Chinatown treats and tastes? This insider knows best

If they are looking for something to fill them up before leaving town on one of the many bus lines that serve the area, I tell them to head around the corner to Prosperity Dumpling on scruffy Eldridge Street. There are bike messengers and locals here at lunchtime lined up at the takeout counter for hot, cheap dumplings, five for $1. If you want to sit at one of the five bar stools, stop by in the early morning or post lunch. Go for the juicy, handmade pan-fried chive and pork dumplings first, then the warm sesame pancake or a hot and sour soup. Nothing costs more than $5 at this out-of-the way spot, and some make the trek for just that reason.

Up a couple of blocks is dessert in the form of cream puffs. You might miss this minuscule spot if you walk too quickly, but backtrack, for nowhere else in Chinatown will you find classic French pastries. Yvette Ho, owner-baker at Panade Puffs & Pastries, grew up in the area and left her job as a schoolteacher to bake. She landed here four years ago by choice and a rental ad on Craigslist. She makes the pâte à choux and cream by hand. Don’t miss the puff with either green tea or vanilla cream with slivers of banana. There are savory puffs as well: plain, cheese, herb, ham and cheese, and rosemary.

Bold flavors, peppercorns, and chili peppers . . . these are reasons to eat at Grand Sichuan. Ordering here is straightforward: The best choices are those denoted with a red chili pepper on the menu, like the wonton with red chili oil, or the prawns in Sichuan sauce. But the fiery chong qing hot pot is the real lure. It is popular with large groups and comes with a choice of two broths, spicy or chicken; order half and half so you get some heat without being overwhelmed. Choose from a long list of ingredients: meat and/or seafood (beef, scallops, shrimp, duck tongue, tripe, and more), vegetables (taro, lotus, tofu, seaweed knots, mushrooms, winter melon, and many more), all of which you cook in the simmering hot broth that’s placed over a burner on your table - plus a dipping sauce like sha cha, sesame paste, or peanut.