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There's been a recent surge of retro, Hong Kong-inspired eateries rolling into New York: first, we saw Wilson Tang's Cha Cha Tang diner pop-up over at John McDonald’s Hancock Street space and now we have Nomad Tea Parlor, a reimagining of Chinese-American classics opening on June 12th at 244 Fifth Avenue near Madison Square Park.
Not to be confused with Chinatown's Nom Wah Tea Parlor, the new restaurant evokes the streets of Hong Kong with vintage lightbox street signs, elaborate tea displays, black-and-white checkered flooring, striped awnings and display windows hung with fragrant roasted duck. The old-school charm of the bi-level space is matched with a nostalgia-inducing food lineup of dim sum, Cantonese specialties and Chinese-American dishes that remind owner Mandy Zhang of the home-cooked meals she experienced growing up.
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Highlights of the menu from Guangzhou-born executive chef Ai Shin Wu include Coca-Cola chicken wings, roast duck with plum sauce, soft-shell crab, spring rolls loaded with lobster and a variety of dumplings, which you can see the team preparing from the open kitchen.
Those Cantonese-inspired comforts are paired with an extensive tea selection and balanced cocktails, many of which incorporate tea to even further reflect the tea-parlor tradition. You can sidle up to the 14-seat bar for quaffs like a Hong Kong Milk Tea (clarified milk punch with cognac, aged rum, five spice and Yeunyeung tea blend, topped with coffee foam), a Lychee Martini (Empirical Soka, baijiu, white tea and strawberry) and a Tequila Sunrise (Mandarin orange, schisandra, hibiscus and fig leaf).
Check out that bar as well as the rest of Nomad Tea Parlour's retro-cool dining room below:
