Best of New York 2014 • Eating

• Fung Tu

  22 Orchard St., nr. Hester St.; 212-219-8785

  In many Chinese restaurants around town, your average whole fish is a tired creature, dazed from too many days spent lolling in a cloudy tank. At this stylish establishment, however, the black bass—or, some nights, Atlantic sea bream—looks (and tastes) like it’s just been hauled from the chilly waters under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The Per Se–trained chef Jonathan Wu steams the fish to a plump softness, then garnishes it on the plate with fermented black beans, chile, and bits of tangerine peel. Add the modest sticker price ($28), and you have one of the most sophisticated, eminently reasonable “to share” deals in town.

From the 2014 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine