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There is absolutely no reason why Tang Pavilion is as bad as it is. Venture downtown and you'll find some of the best Chinese food outside of China, with fresh exotic ingredients prepared by chefs who know their Chongqing from their Chengdu. But here, in the heart of midtown, a diner might as well be in Minnesota or Ohio—anywhere but Shanghai, whose cuisine Tang Pavilion purports to offer. Take chicken with chestnuts, a classic Shanghainese dish: At Tang, it's made with flavorless breast meat and canned—canned!—chestnuts. Or the house specialty crispy fish, doused in a radioactive orange sludge that would make any strip-mall ricery weep with shame. At least the dining room is elegant, with ancient-looking vases on display and imperial-style wooden gates—except that the display cases are filmy Lucite, the wood varnish is wearing thin, and the chairs look like food-court refugees. Is there anything to recommend Tang? Perhaps the service: A waiter will watch your teapot like a hawk, refilling it when the oolong runs low, and if you order soup dumplings—perhaps the tastiest item on the menu—he'll carefully tong your them onto your plate, where they'll scorch your mouth and stain your shirt...just like Chinatown. — Matt Gross

Soup dumplings, $6.50