0:00 Yo, so there's obviously a bunch of Chinatowns everywhere around the world. Let's stick to food cuz we got Vegas Phil here with us today with the careful bullets. Let's just have a conversation. Let's find out where the best Chinatown is for food around the world. And obviously we're going to stick to where we know. So we're going to talk about probably Vegas, duh. Talk about New York. We definitely got to talk about LA. What other Chinatown? Do you want to talk about Boston? Is there a Chinatown in Boston? >> There is a Chinatown in Boston. >> Is it bomb? Is it Is it in the top Are these the top three? >> I wouldn't say that's top three. I don't think Boston >> glad I'm so cuz I was going to say it's not good. >> [laughter] >> Shaking his head over here. >> I know he's from Boston so I don't want to hurt his feelings. >> No, no. >> Oh, you've been there? >> You won't hurt my feelings. I wanted to move out of Boston when I was like 10 years old. >> Oh, okay. >> So here's the thing like I grew up in the SGV. I don't know if you've been there. But that's like it's so Chinatown it beat its own Chinatown. So LA has a Chinatown. >> Yeah. >> And then and it was the ████ probably in the 80s but then as they started
0:50 migrating to the suburbs the SGV, which is San Gabriel Valley, it's consisted of like I don't know, 10 cities and that whole area is so dominant that a Chinatown is now like whitetown pretty much cuz it just all the business went there. And so I grew up there and I've probably had some of the best food in America. And when we used to do all our like YouTube social media shows they can't wait to bring us to their Chinatown for some reason cuz they they're really proud of it. And they all taste like ████ compared [laughter] to the SGV. And we've been to Boston I don't know like probably five times and every time it's a different school that brings us out cuz they have ton of schools there. >> Yep. >> And then so they go, "Oh, you got to try this place." And we walk into the Chinatown and I'm like, "Oh, that place again. Yay." >> [laughter] >> Oh, they're so excited to show it to
1:40 you. >> But you know how that is? It's like the Asian club at Boston U but like half those people It's like where are you from? Well, I'm from Illinois. So they're like the the 14 Chinese people that came out of that city. So they're eating like a Chinatown legit in Boston for the first time. They're like, "This is the best Chinese food I've had my whole life." Like but I'm but I'm like I'm cuz I can't really value like Let's go get like ████ clam chowder >> [laughter] >> or something, you know? Let me get some pie, you know? >> I'm like, dude, what the hell? >> Some dish or something. >> Some lobster rolls. >> Yeah, lobster. >> Lobster. >> But I think a place like Chinatown in New York, like a Chinese person can move to Chinatown, NYC, and never have to speak English. >> That's what I heard. I've never been, but I heard it. >> You go to Flushing >> Flushing is dope. >> Yeah. Or even Canal Street. Uh you could go straight from China
2:30 and live in that area and never have to speak English. >> And it's like like isn't it like a like 4 square miles or like however I don't know how big that whole area is, but it's huge. >> Yeah, Flushing is basically just one main street with a couple side streets and then so much variety, all open late, and I think those are key things for a a good Chinatown. And it definitely has that smell. >> It's like a gynecological >> [laughter] >> Wall Street's gynecological yeast infection. >> And yeah, there's you don't have to walk through a door. It's just outside. You just pass by. It's like right there. >> menstrual essence. >> Oh, gross. >> Cuz it's cuz the trash is on the street. That's not fair, dude. >> That's when you know you're in a good place. >> [laughter] >> I think the Vegas one's a little more, you know, gentrified. You can There's parking, you know, you can walk in easy. >> That's the part I love about it though. The accessibility of the Vegas
3:20 Chinatown. >> That's true. >> Yeah, even though it is gentrified. >> I'm gentrified. I like it. >> We're gentrified. [laughter] >> I love that. Cuz back in LA, you really can't like let's say you park somewhere to go to a Chinatown place and it's closed, you're you're just going to walk to the next one because it's not worth reparking down there. It's so weird that infrastructure-wise it it influences your decision by so much. >> Have you been to the LA Chinatown? >> No. >> So it's it's like I think they made it before there was like a ton of cars. So they'll be like one main parking place or maybe a couple of them, and then all the businesses are around. So, you kind of have to park in a parking lot and then walk to the place. >> I see. >> And then it's very hilly. And then if that place is closed, you're like, "Oh, f███." Then you got to like, you can't just get in your car, drive somewhere else cuz then you would just have to go to another
4:10 parking lot and you already just paid like 20 bucks. So, you're like, "I'm just going to walk." And so, it's kind of really hard to get around. And there is street parking, but it's so tight that it's not available versus here >> Yeah. >> every restaurant has a park has its own parking lot. >> I love it. It's so nice. And the Chinatown restaurants here don't have supply boxes stacked up in front of the door. >> [laughter] >> That's part of the charm, though. >> The authentic supply boxes. >> But then the LA one you used to think like, "Oh, this place is good cuz look how whack it looks." But then that stopped being true. You're like, "Oh, this place actually is just whack." >> [laughter] >> I could tell you the symptoms of right off the bat you could tell that this is like the worst Chinatown on the >> Okay, how? >> So, if you go to any if any like college students tell you this is the best Chinatown and you see any type {slash}
5:01 sushi place >> Oh, yeah. >> You're like, "What the f███?" >> A combo joint? >> Yeah, a any restaurant that's Thai and sushi, get the ████ out of there. >> [laughter] >> You got to have one discipline to be good at it. >> Yeah, if they're like, "Oh, dude, this place is the bestest Thai and sushi." You're just like, "F███." >> Why can't we just get chowder? >> [laughter] >> But hey, but in middle America, though, that's what they got to That's all they have. That's all they got. >> Right, they need to cover all the things because there's nothing else >> Half the people that go there, they go, "This is not sushi. Thai food's not sushi." So, they have >> Since Bart's privileged, though, like give us Give us your Chinatown rankings and let's see if Philly agrees. >> I haven't been to that many Chinatowns, to be honest. I think the best Chinatowns probably >> Boston? >> [laughter] >> Probably New York. >> San Gabriel Valley is not a Chinatown, But it's like it is. >> It's a civilization. It's the largest
5:52 diaspora of Chinese people in the world. San Gabriel Valley is a China. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> [laughter] >> It's not even the town, dude. >> Uh I would say probably that. >> San Gabriel Valley is a Chinese military base. >> Probably Flushing, too. It's probably the same, I think. Flushing is pretty cool, bro. >> I think whoever has the most recent and like regular flow of immigrants is going to have the best ingredients and staying up-to-date. >> Then by description alone without actually truly knowing where I vote yet, then I it seems like New York would win if it's like a more condensed place cuz that's what makes a Chinatown more powerful, right? >> Yeah, and the competition. >> Yeah, versus like yeah, SGV you some of the best restaurants you got to drive like 20 minutes between each spot, right? So it's like >> Well, I'll say this. I was just I was just in Flushing and we got to go you'll see restaurants that you don't really get to see in Monterey Park. Where we
6:42 saw this rice roll lady. Dude, she's selling these rice rolls for like 50 cents, a dollar 50, bro. >> about like fan tuan or no? >> She has some of that soup, but the rice rolls you get from dim sum where they steam the the rice noodle and then they put filling inside. >> Yeah, they do it fresh right there. >> Fresh, dude, and she's doing it in this machine I've never seen before and like no one else is doing that anywhere else except for Flushing, probably. So I think you get cuisines that you probably don't get. >> a specialty place. That's all she makes. >> Bro, it's a little hole in the wall. She's got her whole family working and she's running she's running cash, she's giving you the orders and she's cooking everything. >> And then you can walk outside and then you go here and you walk inside the next restaurant that's bomb, too. >> Like that's a crazier That's the best part is the proximity of all the restaurants cuz you get some like you get these upscale fried chicken sandwich
7:32 spots and then you can go to like you can get anything you want in that area. So I probably feel like Flushing is probably better. >> Hawaii's Chinatown, too, right? >> We just went recently and it was cool, but it doesn't compare to to Flushing, for sure. >> Does it smell gynecological, too? >> Whoa. >> In Hawaii? >> Yeah. >> No way. >> Yeah, it does. >> That's in produce. It's the produce. >> It's going to be imported, though. It's not natural >> It's the gynecology. >> [laughter] >> Phil, what else smells gynecological to you? >> It's not a good It's not a good food term. >> There's nothing else. I mean, I Asian market just has its own smell, and I don't the combo of all the produce somehow emits >> This guy just said Flushing smells menstrual. >> I [laughter] mean, yeah, it kind of does. >> Boston does. >> He's not wrong. >> Yeah, Boston Boston does, as well. >> You have to close your eyes, and then you'll It's like you're at Planned Parenthood. >> [laughter] >> OH MY GOD.
8:22 JESUS. >> THE WITTY THE WITTIER ONE. >> YEAH. >> stinky tofu, or not? >> I love stinky >> Hell, yeah. >> Yeah. >> Uh did you Were you raised on that? >> Uh no, I wasn't really raised on it. >> You just found it later, and was like, I'm down. >> My first trip to Taiwan, maybe I was in the sixth grade, with my parents. >> Okay. >> Uh and then >> That's raised enough. >> Yeah, the smell just emits. I mean, they could be selling it two blocks away, and of course, you could smell it everywhere. I don't like the deep-fried one. I mean, but obviously, it's easier. I like the the steamed sticks that really like ████ stink. >> THAT ONE SMELLS ANAL. >> [laughter] >> YEAH? YEAH. IT'S UH >> LIKE [laughter] A COLONOSCOPY. >> Smell is wild. The smell is wild. Um but yeah, I do love stinky tofu, for sure. >> Dang, that's crazy. Cuz that is a a funny thing, where like, I'll smell
9:12 stinky tofu, and I'm like, "Mhm." But then I smell like Chinatown, and I'm like, "Oh, what the f███?" >> Yeah, that is weird. >> But they both smell bad. >> [laughter] >> Same same, dude. >> But when you smell stinky tofu, it doesn't like your brain doesn't go, "Ew." Like, it's like a bad smell, right? >> that's why it's called stinky tofu. I think it does go, "Ew." >> I don't think it for us, yeah. >> It smells appetizing. >> The whole nostalgia. >> They've like elevated beyond that. We're still little kids going, "Ew." >> They powered >> Yeah, it's like Japanese with natto. >> I can I can handle it. That's that's as far as my my growing up conditioning is. I don't prefer it. Cuz remember when you're a kid, when you smell coffee as a kid, you're like ew. >> I can eat it. I just don't prefer it like ever. >> I got you. Have you guys had it? >> Yeah. >> He made us have it one time, yeah. I almost threw up. >> it for a video. And I Did you throw up or >> First time I almost did. >> I think you cried. >> I cried, yeah.
10:02 >> Oh, yeah. My first reaction would be >> Then I think Steve said he threw up in his mouth. Did he swallow it or something? >> that one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> All right, I got to find that. >> Oh, no. It's a horrible. The restaurant probably isn't happy that we recorded that. >> [laughter] >> You did it here? >> No, it was back in Monterey Park. >> Oh, okay. >> He surprised us. We thought we were going to go to his favorite restaurant. We went to this place. >> But it was my favorite restaurant. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, sadly. >> Where's the best stinky tofu out here, you think? >> In the trash, probably behind some dumpster. >> [laughter] >> I mean, it's probably Taiwan Deli. It's the longest-running Chinese restaurant owned in uh in Vegas maybe 20 plus years now. >> Wow, Taiwan >> And I would say that would be my overall favorite Chinese restaurant. I mean, there's only like two in town. Now, that and Old Taro on uh West Tropicana. >> Is Old Taro pretty good? >> Fort Apache. Yeah, they do a pretty good job. >> Okay. >> How do you know the stinky tofu's going bad? >> It smells extra stinky.
10:53 >> But are you going even more? >> Yeah. [laughter] I don't think it ever goes bad. It's just how it is. Yeah, 5 days later. >> Yeah. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, I bet you have like the most detailed mental map of Vegas out of like >> Well, your palate, too, must be like really advanced. >> Well, you know how like remember when like that like Notre Dame like burned down or whatever, so they had to use the in-game graphics? Like something else where it's like >> To restore it? >> Yeah. I bet you if like Vegas for some reason lost their database of map >> Yeah, call Phil. >> This guy This guy's [laughter] got everything by restaurant. He's like He's like, "I've triangulated everything." It's It's Batman Begins with it, you know, what I mean? You're ████ >> I never thought about it, you're but you're probably right. My My last real job before I quit and did this full-time, I was a concierge in Vegas at a resort. >> So, I would plan people's days and meals
11:43 all the time. >> Damn, you really know what's up then. >> What like a natural progression. >> I know. >> That's crazy. >> Cuz it was easy to recommend places and so >> You must be hell good texting and driving. >> [laughter] >> I wish I could say that, I'm not, but yeah. >> [laughter] >> You got to have some No, he really is all the time, bro. Yeah, you need Raiders tickets, no problem. >> Well, locations are based on the restaurant location, obviously. It's nearby this place. >> The beacons, yeah. That's what your landmarks are when you tell people stuff. >> Definitely. Definitely.
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