Pearl River Market Foods

Located inside Chelsea Market in NYC, NY you’ll find this little Asian Market with great stuff to buy and a few food and drink stalls as well! You can find so many delicious spots in Chelsea Market, but this is one spot you do not want to skip! If you love Asian food, THIS is the spot for you. They have two more permanent food shops inside and have rotating pop ups as well. Of course I tried both spots because I love bao and kimbap!

First up, I tried Mao’s Baos. This spot serves up dumplings and pan fried soup dumplings (which are probably my favorite). They offer a handful of flavors for you to try and you can mix and match! I grabbed their classic pork pan fried soup dumplings because ya can’t go wrong with a classic. Another cool thing they do is for every flavor, they use a different color. This helps so you know which filling you are eating if you get multiple AND it is just so beautiful! The dumplings were sooo tasty; the wrapping was perfectly cooked and soft with a lovely crispy texture on the bottom. The filling was so juicy and very hot, so proceed with caution. I was impatient and took a giant bite (which I knew was like not the right thing to do) and burned my entire mouth…so learn from my mistakes haha.

The next spot I tried was the Kimbap Lab. Also another favorite of mine – I could eat kimbap every day if it was convenient. They have so many different options like bulgogi, spicy pork, tofu skin, spicy chicken and more. I was immediately drawn to the bulgogi, because it is my favorite. Inside the roll it has shredded carrots, cucumber, pickled radish, and lettuce. It is the perfect combination of fresh, crunchy, and satisfying. It also comes with your choice of a sauce – my recommendation is to get the KBL signature sauce. It is a ssamjang aioli – so it’s a little spicy, a little nutty, and a little sweet! I could have eaten a dozen of these kimbap rolls, they were so damn good. I wish I had ordered a few other flavors to try, but that just means I have to go back.