Master Kong

Image: Samantha Bakall
Helmed by sister-brother duo Amy and Kang Zhu, who also run Southeast 82nd Avenue’s Sichuan skewer spot Pot N Spicy, this North-meets-South mash-up of classic Guangdong cuisine and Northern Tianjin dishes is home-cooking, streamlined. With a short menu of Chinese comfort food, it's a small, (sometimes) quiet place that feels like it should have always been a staple along 82nd Avenue. Always order the wonton noodle soup: a wicked hot bowl of opaque and balanced fish- and chicken-infused broth, perfectly chewy noodles, tender wontons stuffed with pork, wood ear mushroom, and a whole shrimp that arrives under a shower of cilantro and green onion. Elsewhere on the menu, you’ll find Chinese roujiamo “hamburgers” and a pair of congee served with long, golden-fried sticks of you tiao Chinese crullers, but the most iconic Tianjin dish on the menu are steamed dumplings called goubuli baozi. They’re a sort of xiao long bao-meets-sheng jian bao, the purse-like dumplings have a juicy pork filling stuffed inside a squishy, steamed bun. Come early to beat the lunch rush, but even if you do go at prime time, it’s worth a wait to experience this family-run home-away-from-home.