Bo Ky
80 Bayard St., New York, NY 10013
at Mott St.
212-406-2292
Located in the heart of Chinatown, Bo Ky specializes in noodle soups with Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cambodian influences. All on the CHEAP! Dishes are about $5 each with nothing more than $10. The service is quick and enthusiastic and it would be a plus if you can speak Chinese but not by any means necessary. The main host quickly quipped jokes with us he sat us down. Don’t expect fine silverware and refined decor here, the dining room looks like a disorganized office where employees working overtime have obviously had a boatload of takeout chinese food.
Having just returned from Cambo, I felt obligated to order the Cambodian Noodle soup with egg noodles. Though it was $7 I was disappointed; it tasted like merely instant ramen. Harsh words I know but I was expecting in your face essence of fish sauce, pork bones, citrus, and herbs. There was NONE of that. Sophia’s shrimp wontons were very tasty (albeit the most expensive dish and appetizer at that) and the fried tofu was not bad though slightly bland. The most highly recommended dish on the menu was supposedly curry chicken noodle soup but I didn’t get a chance to try.
(2 Cambodian noodle soups in front, duck over rice in back)
(beef noodle soup looked tasty)
Overall the service was good and the prices were cheap. One will not find a life changing food moment here; the food tastes like how the place looks: shoddy at best. But for a quick bite on a budget, there are few places like this. It seems busy so the turnover of food will be good.
Good
Affordable Chinese noodle soup with supposedly Cambo, Viet, and Chinese flavas.
Fast service and a no frills experience.
Bad
The lack of decor, sterile fluorescent lighting, and cheap crooked tables.
Ugly
Our waiter/host/manager’s thumb plunging into my soup bowl as he carried it to the table.
-bru
bonus:
Tea-riffic is and Chinatown Ice Cream Factory are nearby.
