Chinese New Year is tomorrow–a good time to check out any ambitious newcomers that have joined uptown's Chinese restaurant scene, still mostly dotted with nondescript take-out joints.
There's some happy news: last summer modern northwestern Chinese sit-down spot Dunhuang quietly opened at 1268 Amsterdam Avenue near 122nd Street, a short walk from Columbia's main campus.
The chainlet has been expanding quickly across New York–there are now at least five other locations from Flushing to the East Village–serving northwestern Chinese specialties including its signature Lanzhou beef noodle soup, a pho-like medley of fresh hand-pulled noodles, beef slices, cilantro and radish in a beef broth spiked with chili oil. There are five noodle types to choose from: thin to extra wide.
If soup's not your thing, the wide menu of regional Chinese dishes sounds worth exploring, from the fried eggplant appetizer to the braised lamb shoulder. Best of all, the space has tables galore in the back, so eating the freshly-prepared food in-house is a real option.
