Karaoke and Serious Chinese Food Blend at Chinatown on West 5th

We passed a most pleasant evening last Saturday night at Chinatown on 5th St. munching on chicken wings, dim sum, and the usual killer entrees at Ronald Cheng’s Chinatown. We sampled dishes like Salt and Pepper Shrimp, Jalapeno Scallops, Sesame Shrimp, and Honey Pepper Beef. We also had some wonderful crispy Tofu with vegetables in a brown sauce. Not to mention a few Lychee Martinis (an amazingly tasty but also potent drink, so be advised).

The food and drink would have been enough but then there is the hippest and smartest Karaoke dude in the city who is there on Thursday-Saturday nights. Greg flat-out gets what makes Karaoke work (quality equipment to begin with and a huge song list). Jennifer and I got up more than a few times and rocked out with tunes by Carly Simon, Don Henley and Jackson Browne. As usual, the karaoke crowd is both enthusiastic and sympathetic. This is essential and Greg knows how to stoke the crowd. He’ll even jump in when a truly dreadful single or duo is up there (yeah, not everyone is Barbara Streisand) and in need of a little vocal support (even though they may not know it).

It makes for a hell of a fun night and the combination of killer food and listening to people put themselves out there (karaoke has a way of stripping away a lot of peoples’ pretenses) is hard to beat.