I understand most Chinese restaurants lack friendly service and decent decor, a fact that sometimes troubles and embarrasses a native Chinese like me. But no matter what, the food comes first. I was treated to the "Banquet prix fixe"--85 bucks, an appetizer platter, a small bowl of seafood soup, a bit-size lemon sorbet, main course with three samples of dishes, and dessert. Let me start backward: the dessert was just a scoop of sorbet decorated with some fresh berries, the only decent thing in the main course is the half tail of lobster, the rest is just plain veggie and meat stuff, the lemon sorbet is just a trick, the seafood soup IS good with lots of fresh crab meat, and, finally, the apperizer platter is decent but nothing special. For 85$, you can feed 3 or 4 people at a place like Wu Liang Ye (not considered a cheap Chinese, not nearly nice the decor, but much, much better food), or enjoy a nice dinner at Babbo, Aquavit, Blue Ribbon Sushi, Gotham...you get the idea. I know most people won't go for the "banquet prix fixe"--you have to ask the server for a special menu, but I saw that most a la carte dishes are at least 20 $, which is still too much for the quality of food. If you want to pay for the service and decor and sit comfortable at a Chinese restaurant, go ahead. But please don't say this is the "best Chinese" or "one of the best" restaurants in NYC. That's just embarrassing.
Pros: Decor, comfy chair
Cons: Food, price
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