A cook stretches hand pulled noodles behind a window in NYC's Chinatown

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The Hotel 91

[Flickr/A Culinary (Photo) Journal]

Despite being home to some sleek new hotels like Hotel 91 and the forthcoming Mondrian Hotel, Chinatown is still Manhattan’s best bet for a great, cheap meal. Here are four go-to stops for filling your belly and stretching your dollar.

: This giant grocery store/take-out joint is worth a walk through just to gawk at the barrels of crocodile legs and live frogs for sale. If you can get past that (and push past the crowds), their prepared portions (full-size pork buns for 50 cents; chicken lo mein for $3) are all good, and about as cheap as you’re gonna find anywhere this side of Shanghai.

: The spot to hit when you can’t decide at all, $4.50 gets you a 5-section styrofoam container to fill up with 5 choices from the 20-plus dishes on their steam tables. There’s everything from the standards (pork fried rice), to more adventurous choices (mystery vegetables wrapped in tofu skin) to random surprises (fried chicken that’s actually delicious). 195 Centre St.

: A great to-go option before hopping on one of those sketchy Chinatown buses back to Philly, D.C., or Boston, DH’s 4-for-a-buck chive & pork fried dumplings just might be the best meal deal in all of NYC. 118 Eldridge St.

: Formerly known as New Green Bo (gotta love the honesty now that they’re not-so-new), this hole-in-the-wall has your typical Chinatown decor (not much), and you’ll be seated at round tables with other diners, but everything from the steamed tiny pork buns ($4.25) to the giant platters of pan fried noodle dishes ($6.25) are winners. 66 Bayard St.

– Brendan Spiegel of Endless Simmer.