Are any of these delicacies worth the exorbitant cost, and potential aggravation, of a trip to the newest Mr. Chow? Probably not. But then if Mr. Chow were just peddling food, he’d have been out of business years ago. What he’s peddling is a hint of glamour, a whiff of celebrity, a tenuous sense that you’re making the scene. Certainly no one was bull-rushing the restaurant, on the evenings I was there, for the desserts. They include a meager fruit plate (oranges, litchis, mealy slices of kiwi), random slices of berry tart or chocolate-fudge cake, and servings of coconut sorbet packed, Trader Vic’s style, into the shell of a coconut. If you order coffee, it’s possible it will be tepid (mine was), and if you crave a glass of dessert wine, your only choice is a $365 half-bottle of Château d’Yquem. So order one up, and offer a toast to the ephemeral glories of the high life. Or do what this beleaguered critic did on his last trip to Mr. Chow. Pay your bill, and get out of there as fast as you can.

No Stars
MR. CHOW TRIBECA
Address: 121 Hudson St., nr. N. Moore St.; 212-965-9500
Hours: Dinner daily, from 6 to 11:30 p.m.
Prices: Appetizers, $5.50 to $22. Entrées, $26 to $42.Ideal Meal: Soup dumplings, rice-paper prawns, Peking duck, coconut sorbet.
Note: If you don’t make it to this new branch of Mr. Chow, there’ll be two more opening in 2008, one in Miami, the other at the Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas.

Scratchpad: People impressed by the Mr. Chow scene should like this place okay. People who aren’t won’t.

Related:

• Archive: “Restaurant Review”
• Articles by Adam Platt
• Table of Contents: Jun 26, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!