Mr. Jiu's

I stumbled back into memories of Mr. Jiu's while walking through Chinatown recently. I'm still thinking about that meal from 6 months ago. This place has a Michelin star. It shows up on Resy, so you might not even realize it until you taste the food. And then it makes sense.

The Peking duck here is incredible. It typically requires preorder when booking since they have limited supply each night. We got lucky, and even though we were sitting at the bar, hadn't pre-ordered the Peking duck and weren't even expecting to get the Peking duck, we wound up getting it. They happened to have one extra order of Peking duck, likely because it was a weeknight. I'm glad we got lucky. The Peking duck is creative and clever, but still completely classic. In recent memory, I can think of only one tiny hole-in-the-wall spot in New York City's Chinatown that has competed. But this one is particularly interesting and worth trying as it's an elevated interesting version that still feels classic.

Here's my biggest takeaway: don't go as a couple like we did. This is absolutely a place for 4 to 6 friends, maybe even 8. The Peking duck is massive and perfect for sharing, plus you can order a bunch of sides and cocktails without ending up with tons of leftovers like we did. We spent well over $100 per person, but with a bigger group, you could probably do it for $75 to $100 and actually try enough of the menu to feel satisfied with the experience.