Mei Lai Wah

Chinatown.  Most big cities have one, and of course New York does.  I'm often drawn there, not only because I appreciate a lot of the cuisine, but also, forthe great prices and generally no-frills environment.

"Mei Lai Wah is synonymous with Chinatown, an embodiment of the American Dream."

Mei Lai Wah is a Chinatown business I've known about for a while.  It opened in 1968, and for much of its existence was not really standout from other Chinatown spots, but they became relatively famous in 2008 when the New York Times published a passionate piece about it (while it was closed due to health inspection violations ...).  Since then, it seems to have stayed very well known (particularly as it blew up a few times on Tik Tok), and now still has regular lines.  If you say "pineapple bun" in this city, people immediately will jump to talking about it.   It has been on my radar since I moved to NY, so I was thrilled when an event I was attending had all their top hits.

Pineapple Bun with Roast Pork.$3.96.

"Pineapple bun with a crackly crust filled with char siu roast pork."

The very, very famous item from Mei Lai Wah. I finally got to try it!

And ... yeah, wow, I see why it gets such accolades.  The pineapple bun itself is the clear highlight: certainly the best I've ever had, although also the sweetest I've ever had. If you like just a touch of sweetness in your pineapple bun, this is not for you. I thought it was fantastic, the outside shattered and made a mess in all the right ways (just like a high quality croissant!).  4/5 pineapple bun.

Pineapple Bun: Inside.

The inside was good, but not as high quality as the bun itself.  A bit more quality control could be done as I had some bits of pork that really were just rubbery fat.  I also do prefer a less natural more red style of bbq pork, but this was still flavorful and good.  I just wished for fewer pure fatty bits.  3/5 filling.

Overall, a delightful item, and I'm glad I finally got to have it.  Will gladly eat again (although really, I'd love that pineapple buns stuffed with custard as a pure sweet item...). 

Egg Yolk Bun. ($6.60/3).

"Soft, fluffy buns filled with rich egg yolks."

I was also thrilled to get to try the egg yolk buns, the item I would have naturally picked as my second item too.  The bun was fairly standard, soft, steamed, seemed fresh, neutral flavor.

Egg Yolk Bun: Inside.

But inside is what these were all about.  I warmed mine up so the egg yolk reached flow state again.   Soo good.  I loved the very rich salted egg lava.  These were very mildly sweet, more savory really, so not a dessert style custard bun.

Very enjoyable, yes a bit basic, but well made (although it made me yearn for some pork floss, I always love the salted egg and pork floss combo).  3.5/5.

Crushed Cucumber and Peanut Salad.

This was included accidentally in one of my co-worker's orders, and they didn't want it.  So I took it off their hands.

This was actually very tasty.  Crushed cucumber, flavorful "Asian" sauce, tons of peanuts. 3.5/5.