Last week I arrived in Chinatown much earlier than I was supposed to in order to have dinner with my parents. In some other neighborhoods that would be boring, but not in Chinatown, since I haven’t explored it before last year. That means that there is still plenty of the neighborhood I have yet to see, and it still feels “fresh.” I searched around for a cafe or park, since I didn’t want to eat right before dinner. On Mott Street, between the busy Bowery and restuarant dense Bayard Streets, I found the Silk Road Cafe.
They had generic hot beverages like coffees and cappuccinos, but I decided I should order something like a tea which was more unique to the cafe. My order, Japanese rice tea, came in a personal-sized glass teapot next to a very small spherical clear cup with no handle (I was in Chinatown after all). As I sat down to drink, I noticed that almost all of their customers stayed in to drink; almost no one ordered a drink to go. There weren’t any large groups there, it was mostly people drinking alone as they worked on their laptops or read the newspaper, couples, or groups of less than 4 talking quietly. Especially given its location near the busy Manhattan Bridge, the Silk Road Cafe had a very calm environment.
I highly recommend the Silk Road Cafe, but only go there if you have time. The free refills policy ensures you get the most out of your money, and the glasses they have for stay-in customers are pretty cool, at least the first few times. One of the biggest reasons to stay in is the environment is that it offers a nice escape from the noise and business of Chinatown, and I only know one other place that can do that.
