Joe’s Ginger

Worst experience. We decided to veer from our regular Shanghainese place (Yeah Shanghai Deluxe) and try this place. We were served smelly, unfresh fish and then returned it. When we received the bill, we were still charged for the fish and the waiter explained to us that the owner of the place would dock his pay if we asked for a refund! So we had to order a replacement dish just so he wouldn’t get his pay docked. The owner never apologized to us and she gave us nasty looks the whole time after we sent the fish back. I just feel bad that she takes it out on the waiters whenever a dish is returned. He told us in Chinese that she is very stingy so a foreigner wouldn’t know that the waiter gets his pay cut when they return a dish. Other food was okay, but I wouldn’t go back knowing how the owner conducts business!

Food — 3
Ambience — 2.5
Service — 3
Came here with a group of eight for a post-​Chinese New Year celebratory dinner. Organized by our foodie friend who’s lived in NYC for 5+ years, so I had high hopes. We started with two orders of the crab & pork dumplings (8 dumplings per bamboo steamer) and one order of the pork-​only dumplings. I preferred the crab & pork dumplings. While quite delicious, I think they overfill the dumplings with the broth so you end up with a plateful of broth that dangerously threatens to spill on you as the waiter comes to clear your plate. It’s not the best Shanghai dumplings I’ve had, but it was quite good.
For our feast that evening, we ordered the following:
— Shrimp Lo Mein (good, but not great)
— Shanghai Pan Fried Noodles (better than the lo mein, but still not amazing)
— General Tso’s Chicken (typical, not very spicy to the Hubby’s disappointment)
— House Egglplant — with pork & shrimp (I didn’t try it)
— Joe’s Ginger Shrimp (wasn’t particularly ginger-​y, which was disappointing since it’s the namesake dish)
— Peking Duck (skin was crispy and the duck was moist; really, really good though I was hoping for the steamed buns rather than the wraps we got, but that didn’t stop me from stuffing my face with three helpings)
We had reservations for 8:00 and was seated right away on the 2^nd level. Service was typical of a Chinese restaurant, which is to say, you don’t exactly go to a Chinese restaurant for friendly, efficient service. Though I must say that we did get our glasses of water and beer orders fairly promptly and we did get refills more than once during our meal time, so I would say that’s pretty good. Décor/​ambience was again fairly typical.
Dinner came out to $ 20 per person, which wasn’t at all bad for NYC, so I was pleased about that.

Soup dumplings with crab meat is the only dish I recommend to have. They are really DELICIOUS. Chinese food here is just like other restaurants, not particularly tasty.
First time I came here with a Japanese friend. Japanese people are addicted to the soup dumplings so my friend brought me to Joe’s Ginger. At the beginning, we sat by the window but it was very stinky. We realized the tablecloth on the table we sat is the reason why the air around us was funky. When the waiter took my order, I spoke to him in Mandarin. 5 minutes later, he came over to our table.
Waiter-​W TingZilla-​T
(Our conversation was in Mandarin)
W: Hey, Miss, are you Japanese?
T: No, of course not, I speak Mandarin to you. Why do you think I’m from Japan?
W: Because your Mandarin is weird.
T: Oh, I see. I am Taiwanese.
Hey dude, my Mandarin sounds weird for you because I don’t speak Chinese accent and the way I speak Mandarin is totally Taiwanese. My Taiwanese Mandarin is extremely OK in Taiwan. For me, your Mandarin is not normal…

I never had soup dumplings before coming to this place, but it opened up a whole new world to me. They had an addicting sourness to them that made me come back for more. If you want to keep your tongue from receiving a harsh burn, try biting the side of the dumpling and letting the scalding hot soup broth escape a little. I recommend the pork ones over the lobster/​crab meat variety. Don’t bother with any of the other dishes (they tended to be small), focus your attention on the soup dumplings and make a meal of it. We were a group of six and paid $ 8 each for a dumpling feast, you gotta love it!

I trust in my NYC transplant buddy. What ever she says goes when it comes to food in the city.
We were a tad hung over from the night before and all I wanted was grease. NOT this time. She was raving about noodles and dumplings in China Town. so I just agreed and followed.
We had a table ready and met our other NY/​Bay area friends for a late brunch. OUT COME THE DUMPLINGS. «Shao-​long-​bow». At first I was a little scared to eat them b/​c I saw the murky soup pour out onto my friends spoon. BUT once it was in my spoon and then my mouth I was AMAZED. I ate 4 of them! The texture is hearty and it has the perfect beefy flavor. I didn’t add any sauce to them. just ate them as is.
We also ordered fried green beans, calamari and some crispy noodle dish but the Dumplings are what gets this spot 5 Stars from me!
I can’t wait to come back in the spring and have a whole basket to myself!
Potential 2 Star ding would be that the service is somewhat ADD. We asked for water but they only brought out 3 and their were 4 of us. I had to ask the waiter 2 times for a glass and he brings it half empty! THEN when I needed a refill, he only fills up a few of our glasses and never returns. WTF? He also mistook our Calamari order for something else then brings out the Calamari order later. Be VERY specific when ordering!

Pros: Great GRUB…
Cons: Cash only.
DEFINITELY get the soup dumplings — pronounced «shao-​long-​bow» and slurp ‘em up to your heart’s content. Other items on the menu are delicious… but not as extensive as Joe’s Shanghai.

Supposedly owned by the same guy who is behind Joe’s Shanghai, Joe’s Ginger is supposed to be the decent alternative to Joe’s Shanghai if things get too busy. Too bad the service and shotty food ruin it.
The prices are equally as affordable as any of the other Shanghainese establishments and they actually cater very well to a crowd. With big groups, come little problems and for some reason they’re always service oriented. Forgetting to refill the water, messing up on the total of the tab, forgetting napkins, etc. has been a very normal but until recently a nominal occurence. The last experience here resulted in a lot of attitude and apathy from the wait staff.
That line at Joe’s Shanghai doesn’t seem to look so bad afterall.

I only went here because Joe’s Shanghai had a freakin long wait during lunchtime on a Saturday (it’s been half a year but i could have sworn Joe’s Ginger House and Joe’s Shanghai were next to to each other?). I think I was in NYC for two weeks and I had been to all three Joe’s. multiple times. Compared to the original Joe’s Shanghai next door, I guess there’s better service and more to the décor. The prices are the same, but the dumplings are smaller (or was it the prices were higher and the dumplings were the same?) Either way, I felt like some of my money went to «service» and «ambiance» that was wutevers, but the dumplings were STILL SO GOOD! And worth it if you and your friends are starving and about to faint from the summer heat and can’t get into Joe’s Shanghai next door.

This location is closed…

The service is more atrocious than most of Chinatown. They stuck our group on a third floor loft alone with the soda racks and promptly forgot about us. When we asked for water, only some of us got glasses. Some of the some got refills, meaning of our group of 7, about 3 people had refilled water.
Also, we had one person in our party who is a bit… large…and the waiter, when we walked in, told him, specifically, to not order dumplings because they are all fatty and oily and bad for you. Kind of insulting, no? Moreover, everything was kind of oily, including my steamed chicken and broccoli… odd.
We waited 30 minutes for the check and had to ask 3 times.
Do yourself a favor and go to the vegetarian dim sum place across the street.

My asian crew takes me for the real deal
no scallion pancakes with cream cheese
I let the native born order in Chinese.
We meant to go to Shanghai, this place’s sister restaurant, just right down the street, but it is so very popular, there were lines out the door!
Pork Soupy Dumplings. friend Helen says they are the best around and she has searched everywhere in Boston!
you bite into these extrememly thin skinned pork soupy dumpling things and vinegary soup and interesting tiny pork comes out. i had a few
i ate cabbage heads.
extremely thinly sliced braised beef
nice flavor so delicate
too fatty around edges for my taste
peanut noodle okay
mushroom in soy sauce too plain but you know i ate that
1 Chinese Beer and plenty of vegetables and shared food for healthy high
of course endless miracle of Wonderful Hot Tea
great convo and east village karioke pre-​gaming with the crew. though the mirrors all around freak me out, i can still see people coming from far away
Joe’s Ginger:
ready for the real deal?
need to figure out how to order
i didn’t even order anything ginger.

The food is a bit on the salty and oily side, but otherwise the dishes have a lot of flavor. Sensitive stomachs eat here at your own risk.
I recommend the spicy eggplant dish, and black bean squid.

Chinese cuisine. Known for their soup dumplings.
Due to the decreasing quality of the soup dumplings at Joe’s Shanghai (Flushing and Pell St) (owned by the same guy), I ventured to try out Joe’s Ginger, because I heard that their dumplings were better. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The dumplings have the same quality as Joe’s Shanghai and I’m thinking the original chef that made the better dumplings are not working for any of the Joe’s restaurants anymore.
However, the other food there compares just the same to Joe’s Shanghai. The Shanghai Style Mei Fun is the same quality, and all the other food looks similar to the menu. It’s just another Joe’s Shanghai in disguise.

Soup Dumplings for me are a destination food. I don’t say that I am going down town, or for Chinese… I am going for soup dumplings… specifically. They freeze soup and wrap it up with meat in dumplings then steam it. What you get is a Molten broth and meat package that is beyond delicious and requires a specific skill set to eat. They are really hot for starters. What I do is bite off the top and sip out the broth, then when possible, I eat the dumpling. I have no recollection of the rest of the menu here or at Joe’s Shanghai (same menu pretty much) but I think it’s ok. Pretty much though just focus on the dumplings would be my reccomendation though

The weather was cold and windy. We were in Chinatown. The only thing that would make the world right were Joe’s soup dumplings. We had both the crab and the pork. Magically, they did and no one burned their tongue.
We ordered some other stuff too. Everything was good, but we weren’t asking for much.

I admit it, I am addicted to steamed pork dumplings and can eat a whole steamer or two by myself. Unlike some other restaurants that make this Shanghai treat there never seems to be a long wait here. As good as the dumplings are it probably is a good idea not to fill up on them because the menu offers many other great dishes. Although I’ve never tried any of the things with fish belly in the name I can suggest just about everything else.