Hunan Balcony

I’ve been a regular customer for ⁶¹⁄₂ years. I usually take food out. I had a horrible experience trying to eat lunch there recently. The staff was surly and rude and refused to substitute tofu for chicken in a dish on the lunch menu. The quality of food has declined but it’s conveniently located. I will never patronize Hunan Balcony again. Lisa S

Went in for lunch with a friend and we both have been patrons for years. We both remember Hunan in its glory days when the service was great. They respected their customers and their money. There is no wonder that today it looks like a saloon in a shanty town with dust bowls blowing in the wind. But in spite of the warning signs we decided to go for their lunch special with the other 4 people in the restaurant @12pm! It’s dark, it’s a bit dense but we push through anyhow! When we are seated we are greeted by a dismissive arrogant lady with a fake smile. We ask for a minute… My friend decides she will order a coke and general tso’s chicken, with hot and sour soup and vegetable fries ride. I said «that’s almost exactly what I am ordering, but General tso’s tofu.» We laughed, we kept it light hearted in spite of the despair surrounding us. We had a full blown discuss before the server came about the possibility and level of complexity of simply changing the dish form chicken to tofu? as the dishes do not (or maybe they do come pre made) After our deliberation we hoped and imagined it wouldn’t be an issue! As I am vegetarian and get this dish ALL THE TIME in normal places. But boy were we wrong!!! When I asked the server for general tso tofu she inspired she could not do it for the lunch special but only as a «dinner plate»!!! WTF is the difference? We asked again… same dismissive robotic response! «Only for dinner plate» she was disgusted with us she kept looking away! The disgust was palpable! «How could these dumb entitled white people not understand?!» When she referred to her manager… the same sentiment! NOT POSSIBLE!!! It became a thing! The entire staff could not understand that a vegetarian wanted general tso tofu for the lunch special… Bc it was not on the lunch special menu… but neither was the general tso tofu for dinner! So we decided to leave on principle and the scoffing arrogant looks and Chinese banter! On our way out one of the other servers called us «disgusting!» Suffice to say they are ALL disgusting, their establishment and lack of humanity let a lone customer service and patron appreciation is all disgusting. We will NEVER return to give them our hard earned money. There are many places and proprietors that respect and appreciate their patrons’ and deserve our support. Hunan absolutely does not nor will it ever. For the sake of the neighborhood and customer appreciation across the world… may this business’ fate commensurate to its treatment of customers. Do not waste your time and money on these people that regard their paying customers as less than. Please shutter soon. Kind regards.

I wish there was a negative star rating. The food is horrible — overcooked, tasteless, bland and the vegetables come straight from the frozen section in the warehouse and are disgusting. On top of this they have the nerve to charge higher prices than Manhattan. Why can’t Riverdale get a good Chinese restaurant?

Took out only pork fried rice. It was so dry and bland. Why, oh why, is it so hard to find a decent Chinese place?!
I would give one star, but I have not tried the other items yet. I will give this place a second chance, but only if they step up their game.

The egg drop was the only thing that was good. The spareribs were dry and bad tasting. When i brought this to their attention they dismissed the comment like I was crazy. Ordered a noodle dish and they refused to compliment the white rice. Overall the experience was horrible.

BEWARE! RIPOFF ALERT!
Their menu states lunch specials from 12 — 5pm. I went in and ordered General Tso’s Chicken, which only was listed on the lunch menu for 8.50.
I was charged 20.35 and when I enquired the waitress said «I was served a dinner portion», without any requests from me or clarification from them. This place is graded B, which is bad enough, but it should be graded F for service.

Meh. They used to be a very good Chinese food place, but their food is mediocre now. Too bad the Riverdale Chinese food choices are limited.

The food is just okay and the people answering the phones don’t speak English well. The orders are often wrong and then they like to argue with you about how you don’t know what you ordered, so they can be quite rude. That said its the best of the worst for Riverdale.

DO NOT EAT HERE.
TAKE YOUR BUSINESS ELSEWHERE.
I ordered chow mein and they delivered this SOUPY CHOP SUEY. The woman at the establishment was adamant «chow mein» meant vegetables, not noodle type… IM PRETTY SURE MEIN MEANS NOODLES in any case, after a painful 10 min ordeal over the phone SHE SAID they were sending me noodles
…they never did
Besides that, the rice was too wet (eww) but the dumplings were pretty good. BUT they didn’t pack the proper gyoza sauce… it was straight-​up soy sauce, which tastes way too sharp for dumplings.
«Chow mein doesn’t mean noodles, my dear. Next time you order you know better.» Yeah, next time. Pfft.

Great service! Very good chicken and broccoli, chicken spinach soup and ribs! The restaurant has a big sitting area, and looks nice and clean. They serve with cloth napkins, not paper napkins.
We also get delivery from them and the food comes quickly.

Why on earth do I even bother coming to this establishment!!! In this case I refused to eat there but my son insisted he wanted Chinese take out for dinner. I relented and ordered him sesame chicken… Uuuuugh to my «surprise» (sarcastic) the chicken tasted dry and stale smothered in sauce. The chicken was not edible, I could not even chew the chicken!!! Mind you I had dined in elsewhere and had bought this dinner for my teenage son. I had tasted the chicken only because he had not eaten the dinner I bought for him!!! Yes that’s how bad it was!!! I call to speak with the manager and complain about the lack of quality and she goes on to say she had 300 orders and no one else has complained??? Mmmmm? Are you calling me a liar??? Please please don’t go to this place of «business» disgusting!!! Complete FAIL!!! Over priced!!!

Visited this restaurant on the 4^th of July — it was the only place that was open! Was greeted quickly and courteously. Order placed was orange chicken and kung pao chicken, free can of soda was offered.
From the time of order to actual picking up– total of 10 minutes! Now granted the chicken was likely pre-​prepared but it was a quick stir fry that was tasty and quite different in taste from each other (not cooked in same pan).
unfortunately the kung pao was not spicy at all but that is likely due to the restaurant cooking to the taste of the community (in addition to my realization that both my and hubs tastebuds are used to super spicy foods).

I don’t know what happened but last time I went here the hot sauce tasted like Tabasco and the noodles tasted like Kraft.

Hit or miss with this place. The male waiter with the glasses and the very thin one usually get orders correct. The female waitress is nasty, and has an attitude and never gets order correct. Food is ok, depending on the day.

Had the crispy shrimp and scallops. The shrimp was crispy, the scallops were not. They were chewy. The sauce was pretty good, but the walnuts thrown on top were pointless. Plain walnuts that added nothing to the dish. I might go back if I’m ever in the area, because there is a lot to try

When it comes to Riverdale Chinese food, this is about as good as it’s going to get. Your typical Westernized Chinese food menu… all of the staples present, e.g., Chicken & Broccoli, Sweet & Sour Pork, etc. The service varies but in general, it’s not great — it’s definitely not the thing I would shine a positive spotlight on, but it’s also not so terrible as to ruin your evening or anything… they’re just very… business-​oriented, I guess.
In all, pretty good place for a sit down bite in the area. Decent prices for pretty high quality Chinese food. Would recommend.

Oh man, I wish I had the time and motivation to write a really long, bad bad review for this restaurant, but you’ll have to settle for a medium length, bad bad review because they really aren’t worth my time.
About 10 years ago, before my wife and I moved to Riverdale from the city, we used to go here with her dearly departed grandmother, who like seemingly every New Yorker’s grandmother, lived in Riverdale and loved Chinese food. The place was just alright then. A satisfying Chicken and Broccoli here, a limp eggroll there, whatever.
It must have changed owners in the time since we moved here, because now it could hardly be worse. The food is 2 stars, maybe 2.5 if you stick with stuff that is impossible to mess up (scallion pancakes, fried rice: I’m looking at you).
But the SERVICE. Oh my dear lord, it is almost deliciously bad. I think back to how bad it was and almost want to order again just to have a comical fight with them when they screw it up. Because they rarely get an order right, and the «error» usually seems to be that they leave something out. Interesting, hmm?
So the solution we often got from them was the same mentioned by other reviewers: «It will take too long to deliver so just ask for a free _​_​_​_​next time.» Really? Can you imagine if the customer suggested the reverse? «Oh, I’m short $ 5? Just ask me for an extra fiver next time, bro.»
But this is the best part. The final time we ordered from them they messed up the order. We were insistent that they send the food we actually ordered. So after a lot of yelling at us, they actually demanded that we send the wrong food back with their delivery guy. That’s right. Maybe we ate some, maybe we didn’t. But either way, do you know what their plans are for that food, dears?
That’s right! They’re gonna serve it to YOU!

Horrible service. After waiting an hour for my online order I called the store to make sure the order was on the way. The person who answered was rude and I think said something along the lines of «I was told it would be an hour wait and my food would be there shortly». Finally my phone rang and the person on the other end was practically yelling at me. I went outside to get my food and they were giving me attitude since I didn’t answer when they rang the bell. Oh, that’s interesting since I specified in the order that I was located at the side door and to call from outside, no need for the attitude sir. Lucky for them I already gave a tip when the order was placed, because they would not have gotten one.
Anyway, after all this attitude I sat down to some mediocre food. Definitely not worth the wait, or the horrible service I put up with. Won’t be ordering from this place again. Thanks.

Food comes out quickly, priced just right and opened late. Great neighborhood spot. Fun for all ages. Service is excellent.
If you’re looking for something fancy, this is not for you. Delivery and takeout available.
They serve water like a 5-​star restaurant.
House special fried rice along with chicken & broccoli for two

Basic ass Chinese restaurant with over priced Chinese food.
Not worth it unless you wipe your ass with $ 20 bills.