The Best Chinese Food in New York, Dish by Dish

"Chinese food" in New York now means a dozen or more cuisines, each with its own wheat or rice, its own chilies or none. Manhattan's Chinatown still holds the Cantonese roast-meat windows and the old banquet halls, and the blocks around East Broadway cook Fuzhou food. But for the widest range, take the 7 train to the end of the line. Flushing is where Sichuan, Shanghai, Hunan, Shandong, Xi'an and Hong Kong share a few square blocks — in food courts below the street, at counters barely wider than their griddles, and in dining rooms built for banquets.

That is why this guide is organized by dish, not by neighborhood. You will find soup dumplings and fish dumplings, Lanzhou knife-cut noodles and Yunnan rice noodles, big tray chicken from Henan and sweet-and-sour pork from the far northeast, alongside the egg tarts and jianbing that make a Flushing morning. Some of these places hold Michelin Bib Gourmands. Others are a stall with a number on the wall. We have tried to send you to the kitchen that does each dish best, not the one with the shortest line.

A few practical notes. Many of the smaller counters are cash-first, and food-court stalls change hands often, so check before you make a special trip. Go with friends whenever you can — a lot of this food is meant to be shared — and in Flushing, plan for two or three stops rather than one long meal.