Province

17. August 2006 Chinese, West Village + TriBeCa 6

305 Church Street corner of Walker
212/925.1205
$25 for two, with two drinks, without tip
♥ ♥

Update, 2008: Province has closed

Oh, mantou, where have you been all these years? Mantou, the steamed bun mainstay of northern Chinese street food stalls is finally in TriBeCa. And I hope it stays because the neighborhood could use a practical place to eat where good food is served without the frills and the bill. A mantou sandwich is $3.75 and you can choose between bulgogi with kimchi, spicy pork, grilled chicken or braised pork shoulder with pickled radish. Each mantou is freshly-baked and grilled so the sesame seeds on top get toasted for a nice smoky taste. They’re dense but spongy; doughy but not heavy. If two mantous are not enough for you, the bowl of cold sesame noodles with tofu, eggs, carrots and cucumber in soy-ginger sauce is substantial for less than $7. It’s a refreshing summer lunch.

Province calls itself the Chinese Canteen and frankly, I like that name better. I would even call it the Asian Canteen because you can practically sandwich anything with mantou. Its simple unfinished decor reminds me of Momofuku Noodle Bar, only less pretentious and less crowded.

Related post/s:
Momofuku Noodle Bar


6 thoughts on “Province”

  • 1
    Arlene on August 18, 2006

    Hi Cia,

    Just wondering, is mantou like siopao? It looks like they made them into sandwich buns. Delicious looking though

  • 2
    cia on August 18, 2006

    Yeah but they made them more dense here for, yep, the sandwich bun look.

  • 3
    Kinkistyle on August 24, 2006

    Manto is basically chinese steamed bread (Like the white bread usually enveloping pork buns). Northern chinese like to cut them open and sandwich meat in between them.

    By the way, the secret ingredient to manto is…..lard. Yum :p

  • 4
    luisa on August 26, 2006

    lard isn’t all that bad, it dosn’t contain trans fat. lard makes for a superior pie crust.

    using lard in mantou in China isn’t a “secret.” but i asked the folks at Province and they said they don’t use lard in theirs.

  • 5
    Jason Shaw on October 2, 2006

    Hmmm, not sure where that meat came from but some animal experienced a gruesome death apparently.

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