The absolute best way to travel in any city is through Food. In food, we can find hidden history, traditions, and each generation’s contributions. It’s also something that makes us remember distinctive things about other cultures more than a history book or a museum. For example, I had moose and reindeer meat in Sweden, unique Cuban bites in Miami, and weird hipster creations in Austin. Each unique and unforgettable in its own way.
When I visit new cities, I simply love doing food tours! But when Ahoy NYC Food Tours invited me on a Tour in my own neighborhood, I didn’t know what to expect. I mean, a Little Italy and Chinatown food tour in NYC? I’ve eaten in these areas dozens of times so how could I possibly discover new things?
Well, spoiler alert. Ahoy Food Tours killed it! Not only did I eat some amazing Asian and Italian food but also learned about their shared immigrant history and saw some cool new spots in both neighborhoods. It’s safe to say that even when you think you’ve seen it all, you can ALWAYS find hidden gems in your own neighborhoods! You can have a Perfect Day right around the corner.
In this review, I will share some general information about the NYC Little Italy and Chinatown Food Tour along with an overview of the food we tasted.
At the bottom of this post, you’ll find a discount code for Ahoy Food Tours that you use when booking!
Let’s Start with Some Useful Info
Ahoy Food Tours has been around for a while, since 2008 to be exact. Each tour consists of a small group of up to 13 people. Their most popular public tour is the Little Italy and Chinatown Food Tour in NYC but they also have another multicultural one on Mulberry Street. They also offer private and corporate events. Prices are pretty average for a food tour compared to local companies.
Our tour guide Maryana was amazing. She was super knowledgeable about the neighborhoods, history, and food of course. We really enjoyed her expertise!
Dietary Accommodations
Food tours and dietary restrictions don’t always go hand in hand. Previously I attended a food tour in another city where a company listed that they accommodate a specific food allergy. In practice, that accommodation ended up being a total failure and the tour ended up a dud for our group then.
My guest on Ahoy’s Food Tour was vegetarian so we knew that she wouldn’t be able to taste everything. But what pleasantly surprised us is that in every spot which included a meat bite, the tour had prepared a substitute delicious veggie tasting for her. Each accommodation is different but if you’re a vegetarian, don’t worry about missing out! They do a great job with substitutions!
All were amazing!
Overall Itinerary
The tour lasts approximately 3 hours, there are 8 tastings with one alcoholic beverage included. You will certainly feel full after the tour as the portions are generous (for a food tour of course).
You’ll be walking for about half a mile outside so dress accordingly to NYC seasonal weather. During the stops outside, you’ll learn about the Chinese Exclusion Act, the tenements of the area, the dark history of Chinatown, and the immigrant history of Little Italy. As an immigrant myself, this was a very interesting portion of the tour. It shows how the people and history shaped the area along with the food and how much struggle they went through in hopes of a better life in this country.
Tasting Stop Overview
- At our meeting spot, we enjoyed hot tea and a pork bun
- Then we had some dumplings
- Next was a Chinese sponge cake
- Then a fresh mozzarella with prosciutto
- And some gnocchi with amazing marinara sauce
- Next was a cheese sampling from a famous cheese shop
- My favorite was the following sit-down stop with eggplant rollatini and a cold beer
- And lastly, we had cannoli to end on a perfect sweet tooth!
I was so full at the end and so happy with all the delicious tastings. There truly wasn’t a bad meal on this Little Italy and Chinatown food tour in NYC.
Now let’s dive a little more into each tasting!
Tasting 1: Tea Tasting with a Chinese Pastry
Our tour started at Silk Road Cafe for our first tasting of Jasmine Tea. It was served in cute little glasses and we let it seep while we settled in and got our introduction to the tour. Our tour guide explained the importance of balance within traditional Chinese cuisine. We sipped our tea and enjoyed her explanation of herbal concoctions throughout history.
Next was an insanely delicious pork bun (and taro bun for my vegetarian friend) from Fay Da Bakery. The slightly sweet bread along with the salty and perfectly seasoned pork was a perfect combo. The taro bun had a combination of sweetness with floral undertones, and almond slices on top were a great touch. I could have easily eaten two more!
Tasting 2: Dumplings
Next, we headed over to Tasty Dumplings for some meat dumplings! Dumplings to me are always fascinating since most cultures in the world figured out their unique way of stuffing their favorite ingredients in a form of a dough pocket. For example, Eastern Europeans have pierogis, South Americans have empanadas, Italians have ravioli and Asians have dumplings! In essence these are allt’s the same food, yet they are all so different to each culture.
Back to Tasty Dumplings though, don’t let this hole-in-a-wall fool you with its simple appearance. The dumplings were superb!
Tasting 3: Spongecake
We enjoyed our next tasting which was a (purple) spongecake from Kam Hing Coffee Shop while listening to some interesting history behind Doyers Street. It’s quite wild yet fascinating and I won’t spoil it for you because it’s just one of those stories you’ll have to hear about in person. For a tad more suspense, I also won’t tell you the ingredient that makes the spongecake purple. I’ll save that detail for your tour too.
Tasting 4: Fresh Homemade Mozzarella wrapped in Prosciutto
After our Chinatown tour stops, we headed over to Little Italy. Personally, I have eaten many meals there and attended (my favorite) San Gennaro Feast! I love the food in that area so I was very excited about discovering some new gems!
Our first location in Little Italy was Alleva Dairy, which is the oldest cheese shop in America. Upon entering the shop, you could immediately smell the delicious scents of authentic Italian deli. We sampled homemade mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto (or if you’re from Jersey like me then call it mutz) 🙂 Since the cheese was unsalted, the cured prosciutto beautifully complimented it!
Tasting 5: Fresh Pasta
Our next bite was pasta in tomato sauce at Piemonte Ravioli. It was a small pasta store that sells pasta to very popular clients! I expected the sauce to be salty, however to my surprise, it had a slightly sweet aftertaste. We learned that it’s the tomatoes that give it that distinctive taste.
Tasting 6: Imported Cheeses and Olives
You can NEVER ever have enough cheese so when we arrived at Di Palo’s Fine Foods and tasted some Piave (cow milk) and Moliterno (sheep milk), my soul was super happy. Not only was the cheese amazing, but the store itself is such an institution. Their imported foods are impressive, I mean check out these cheese wheels!
Tasting 7: Eggplant Rollatini
Benito One was our sit-down spot where we had some Eggplant Rollatini along with an alcoholic beverage of our choice. The rollatini was probably my favorite meal out of the tour since I am a sucker for some good Italian!
The restaurant itself was such an interesting place and I am certainly planning to come back for a full dinner soon with my family.
Depending on the tour, the sit-down locations vary between this one and having Dim Sum at Nom Wah Tea Parlor.
Tasting 8: Cannoli
Last but not least, we ended the tour with the perfect sweet tooth treat, a pistachio cannoli! Normally the tour does this tasting at Ferrara Bakery, which I LOVE dearly, however, it was closed on the day we did the tour.
Is Ahoy’s Little Italy and Chinatown Food Tour in NYC worth it?
Yes it is. As someone who has done a dozen of food tours, I have to say I really enjoyed Ahoy’s Food Tour. All the tastings were delicious and it was great to learn some interesting neighborhood history along with it. The food portions and picks were great, our tour guide really knew her stuff, and it was a great afternoon activity to do with my best friend.
Ahoy was generous to share this discount code for Perfect Day readers so you guys can save some $$. Visit their website for the tour schedule.
USE CODE PDSAHNY TO SAVE 20% OFF AHOY FOOD TOURS!
If you’re a fan of food tours, you’ll like this one. If you’ve never done one, Ahoy will set the bar high!
I am thankful to Ahoy’s team for the invite and I assure you that this is a truly honest and independent opinion about it.
