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A decorated arch is visible at the start of Chinatown’s main street. — Excellent eating awaits.

Where to Eat in Boston’s Chinatown

The neighborhood’s best restaurants for dumplings and dim sum and noodles and sushi and so much more

by Terrence Doyle and Erika Adams Updated Jan 31, 2023, 1:29pm EST

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Excellent eating awaits.

| f11photo/Shutterstock

by Terrence Doyle and Erika Adams Updated Jan 31, 2023, 1:29pm EST

Chinatown is, without a doubt, one of Boston’s best food neighborhoods. Want to eat the greatest dumplings in the city? Head to Chinatown. Dim sum? Check. Offal? Check. Peking duck? You got it. Chinatown has ramen; Chinatown has udon; Chinatown has sushi; Chinatown has pho; Chinatown has hot pot. Chinatown is where you bring your friend who’s visiting from out of town and wants to eat the best food the city has to offer.

It’s a dense, food-packed neighborhood to explore, but start with these 15 excellent options.

See also: Great Bakeries in Boston’s Chinatown

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Hei La Moon

Grab a seat in Hei La Moon’s light-filled, bi-level space (it’s new!) and tuck into bountiful spreads of seafood, dumplings, and sizzling plates of beef and chicken. Dim sum cart service is available on the weekends.

Open in Google Maps

83 Essex St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

Also featured in:

The Q

The menu at the Q is massive and offers diners a mix of Japanese and Chinese food, but the play here is the Mongolian hot pot. Get the spicy beef tallow broth, and pack it with noodles, vegetables, and protein.

Open in Google Maps

660 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Where to Eat Chinese Hot Pot in Greater Boston

Taiwan Cafe

The Taiwan-style pan-fried dumplings at Taiwan Cafe are the truth, but don’t ignore other dishes such as sauteed pickled mustard greens with pork intestines, sauteed blood pudding, or Sichuan-style white fish in a pot of bubbling chile oil.

34 Oxford St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

Slices of a flaky white fish sit in a fiery red broth in a metal bowl over a flame. It’s on a table inside a busy, casual restaurant. — Sichuan fish at Taiwan Cafe.

Also featured in:

Pho Pasteur

This Vietnamese restaurant is a Chinatown staple. Pho Pasteur opened in 1991, and it has been serving an extensive menu of Vietnamese food — including, yes, some of the best pho in the city — ever since.

Open in Google Maps

682 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

The exterior of Pho Pasteur Vietnamese restaurant in Boston’s Chinatown, with maroon signage and light pink paint. — Pho Pasteur.

Penang Malaysian Cuisine

Penang’s roti canai is a sort of crispy pancake served with curry chicken dipping sauce, and it — along with the nasi lemak, which is a coconut-flavored rice dish served with a chile- and anchovy-spiked curry chicken and a hard-boiled egg — is what you should order at one of the area’s only Malaysian restaurants. (There’s also a Waltham location.)

Open in Google Maps

685 Washington St, Boston, MA 02116

Visit Website

A Malaysian fish — curry chicken, rice, and a hard-boiled egg — on a banana leaf on a blue plate — Nasi lemak at Penang.

Also featured in:

12 Excellent Chinatown and Leather District Restaurants That Deliver

Empire Garden

This eye-catching space was formerly a Vaudeville theater. (And no, it wasn’t a porn theater.) Peking duck is an option, making Empire Garden one of the very few restaurants in the city doing the dish.

Open in Google Maps

690 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

The facade of Empire Garden restaurant in Boston’s Chinatown. The sign is red with yellow lettering. The building looks like an old theater, because it was once a theater. — Empire Garden.

Also featured in:

Dumpling Cafe

Dumpling Cafe is the spot for Taiwan-style pan-fried dumplings and pork soup dumplings. Not to be missed, however, is the Taiwan-style eggplant, which is sweet and spicy and gooey and perfect.

695 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

A wooden steamer holds half a dozen plump soup dumplings. The steamer sits on a round white plate on a wooden table. — Soup dumplings at Dumpling Cafe.

Also featured in:

Peach Farm

Peach Farm was a late-night favorite among restaurant industry types before the pandemic struck, but it doesn’t stay open quite as late anymore. Still, it’s worth a visit. Its menu is overwhelming — there are literally hundreds of options — but that’s part of the allure. One could eat food from Peach Farm every night for a year before trying everything on the menu, but start with seafood, especially lobster with ginger and scallions. There’s also Peking duck, and — unlike other neighborhood destinations for it — you don’t have to order in advance.

4 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

A plate with a blue border embellished by birds holds a portion of lobster with scallions and ginger — Lobster with scallions and ginger at Peach Farm.

Also featured in:

Shojo

This extraordinarily hip spot is known for its inspired cocktails, but don’t miss the sesame charred greens, the tiger-style ribs, the shadowless fries, and whatever bao options are currently on offer.

9 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Hong Kong Eatery

This Cantonese restaurant has been open since the 1980s and has since become a stalwart of Chinatown’s dining scene. The sauteed duck tongues in Maggi sauce are worth an order, as is anything made with XO sauce, which is a spicy, umami-rich fish sauce that originated in Hong Kong.

79 Harrison Ave, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Winsor Dim Sum Cafe

Winsor Dim Sum Cafe’s dim sum menu is expansive, and one of the best in the city. The restaurant also serves great congee, and its shredded pig ears in mala sauce are not to be missed.

Open in Google Maps

10 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

Also featured in:

New Jumbo Seafood

New Jumbo Seafood obviously has its fair share of seafood options, but it also serves braised spareribs, roasted squab, and Peking duck.

Open in Google Maps

5 Hudson St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

Signage for New Jumbo Seafood Restaurant in Boston’s Chinatown — raised red lettering on a gold background — New Jumbo Seafood Restaurant.

Also featured in:

Where to Eat Peking Duck in Boston’s Chinatown

Shabu Zen

Shabu Zen is one of the city’s best hot pot spots (there’s also a location in Allston), and it’s been around for 20 years. Splurge and get the prime ribeye, and pair it with the Mongolian-style spicy broth.

16 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Where to Eat Shabu-Shabu in Greater Boston

Double Chin

It’s a fun name for a fun place: Double Chin, founded by sisters Gloria and Emily Chin, is a self-described modern Asian fusion restaurant that doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s Peking duck fries, double chinwiches (with char siu, or roast pork, wrapped in a scallion pancake), and the over-the-top Cube Toast.

Open in Google Maps

86 Harrison Ave, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Tora Japanese Restaurant

One of several excellent Japanese options in a neighborhood more focused around Chinese food, the subterranean Tora opened in late 2017, featuring kaisen don — rice bowls with sashimi — and describing itself as the first local restaurant to do so. There’s also makimono, poke, hot entrees (such as broiled teriyaki eel over rice), and more.

Open in Google Maps

20B Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

A bowl of raw seafood, including salmon and salmon roe, on rice, served on a wooden tray with miso soup. — The Tokyo don, plus extra salmon, at Tora Japanese Restaurant in Chinatown.

Also featured in:

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Hei La Moon

83 Essex St, Boston, MA 02111

Grab a seat in Hei La Moon’s light-filled, bi-level space (it’s new!) and tuck into bountiful spreads of seafood, dumplings, and sizzling plates of beef and chicken. Dim sum cart service is available on the weekends.

Open in Google Maps

83 Essex St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

The Q

660 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111

The menu at the Q is massive and offers diners a mix of Japanese and Chinese food, but the play here is the Mongolian hot pot. Get the spicy beef tallow broth, and pack it with noodles, vegetables, and protein.

Open in Google Maps

660 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

Taiwan Cafe

34 Oxford St, Boston, MA 02111

The Taiwan-style pan-fried dumplings at Taiwan Cafe are the truth, but don’t ignore other dishes such as sauteed pickled mustard greens with pork intestines, sauteed blood pudding, or Sichuan-style white fish in a pot of bubbling chile oil.

34 Oxford St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

Slices of a flaky white fish sit in a fiery red broth in a metal bowl over a flame. It’s on a table inside a busy, casual restaurant. — Sichuan fish at Taiwan Cafe.

Pho Pasteur

682 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111

This Vietnamese restaurant is a Chinatown staple. Pho Pasteur opened in 1991, and it has been serving an extensive menu of Vietnamese food — including, yes, some of the best pho in the city — ever since.

Open in Google Maps

682 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

The exterior of Pho Pasteur Vietnamese restaurant in Boston’s Chinatown, with maroon signage and light pink paint. — Pho Pasteur.

Penang Malaysian Cuisine

685 Washington St, Boston, MA 02116

Penang’s roti canai is a sort of crispy pancake served with curry chicken dipping sauce, and it — along with the nasi lemak, which is a coconut-flavored rice dish served with a chile- and anchovy-spiked curry chicken and a hard-boiled egg — is what you should order at one of the area’s only Malaysian restaurants. (There’s also a Waltham location.)

Open in Google Maps

685 Washington St, Boston, MA 02116

Visit Website

A Malaysian fish — curry chicken, rice, and a hard-boiled egg — on a banana leaf on a blue plate — Nasi lemak at Penang.

Empire Garden

690 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111

This eye-catching space was formerly a Vaudeville theater. (And no, it wasn’t a porn theater.) Peking duck is an option, making Empire Garden one of the very few restaurants in the city doing the dish.

Open in Google Maps

690 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

The facade of Empire Garden restaurant in Boston’s Chinatown. The sign is red with yellow lettering. The building looks like an old theater, because it was once a theater. — Empire Garden.

Dumpling Cafe

695 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111

Dumpling Cafe is the spot for Taiwan-style pan-fried dumplings and pork soup dumplings. Not to be missed, however, is the Taiwan-style eggplant, which is sweet and spicy and gooey and perfect.

695 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

A wooden steamer holds half a dozen plump soup dumplings. The steamer sits on a round white plate on a wooden table. — Soup dumplings at Dumpling Cafe.

Peach Farm

4 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Peach Farm was a late-night favorite among restaurant industry types before the pandemic struck, but it doesn’t stay open quite as late anymore. Still, it’s worth a visit. Its menu is overwhelming — there are literally hundreds of options — but that’s part of the allure. One could eat food from Peach Farm every night for a year before trying everything on the menu, but start with seafood, especially lobster with ginger and scallions. There’s also Peking duck, and — unlike other neighborhood destinations for it — you don’t have to order in advance.

4 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

A plate with a blue border embellished by birds holds a portion of lobster with scallions and ginger — Lobster with scallions and ginger at Peach Farm.

Shojo

9 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

This extraordinarily hip spot is known for its inspired cocktails, but don’t miss the sesame charred greens, the tiger-style ribs, the shadowless fries, and whatever bao options are currently on offer.

9 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

Hong Kong Eatery

79 Harrison Ave, Boston, MA 02111

This Cantonese restaurant has been open since the 1980s and has since become a stalwart of Chinatown’s dining scene. The sauteed duck tongues in Maggi sauce are worth an order, as is anything made with XO sauce, which is a spicy, umami-rich fish sauce that originated in Hong Kong.

79 Harrison Ave, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

Winsor Dim Sum Cafe

10 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Winsor Dim Sum Cafe’s dim sum menu is expansive, and one of the best in the city. The restaurant also serves great congee, and its shredded pig ears in mala sauce are not to be missed.

Open in Google Maps

10 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

New Jumbo Seafood

5 Hudson St, Boston, MA 02111

New Jumbo Seafood obviously has its fair share of seafood options, but it also serves braised spareribs, roasted squab, and Peking duck.

Open in Google Maps

5 Hudson St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

Signage for New Jumbo Seafood Restaurant in Boston’s Chinatown — raised red lettering on a gold background — New Jumbo Seafood Restaurant.

Shabu Zen

16 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Shabu Zen is one of the city’s best hot pot spots (there’s also a location in Allston), and it’s been around for 20 years. Splurge and get the prime ribeye, and pair it with the Mongolian-style spicy broth.

16 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

Double Chin

86 Harrison Ave, Boston, MA 02111

It’s a fun name for a fun place: Double Chin, founded by sisters Gloria and Emily Chin, is a self-described modern Asian fusion restaurant that doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s Peking duck fries, double chinwiches (with char siu, or roast pork, wrapped in a scallion pancake), and the over-the-top Cube Toast.

Open in Google Maps

86 Harrison Ave, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

Tora Japanese Restaurant

20B Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

One of several excellent Japanese options in a neighborhood more focused around Chinese food, the subterranean Tora opened in late 2017, featuring kaisen don — rice bowls with sashimi — and describing itself as the first local restaurant to do so. There’s also makimono, poke, hot entrees (such as broiled teriyaki eel over rice), and more.

Open in Google Maps

20B Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

A bowl of raw seafood, including salmon and salmon roe, on rice, served on a wooden tray with miso soup. — The Tokyo don, plus extra salmon, at Tora Japanese Restaurant in Chinatown.

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