Prodigal Son Summer

Mission Chinese Food @ Cha Kee, Chinatown

RESTAURANTS • First Person

If a pop-up counts as a return, maybe the third time's the charm for Mission Chinese Food. 

Backstory: A decade ago, Danny Bowien's San Francisco import took Orchard Street by storm, with four-hour waitlists, kegs of beer for the waiting throngs, critical acclaim, and regular visits from the likes of Anthony Bourdain and Ferran Adria. Cut to: Shuttered for building code violations, a failed burrito side-project, a revival in a bigger space on East Broadway, an expansion to Bushwick, some intra-restaurant scandal, the closure of both spots, and suddenly, no more MCF in NYC. As far as these things go, one hell of a fall from grace. 

So what a weird sensation it is to see Mission Chinese reanimate yet again, this time as it was first born in SF’s Mission District, as a pop-up within someone else's Chinese restaurant. In 2024, that restaurant is Cha Kee, and that someone is Akiko Thurnauer, herself an alum of Mission Chinese Food 2.0. 

The old-school MCF menu board is back on the wall, along with its classic hits — that kung pao pastrami, those thrice-cooked bacon and rice cakes, the mouth-numbing Chongqing chicken wings. But last Wednesday, a friend and I opted for some "lighter" fare: a cabbage salad of massive leaves, delightfully crunchy, shiny with a sesame slick; lamb dumplings dense in structure, in a murky, “tingly” broth dense with flavor; and beef chow fun nearly indistinguishable from the kind you'll find anywhere else in Chinatown, and thusly excellent. 

But as was the case at the old MCFs, the menu’s biggest rewards are often hidden among its less sexy, more discreet offerings. To wit: The pumpkin broth that first appeared on Mission's maiden menu in New York as a winter melon soup now plays host to a fistful of pea greens, surrounded by ribbons of yuba bobbing around it. 

Mission Chinese is, as ever, a crowded, loud restaurant, blasting fun, dumb music, and most dishes screaming with flavors. Dishes like Bowien’s pea greens in pumpkin broth make all that go quiet, a perfect and profound reminder of his deep aptitude as a cook. A reminder of his wackier impulses can be found in some noodles with Sprite in them that we didn't order, and a dessert of lemon custard, black tea granita, and Pop Rocks that we did — giggly, lowbrow-brilliant fun. 

The one element entirely different from any other version of the place, though? We waited only 15 minutes for our table at 7:45p. This won't be the case for long — in what's invariably going to be one of the summer's hotter tables, the more things change, the more they'll stay the same. Get there before they do. –Foster Kamer

→ Mission Chinese Food @ Cha Kee (Chinatown) • 45 Mott St • Wed-Sat 5-10p • Walk-ins only.