Dumplings?! At A Time Like This?!
By Olivia Kenney
Free stale doughnuts after 1 am, Costco samples, and other things you thought were better than doing a dumpling crawl in Chinatown.
I know what you’re thinking, wow “artist” living in Brooklyn, takes a one night escape somewhere in between East Broadway and Bowery. Congratulations. Save it. It’s no secret that you can get into a bit of a routine when you have the same twenty dollar budget for three days of eating and drinking in one of the most expensive cities in the world. You know you can’t go anywhere without a beer shot special and you’re certainly not throwing your card down so you and a party of nine can just “split it!”(Pretty confident that is the moment you’re transitioning into adulthood). That being said, the kind-of-hot boy in dickies you regret swiping left on was going to be the first person to tell you, that you are the last person to figure out how fucking perfect Chinatown is for your editorial level cash flow and your Friday night.
Since creativity calls, and bar crawls are for wealthy people, we organized a dumpling crawl, and let me tell you- I have never, in my young life, felt so welcomed by the smell of raw fish that has been in the wrong temperature for more than an hour. New York is for dreamers, believers and everyone in between, which only makes it appropriate that I got my wallet stolen on the subway while en route to my luxe and highly anticipated dumpling night out. That wasn't meant to make you feel anything other than optimistic about the fact that I was left with the 15 dollars cash in my back pocket and I did just fine anyway. Something to remember- any restaurant is BYOB if you play your cards right. Now, I’m not going to give you a Buzzfeed style "Top Ten Best Dumpling Spots in Chinatown", because although I may fall under the glamorous umbrella of stereotypes you are thinking up, we at POND are not that lame. Instead, I took some pictures and hopefully they encourage you to pick your favorite food that costs under 10 bucks and hit at least 6 spots for just that- a few tall boys and a generously filled flask and you, my friend are balling on a budget.
Like I said, play your cards right.
Check the Instax, us millennials don't miss a beat.
Abby, Lin, and LP performing a very original chopsticks trick.
Dumpling crawl may result in believing you can fit 3+ people in the Mr. Fong's bathroom. Very false beliefs.
69 Bayard, for maturity reasons only.
River, Wonton connoisseur.
Keep up with Olivia and her work on Instagram.