Siu Lap City

Midtown’s Chinese barbecue Siu Lap City has a simple formula: choose a rice, choose a meat, choose a vegetable. But the tiny counter, opened by the folks behind EaDo’s now defunct Long Sing Supermarket (RIP), smacks you in the face with meat. Crispy skin whole ducks, racks of pork belly, and braised beef tendon dangle from behind a steamy service window. Service here is fast, you should be prepared when your turn comes, and sometimes you have to wait for the staff to chop up an entire duck or rack of pork with a massive cleaver. Those efforts result in juicy  breast or barbecue pork with cracker-crisp skin. Get here early, as the favorites like duck, sell out first.

photo credit: Chelsea Thomas