thought to be attractive?). The light was blindingly florescent.


The menu is large; many choices for midnight. My waiter quickly took my order and brought it out within seven minutes. I made few requests, for I had seen how pissed off he was with the Euro-hipsters, who kept asking for chopsticks, and special hot sauce, and this and that, to show that they were cool and knew what to request so as to be authentic Chinatown habitués. I hated them, too.

The food was good, not great. But there was a lot of it. I took my hand-written receipt with me, which panicked the staff. They stopped me at the door and reclaimed it, writing me a new one that I could take with me. Outside, it was dark again.

4 comments:

MartinD28 said...

Of course, for the true Wo Hop experience, one must head down the stairs at 17 Mott St. The street-level outlet featured in the post is positively swank compared to what awaits down there. Wonderful, and a must-do for "Lost City" folks

M.Lane said...

Great post! I want to go there!

ML
mlanesepic.blogspot.com

ChickenUnderwear said...

I used to go there often, mostly after 3 AM.

It has been a few days, are you recovered yet ;]

nick said...

that is not the real wo hop the real one is on mott street this is garbaage the real 1 is amazing