A Bargain at Katz's Deli, and Perfect Wonton Soup

Three for the weekend, June 27

The wonton soup at Long Island Dim Sum arrives fully cooked, but deconstructed.

Who doesn’t love wonton soup?

What could be better than a bowl of wonton soup, with or without noodles? Chinatown offers several good ones — the problem is, they vary wildly in size, with some filling you up, others requiring you to order an extra dish. The version at Wu’s Wonton King is perhaps the most famous, but the bowl is designed to be shared. Others vary from the soup’s mellow ideal: Kung Fu Kitchen stirs up a great bowl, but it’s spicier than you might expect. Cheap eats fave Taiwan Pork Chop House puts dried seaweed on top, and maybe you don’t want that in your wonton soup.

Beet and shrimp dumplings are even redder inside.

Recently, I stumbled on what I thought was the perfect bowl. Long Island Dumplings is the offspring of the shuttered Long Island Pekin [sic] in Babylon, New York. Don’t be deterred by the geographic underpinnings of the name! Long Island Dumplings, on the northern edge of Greenwich Village, mounts an impressive menu of fresh tasting dim sum in 25 varieties, including many with fancifully colorful wrappers, and others that are vegan. The smallish soup dumplings come in three types, and the one stuffed with crab and pork has lots of crab.

It was to the wonton soup ($12) that I turned to , since it’s one of my favorite Chinese American dishes. In the modern fashion, the soup comes deconstructed, favoring carryout. I urge you, for maximum freshness, to sit in the small but airy dining room and dump the broth into the solid components immediately. The broth is more brownish than most, deriving from both pork and chicken bones. The wontons are the prize here, trailing sheets of noodle dough like goldfish; thin-skinned and bulging with shrimp and pork in equal proportion. A couple of baby bok choy varies the color and crunch, and the noodles such as you might find in dormitory ramen — and the bowl is the perfect size for a full meal. 513 Sixth Avenue, Greenwich Village