Kong Kee

Best soy milk and tofu related products ever! After trying several tofu shop /​supermarkets’ products, this one is definitely the best choice.

My friend and I ordered the tofu galore! We got the pan fried tofu (a bit crispy on the outside and silky tofu on the inside). This is a must get! We also got the tofu in mushroom sauce (this wasn’t my favorite). Lastly, we got the cherng fun with bean sprouts and strips of tofu (I loved this too). Our meal totaled to $ 11 and was definitely satisfying, economically and filled us both up!

This might be the only place that I would ignore the service. I’ve drank Kong Kee’s soy milk before Unilocal was even created. That’s how long this business has been around. It use to be on Bowery and Grand and moved a few years ago I believe. They have both hot and cold soy milk. Their soy milk is made daily and for hot soy milk, you can have it sweetened to your liking. They also make herbal teas and jellys. They have a huge variety of tofu. My favorite is their silken tofu which is scooped from a huge pot when ordered. It’s highly affordable which is a good breakfast or lunch option! They make a lot of other Chinese staple foods like turnip cakes, fried noodles, congee, sweet sponge cakes (LOVE, MUST TRY) in both white sugar and brown sugar. I don’t recall trying their food but I always come here for their soy products.

I used to love this place for tofu, noodles, and and cheap Chinese dishes, but began to notice that both the fresh noodles you buy from them and prepared foods here have an odor of gutter/​sewage. You’ll notice it on the hot foods as soon as it cools, and noodles… immediately. This concerns me what type of oil they’re using to make the rice noodles and dishes with, and has been very consistent — just that I didn’t notice for a while since most of the time I’m here for tofu, and once in a while I’d pick up some hot foods or noodles.
Given my own health and safety concerns, I’ve read enough about the carcinogens in the reuse of oil to ever get these items at this place again (can’t believe I’ve been coming here and not thought about it for so many years). On the bright side, no more bad service at Kong Kee for me, and there’s a fresh tofu place where noodles don’t smell like sewage and service doesn’t suck just one street away.
Hungry Kat does not approve.

I’ve been going to this place since before they moved to this relatively new location. The old location was 240 Grand St. It used to be my favorite place for thousand year-​old egg and pork congee (皮蛋瘦肉粥) and sweet fried cruller (牛脷酥). The prices are cheap $ 3.50 for a large box of congee and a sweet cruller. It is, unfortunately, no longer my favorite place — it is now a 0 star disaster (given 1 star because there’s no less than 1).
That being said, I went there and got the usual two items today. I clearly said 牛脷酥 and the lady repeated back to me 牛脷酥 and gave me a 油条 instead. The 油条 was stale. The congee pork was clearly spoiled with the spoiled taste giving the entire congee a sour flavor– disgusting! The congee texture was watery enough to have been diluted and was very greasy. After you finish the container of congee, you will see that the interior of the plastic container is covered with a thick layer of oil.
Also, there are no prices listed, the place is laden with a layer of grease on the floor and there were 3 large flies flying around and landing on the buffet food while I was ordering my congee. Save yourself and eat something that wont give you a stomach ache.

Although this little shop looks very old, gritty, dirty and small on the interior/​exterior, the food here is pretty delicious. A wide variety of tofu/​noodles can be purchase here as well as soy milk, grass jelly, herb jelly and herbal drinks. Prices are affordable! Definitely get the lunch style «buffet». Just one thing that irks me…
Flies are abundant… but food is delicious. They also have warm soybean curd!!! I’m excited because I do not usually find them around the area for such a good price.

Meh. Not that great. One star for the food, five stars for the cat.
–Fried Egg Tofu: this is pretty good and something worth trying if you’re into eggs. $ 3.00 for 8 pieces.
–Tofu Pudding (aka Dau Fu Faa, aka Douhua): this came already pre-​packaged in a plastic container and was only okay. I get that it’s tofu, but it tasted a little bland. $ 2.50 for a large container.
–Congee (aka Jook aka Rice Porridge): disgusting. It tasted sour and spoiled. I put a spoonful into my mouth and immediately spit it out. The rest went into the trash. The lady said the congee was pork with thousand year old egg (aka century egg, aka pei daan), but the small container I ordered, literally had a pinky size piece of thousand year old egg and two small slivers of meat. Besides it being rotten tasting, what a total rip off in terms of quantity. I don’t remember the exact cost, but I want to say this small container was $ 2.00 or $ 2.50.
–Hot Soy Milk drink: this was mildly sweet and only okay. Drinkable.
It’s Chinatown, so I’m usually not too bothered by how things are set up. But this place did look slightly dingy and dumpier than other places in the area. Maybe because they use brighter lights so things are more obvious? The cooked foods area looked like the food had been sitting out for a while (we came in around 2:30pm or 3:00pm). And it was disappointing to see the tofu pudding already pre-​packaged and sitting on the counter. Other tofu places in the area pack it fresh when you order. Also, the syrup they give you comes pre-​packed (like soy sauce packs).
Oh, and the lady working the counter was not very friendly.
The one plus to this place, which is most likely a negative for most (as I’m sure it has to be a health code violation, and is probably used to catch rats), is they have a cute little black and white cat living/​roaming there. We saw it in the back corner seating area, popping in and out of an old brown box. It was super fun to see the cat actually start walking around on the small dining/​counter area. I’m not sure if the customer dining there at the moment had the same appreciation (as it was snooping around her food), but we loved it. My little one was sad to say goodbye to the cat.
The place is small, but it’s definitely possible to get a stroller and/​or wheelchair in. They have a cat that roams the business, so for sure kid friendly.
Cash only.
LPT: if you’re into tofu pudding (aka dau fu faa aka douhua), I recommend either Fong Inn Too on Mott Street (silky smooth, served with ginger syrup, and $ 2.75 for a large container) or Tung Woo Co (aka Tofu Guy) on Grand Street (thicker consistency, but great flavor, uses a clear simple sugar syrup, and only $ 2.00 for a large container).
Another LPT: for great tasting congee, try Big Wong King on Mott Street. The actual congee has a thick consistency, and they are incredibly generous with the pork and thousand year old eggs. I think an order cost $ 4.50 (so it is a bit pricier), but good portions and tastes delicious. You will not regret ordering the jook from here. I like to order it with a Chinese cruller/​doughnut (aka youtiao).

This is the type of place that white bloggers/​Yelpers call ‘truly gritty’…I ate in the charming back area, skipping the fried dough and opting instead for the warm soy milk ($ 1.50 for a small) and 2 for 1 rice cakes palm sugar and white sugar (palm much better).
PS different name on storefront awning

This is probably one of only a few places in manhattan chinatown where you can get a simple hot soybean milk (fresh made and delicious) and fried dough (you tiao) for breakfast. So simple but it’s taken me forever to find a place in manhattan — you’ll find more places in flushing for traditional chinese (not dim sum) for breakfast.
It’s your definition of a hole in the wall — so don’t be scared — walk through those doors and place your order with one of the ladies at the counter. I’m not going to lie — if you don’t speak canto/​or mandarin it might be a bit difficult to communicate. Just point and they’ll figure it out. What you want to get is the hot soy bean milk (dou jiang) — it’s made fresh in house and so good. Silky and no gritty after taste — plus it’s only $ 1 for a cup.
Everything here is so cheap $ 1 for fried dough, $ 1 for sweet dough, 50cents for taro/​daikon/​turnip cakes. The fried dough wasn’t great — a bit stale when I got it but perhaps you need to go earlier for a fresh batch. The sweet fried dough disc was delicious but might give you a heart attack if you eat the whole thing — very oily. They also serve fresh made porridge — probably $ 1 as well — my whole breakfast order only came to $ 6.50 and I got a ton of stuff.
The daikon/​radish cakes were delicious much better than the taro cakes.
They have a variety of other items like fresh made flat noodles and other tofu products. The store ladies here were friendly and helpful in explaining the various items on the counter. There’s also a 2 counters and a few stools in the back for seating. Great local place to grab a quick bite and take home some tofu/​soy products.

Hands down the best place I’ve stumbled across so far for fresh cheong fun in the city. Not to mention all things tofu. I’m kind of glad I don’t live so close to this place, as I’m sure I’d have to start hitting the gym more often.
Do Try:
Cheong fun
Fried tofu
Yet to try:
Taro cake (looked extremely good)
Tip:
The place has a different street sign than that of the pictures here. Check out their site for an easier way to find them.

This is a really good place to eat for cheap. The foods are hot and fresh. I used to come here on Saturdays for lunch after my tutoring. The noodles and fried rice is cheap and the rice box is pretty good for a good price. The tofu is super yummy. During the winter time the hot soy drink is really good. I usually add maybe 2 spoons of sugar since the soy milk is unsweetened when it’s made. The cold drinks in the fridge such as the bottle soy milk and the herbal tea is sweet. There are sweetened and unsweetened soy milk and herbal tea. The herbal jellys are really good as well. It’s one of the best dessert during the summer time. It is also good for your skin especially acne and pimples. It’s usually crowded during lunch hours since many people go there to eat.

Love how it’s cheap and fresh. This place is tofu and noodle heaven. All sorts of uncooked common Chinese noodles to take home to use, sweet cakes, and a variety of ways to use the soy bean: sweet silken tofu with liquid sugar, fried egg tofu, fried tofu «pop» etc. it’s a great go to place for something relatively light when you’re in Chinatown.

They recently raised the price on their store-​made tofu to $ 1.20 per package. So now I buy the ready-​made silken tofu prepared by their Long Island City factory for $ 1.10 per pound, and I am hooked! I think the store-​made tofu is curdled with magnesium sulfate, which leaves an aftertaste in my mouth. The factory-​prepared is coagulated with calcium, and has minimal aftertaste. It is easy to eat and digest, and that is a big benefit for me because I have extensive dental work in my mouth as well as stomach issues.

===This review is only for the hot fresh soymilk they sell===
Super fresh and prepared just right! When it comes to Chinese soymilk the right balance of water, soybeans, and sugar is extremely important. It’s also crucial the temperature and amount of time you brew it in. I have to say Kong Kee definitely knows what they are doing when they are making their soymilk! Perfect balance of sweetness. The soymilk even had the nice skin layer on top. And for only $ 1 a tall coffee cup? YES PLEASE!
The store also sells a wide range of other soy and tofu products. I personally never bought any but they appear to be very fresh.
Tip: I was confused at first and thought this might be a soymilk/​tea house. IT IS NOT. The setting is quite hectic and the workers are mostly concerned with packaging wholesale soy products to their vendors. There are a few small tables in the back with chairs but I wouldn’t recommend sitting in and enjoy your soymilk there.
But it’s definitely a good place to grab a cup of fresh soymilk!

This is my first time here since they moved. A lot smaller than their old shop on Grand & Bowery Street.
Nice, little shop that sells an enormous amount of soy/​tofu foods, rice noodles, drinks, grass jelly, and etc. They also have a small section where they sell hot food, but I wouldn’t recommend ordering their hot food as it does not look appealing. I wouldn’t recommend coming here either.
The people who work here aren’t the friendliest and don’t speak a whole lot of English either.

Used to pass by this place all the time for a whole summer and never got the soy milk! I gave it a try the last time I was in NYC in 2012 and it was fresh and cheap!
They sell alot of soy/​tofu stuff here and I saw fresh rice noodles too. The soy milk is definitely refreshing.
Not sure if alot of English is spoken here. I just gestured and gave them a dollar for my drink and they gave me some change back. Score!

I love Kong Kee! They have all sorts of soy bean products such as soybean drink, tofu, bean curd, tofu skin, etc. Anything you want related to tofu, you can probably find it here at a very good price.
The people who work here are not too friendly but for the sake of price and quality, I just overlook their service.

Nominally, Kong Kee is a store that specializes in tofu and other soybean products. But I come here for wide rice noodles (hor fun /​kway teow) which are $ 1/​lb as you can’t actually get them in the supposedly Cantonese store Hong Kong Supermarket. The lady is always chilling outside hawking the bags of fresh noodles and will try to upsell you constantly. At $ 1 per packet, it’s hard not to load up, and it’s an even better deal knowing that it’s kind of a hot commodity since you can’t just find these in any store.
If you buy these, note that if you don’t go home straightaway and use them, you need to at least separate them and toss them in a loose bag, like a plastic shopping bag, so they don’t stick together again. If you refrigerate them (as I often make the mistake of doing when I’m in a hurry), they will be next to impossible to separate later. If you fall in this trap, you can salvage it by soaking the noodles in hot water.
In Cali you can find these made by the Vietnamese shipped fresh to all the Chinese supermarkets every day. But so far, as far as I know, Kong Kee is the place to go in Manhattan if you don’t have contacts with commercial restaurant suppliers. :)

my go-​to joint in Chinatown that has most of my Cantonese carb-​needs. Flat noodles, Taro Pancake (buy by the slice for eat-​on-​demand or by the pound for home cooking), rice noodles (pre-​fried, please) and so forth
this place makes being an ABC easy– I dont know how to make my ethnic food, but at least the grannies here do! and they sure do it for DIRT cheap. Then wash those oily carbs down with a bottle of soy milk– sugar please.
Oh what? You only have two dollars and are ravenous? then come here! uh, only bring your girlfriend if you two have been dating for 2+ years and are no longer expecting anything fancy from each other.
try the place on Mott street if you want more cooking at home supplies like wet flour, new year flour mix and so forth.

Whenever I’m in the mood for delicious flat shrimp noodles or yummy soy milk, I would always go here to get my fix. Their noodles ($ 1.25/lb) are freshly made on a daily basis and it’s always soft to the touch and al dente to the taste bud.
As a kid, I use to come here with my mom whenever she was in the mood to make a noodle dish for dinner. She would use it to make soup, or she would sauté it with shrimp and assorted vegetable or we would just cut it up and eat with an assortment of dipping sauce and as always, it was yummy and satisfying.
Their soy milk are also very refreshing. The soy bean flavor is smooth and refreshing especially during the summer when the city is super hot and humid.
KK may look a bit sketchy, but please do not be intimidated and just go for it, especially if you’re looking to whip out (hai yaaaa!!!) a delicious meal for the evening! :)
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How To Make Pork Chow Fun:
How To Make Phở (Instead of using rice noodles, you can use the flat noodles instead): This video is hilarious! I don’t think it’s as authentic as this guy claim it to be but it’s close enough and completely worth watching!