New Kam Lai
“The ladies that work there know exactly how I like my food, hot and spicy, and they deliver.”
“There's not many cheap places to eat on the UWS so if you're trying to save a buck or two – this is the place you want to order from.”
New Kam Lai
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Under $10
7 reviews
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Typical neighborhood Chinese takeout. Food is good enough, but not exactly made with love. It's great considering the price…seems like the other Chinese restaurants in the area with "$$" are actually more expensive than expected. I refuse to pay more than $10 for fried rice!
Keep in mind that the ma po tofu has no meat and the "chow mein" has no noodles. If you're looking for stir-fried noodles, then you're looking for lo mein. It's not the most authentic place, so I will stop fussing about their version of the dishes.
Solid Chinese takeout.
I had been looking to try a new Chinese takeout place and this New Kam Lai really hit the spot.
It seems like your typical cheap Chinese food with the same menu as anywhere else. But, they have a lot of people cooking your food fresh to order with good quality ingredients. Everything I had was very tasty and served up quickly. The staff was very friendly and helpful.
If you live in the area, be sure to try takeout from here.
Pretty standard ghetto Chinese food, except we were completely nonplussed by the food. Ghetto Chinese food can be wonderfully comforting, and when you have a hankering, nothing else will allay your hankering. However, this is not the Chinese food you want to be ordering. Kristen R wrote it the best: "Very mediocre Chinese food. Not worth ordering for taste"
Hot and Sour Soup: C
Shame on them! Hot and Sour soup is easy to make…I can whip up a great mock H&S soup in 5 minutes! The shitake and traditionally cut tofu were nice, but there was nothing "hot" nor "sour" about this soup. It was devoid of any and all flavor. No vinegar whatsoever, and if there was any pepper, I certainly didn't detect it! So bland!!!
Chicken Wings: C
I have to admit I laughed the first time I saw chicken wings on a ghetto Chinese food restaurant, but the joke was on me. Those guys cook some really mean wings! Now, it's one of the first things I order. These wings, like the H&S soup were flavorless. The breading was completely devoid of any and all flavor. No garlic, no onion, no pepper, no salt, no cumin, no nothing to make it remotely interesting. So bland!!!
Crab Rangoon: B-
This should be a very simple dish. The filling should be nothing more than cream cheese, lightly flaked crab meat (imitation if you're low-quality), scallions, garlic, and maybe black pepper. There should be no sweetness in the filling. If the person eating wants sweet, they should *dip* the crab rangoon in a sauce. By making it sweet, you're taking away our choice of how to eat it. I did not appreciate the sweetness of these at all. My B- might be too kind.
Moo Goo Gai Pan: B+
A fairly competent moo goo gai pan. The vegetables looked and tasted fresh.
BBQ Spare Ribs: C
This breaks my heart, but they were awful. First of all, the cut of ribs sucked. I got the tail end of the rib, but I won't hold that against New Kam Lai, since someone has to get it. It just sucks it was me. Secondly, the ribs were horrendously overcooked. They were cooked to the point of being dry and chewy. Unforgivable! The meat was no longer marbleized. There was no fat, no meaty flavor. Lastly they were braised with some kind of sweet sauce. Since when do Chinese restaurants slather BBQ sauce all over spare ribs? Christ on a crutch, quit it!!! I was given a dry, chewy, sickly sweet, sticky set of ribs. I hated them, and I wanted to cry.
House Fried Rice: B
Not bad, but I've never had bad house friend rice. Tasty, but so is most of the house fried rice I've sampled, Average, so it gets a B.
Pretty standard take out Chinese food. Friendly staff, good prices, and big portions.
So the truth is, I don't think the food here is very good, but I guarantee you I'll order it again because it's fast, cheap, Chinese food with an A grade. The key here is definitely ordering the right thing–it's simply not the time to try something new. I would skip any tofu on the menu, unless you prefer yours to taste pretty raw. It seems like they don't press their tofu as it's quite watery and doesn't seem to pick up flavor all too well. My husband has order a few standard, American-Chinese chicken dishes here and the general consensus is – "Meh." I do like their rice, but I don't consider that a great culinary feat. The carb ragoon/cream cheese wontons (whichever they are here) are something to pass. They opt for the sweet, triangular-fold, soft style rather than the crisp, savory, star-fold style. I mean, it's not the worst cheap-takeout you'll ever eat, but you'll probably never crave it either. Also, they have a very limited takeout menu through yelp/delivery.com, so you'll have to call in your order for most dishes.
The UWS used to have so many reliable great tasting Chinese take-out/delivery places. Most of them have moved or simply closed.
New Kam Lai is the go-to take-out place in this neighborhood. The classic specials like the Orange Chicken is great, without being too gloppy on the sauce, and there's broccoli included. The Lake Tung Ting Shrimp had a lot of jumbo shrimp and plenty of fresh crunchy vegetables.
Portions are large, inexpensive, tastes fresh, and this place is busy. Free soda with purchase over $10. Always ask for the hot chili oil not the packet hot sauce.
general tso's chicken
beef and broccoli
crab rangoon
egg drop soup
cheap chinese food
cooked to order.
doesn't taste too oily
or overly sauced.