Shui Mei Cafe

We had some delicious dumplings and fried taro… Four bucks! There are a few tables and it’s bustling with many people coming and going. Close to the Museum at Eldridge Street. Recommended.

This is a great place for a quick bite. It’s run by a handful of fujianese women. I remember this place 10 years ago when it was just tiny and just 4 – 6 tables. Time has passed and it has expanded! This is a typical fujianese food for the everyday workers moving along E Broadway.
The prices are cheap and orders comes out fast.
Pay first, find a seat and they’ll serve the food to you.
Ordering is easy. Just say the numbers on the menu or talk to them in their fujianese tongue!

Not the best peanut butter noodles I’ve had or fuzhou wontons but the price is cheap and the location is central.

After living in the Lower East Side area during my childhood years, I am quite aware of the fact that East Broadway is home to some of the best Fujianese hole-​in-​the-​wall eateries that the city has to offer.
I was craving some cheap-​eats so I asked my friend for some suggestions and she recommended this place because she’s from the area. Upon walking in, I was confused about to what to order. I settled with the peanut butter noodles because of how my fellow Unilocalers were raving about how good it was, and also an order of beef stew. The peanut butter noodles were delicious and the beef stew was the perfect remedy for this frigid weather. Kinda wish the beef stew came with noodles though.
Overall, I really enjoyed my experience here. Two orders came out to a total of $ 8. You don’t even have to tip and they’ll even clean up after you!

This spot is very small and its a open kitchen where u can watch them cook but the food is awesome, few table and limited seating, there a fridge where u can buy some refreshments, every time I go, there are some available seats, it’s not as crowded as what it used to be because Chinatown is slowly dying, the Asian community is moving out, but I think this is the most authentic chinese restaurant in Chinatown, this is where all the local chinese go to grab some quick bites, although I do see foreigner from time to time. When u walk in there are two bilingual menu on the wall, u can look and tell their cashier what you want, then pay first, u have a seat and they’ll bring the food to you, within few minutes, very quick, their staff is all females and super friendly. There’s also a restroom in the back left. They have a lot of things on the menu, the most popular dishes is peanut noodle and wonton soup. Be bold and adventures, try them all. All the item there are very inexpensive. This place is a must try whenever you’re in Chinatown!

We love the food but have a hard time communicating with them. The dialect is so different from the ones we know.
We had the goat soup with noodles — the soup is so freaking good that I don’t add any hot sauce to ruin it. The goat pieces were a little tough but love the skin and the taste. Even the little Chinese celery pieces in it add to the deliciousness.
We will have to return and try other dishes — have my eyes on their special clear noodles.

This noodles here are good. This is a straight Asian place, they don’t even speak English and the sign is in Chinese. I’ll be back.

A total and absolute hole in the wall, complete with an open kitchen right behind the counter and servers who do not even speak Mandarin — only the regional Fuzhou dialect, but that’s really how I like my Chinese food. A great place for good, solid Fujian food at extremely cheap prices. My friends and I got soup noodles as well as dumplings. It’s a ton of food for under $ 10.
The broth is fantastic — lighter than the darker, more soy-​based HK equivalent but still quite flavorful. The noodles also are slightly different, a little springier. They also throw in some some vegetables even in the beef noodles, which is what I ordered, which adds to the lightness of the broth and helps cuts through the meat flavor. In general, really, really great deal and great food.

Food is super cheap, if u want a quick fast meal. Pretty decent servings. But one note do not use use vinegar, it has stuff floating in the bottles. Disgusting

Don’t come here if you want some gourmet Chinese food, ’cause this place will just be too ratchet for you (they don’t have AC, only two fans for the hot summer). They specialize in authentic cheap Fuzhounese street foods. I got two meals here for $ 6, which includes three items. I don’t recommend this place if you want stereotypical Chinese foods like fried rice and crab rangoon. However, if you want to try genuine Fuzhounese cuisine, give this place a try, since most items on the menu range from $ 1-​$ 5.

This place has been around for so many years and they don’t have a Unilocal page? I am shocked. Back to the logistics.
Shu Mei specialized in fuzhounese (a part in china) cuisine. They sell noodles and soups here which are always so tasteful and delicious.
Peanut butter noodles and fuzhou wontons (it may sound weird but it is what fuzhounese people eat and even my american hubby loves the noodles).
This place is always so popular between Chinese people so if you come here at a busy hour, there would be no seats to enjoy the yummy food.
Take my advice and order the peanut butter noodles and noodles with 3 choices the soup base is always brothy and delicious and the noodles are always tender.
I will definitely be back to Shu Mei because it is almost the only place that sells legit fuzhounese food made by real fuzhounese people with specialty in noodles.
Stop by here!

The peanut noodles were worth four trips to Chinatown in one weekend. Please keep in mind that this is a quick grab your food, eat it and keep it moving kind of joint. Fish balls are filled with pork! Kinda cool!

This is my favorite childhood meal! There’s nothing better than peanut butter noodles ($ 2) and fj wonton soup ($ 2). It’s different, cheap, tasty, and fulfilling!
You have to try it for yourself.

If you’re into presentable, cheap, quick, and good, this is the place to go. There’s a big English/​Chinese menu on the wall to your right, you order and pay with the (usually) woman standing at the small counter right in front of the door (she speaks English), and you sit down and wait while they bring the dishes out. (Pay attention, the ladies may call out only in Chinese dialect!)
What’s good here is street food: peanut noodles, pork-​stuffed fishballs, Fuzhou (pork) wontons. Lunch for one will cost you under $ 5, and you may have enough after that for an iced coffee (in Chinatown, not Starbucks). Not saying not to try other things like the big noodle dishes or regular dumplings, but they’ve been nothing to write home about, for me.
I used to come here a lot, and if I have friends I want to introduce to (semi) local eats, this is where I’d take them. It can be kind of overwhelming (just tell them to grab seats) and it’s not time for a leisurely, gossipy lunch by any means, but it’s one of the more presentable Fuzhounese places to go.

We ordered 5 different things, we liked none. The only thing I loved was the price, $ 30 for 5 people, not bad. The soup was tasteless, the duck still had lots of «chicken skin» mini feathers. Disgusting! The fried & steamed dumplings were so-​so, my hubby ordered noodles with peanut butter sauce. Super Nasty! Not for the everyday people who expect regular quality chinese food

For $ 2.50 you get some tasty and springy peanut sauce noodles AND a bowl of wonton soup featuring the tiniest wontons you will ever see outside of tiny wontons for pure novelty. And I don’t think that’s what they’re going for.
So, depending on how fast you eat, you can have a satisfying meal for $ 2.50 in less than 10 minutes in and out. It’s on my way home from work. I will go here a lot.

I could eat here all day and everyday for a quick and inexpensive meal. Best items to order here are: egg noodles w/​peanut sauce, Fujianese wonton, house special noodle soup, and duck& taro vermicelli soup. These are a few go to when I’m here!

Come here for some authentic fujianese dishes. My to go dish is the boiled noodles in peanut sauce and it is only two dollars. It is a great value for a filling first. You might feel like you ate too much in the end due to the peanut sauce. You get a free small bowl of broth with it. Score!
The super thin wonton skin soap is also amazing and goes will with the noodles. I recommend putting some vinegar in the soup. The vinegar are in the clear hot sauce bottles. The wontons melt in your mouth.
You order and pay by going up to the cashier and then you sit down. Then you wait for then to bring the dish to you. There is no need to tip.
It is nothing fancy or even that clean. However it is good food for a good price.