Lilli & Loo

Udon seafood option comes with scallop and shrimp. Borderline over salty but delish.

The lunch specials & location are what drew me to Lilli & Lew on a Sunday afternoon. Though I ordered takeout, I would consider eating in here in the future. The wanton soup was delicious especially for a cold winter day. That said, I did not care for flavor of the general tsos chicken– was very bland/​tasteless. What I did care for was the quality of the meat (white meat). I find some Chinese restaurants the quality is lacking — not the case here. Will try other items from here before ruling it out.

Since Empire Szechuan, on 97^th and Broadway, closed, I have been looking everywhere for a replacement. Not only is this restaurant as good, they are actually better.
Equal to Empire in service, they exceed in décor and ambiance. Of course, it’s been years since I have eaten an Empire meal, but the food was so flavorful I nearly got up and sang a song! I am not exaggerating!
Their vegetarian options are great with their sesame tofu being the masterpiece. And DO NOT forget an order of the vegetable spring rolls!

Tried this place today with a friend. We went for lunch and shared everything.
Chicken pad thai-​delish!
Roti bread was amazing!!!
Yom Yom soup– tasty and very comforting
Salad was OK.
Bubble teas-​yummy
The service was great (we sat upstairs). We took our time and they did not rush us out one bit!
Next time I want to try their lychee martini. Yes, they have drinks too!

Good neighborhood Asian fusion restaurant. Also a good place to order in from.
Veggie dumplings and The Spicy Thai Fish are a highlight.

Years ago, I came to Lilli and Loo and it changed my world. I went through college with the one goal of finding a job in New York and getting an apartment across the street from Lilli and Loo so I could have their food weekly. Their gluten free dumplings were THAT good!
Fast forward five years, and their dumplings are still the best (and only, to my knowledge) around. I’ve tried the frozen gluten free dumplings by Feel Good Foods, but they just don’t compare. A few times, my mom has brought some back on the plane after business trips. But being able to go to the restaurant again myself was HEAVEN.
Seriously, if you’re gluten free and missing dumplings, you can’t miss this place. Book a trip to NY and come just for Lilli and Loo!
The rest of the food, however, is kinda eh. I dined in once and had the gluten free orange chicken. The sauce was super gelatinous, and the $ 17 price tag had me wishing I’d ordered two more portions of the dumplings instead. An order of two eggs rolls was $ 8.50, and they were each barely two-​and-​half inches long. The value just wasn’t really there.
But man, for gluten free Asian food, Lilli and Loo is definitely something you need to experience. There are menu items you won’t find at PF Changs, and the gluten free variety in itself is something spectacular. You’ll finally find the things you’ve been missing for years. Oh, and did I mention the dumplings???

This is the second time I’ve been been here and it’s amazing! I love their sushi and fried rice. They have a FULL GF menu. I will be back. Maybe even tomorrow.

This was an awesome experience! The food was great and my wife was very happy with the gluten free selection. Highly recommend!

Whatever you do, do not order seafood laksa. It does not taste like laksa, not even close

3.5 stars, rounded up for how amazingly sensitive and awesome they are in accommodating dietary and allergy needs. Well-​paced service, only one hiccup in our service, friendly, clean, no frills, affordable (I got a drink, app, and hearty entrée for $ 30, including tax and tip, in this area, an I ordered from the regular menu! Friends who ordered from the lunch special menu got an even better deal!), flavorful, and all with hearty portions.
They were even gems about offering to split our check five ways, even though we forgot to ask for it before we ordered.
Solid option in the ‘hood!

I FOUND A DEAD SPIDER IN MY FOOD.
First off, the food is expensive so you would expect that it will taste good for what it’s worth. Wrong! My friend and I both ordered bento boxes. Her curry bento tasted very bad. She said it did not even taste like curry. The rice was very watery, they put too much water while boiling the rice. I ordered chicken and broccoli which was good but the sauce was too thick and gooey.
The bento box also includes dumplings and California roll. They only gave each of us four pieces of sushi when there are usually six. Being such an overpriced meal, I would expect them to be less cheap. Also, we asked for a soy sauce tray and the server just told us to put it in the space with the wasabi. WTF? They serve sushi but yet they don’t even have soy sauce trays or are they too lazy to get them.
Here is the «GOOD» part. So I ate one of the dumplings (I thought they would serve shu mai which is what bento boxes usually include). Using the chopsticks, I picked up the dumpling, turned it over so the other side also gets the sauce in the tray. Then I proceeded to eat the other foods in my bento box. When I was done, I went to finish the other dumpling (there were two).
As with the first one, I flipped the dumpling over so the other side of the dumpling can get the sauce. To my horror, the bottom of that dumpling was A DEAD SPIDER squished flat against the poor dumpling. I can still see it’s separate long legs and it was gray in color.
My friend saw it the same time I did. We both dropped our chopsticks and asked for the server. My stomach dropped, and the only time it drops is when I ride roller coasters. I thought of the time I ate the first dumpling and dipped it in the sauce (with the spider drenched in it) and the time I told my friend that the dumpling was good (maybe it was good because the spider gave it flavor lol just kidding). Had I not flipped over the dumpling, I would have eaten the spider.
The server came and we showed him the spider. He asked if it flew in the food when it clearly was a spider. He offered us a new set of dumplings but we asked for the check.
Fortunately, we did get 10% off on our meal but we would not be returning here.
Also, there are a lot of flies in the restaurant as well.

When I was told I had to start eating gluten free, I was DISTRAUGHT. I am an Italian Jew so basically my entire diet is carbs. Having to cut them out seemed impossible and there were so many things I missed. Chinese food was a major part of that. Lilli & Loo solved that problem for me. I love their sesame chicken and while it’s not exactly like the gluteny stuff, it is a great replacement. It’s also very close to Bloomingdales so that’s a plus right there, because after you starve yourself all day to try on clothes you should treat yourself to some delicious Chinese food!

The prices were more than I’d expect to pay for Chinese food, even Gluten-​Free in this part of town. I could live with that *IF* the General Tso’s Chicken was amazing. The entire meal was bland, but the chicken was the most disturbing part. When you make a battered chicken chunk, the meat needs to be tenderized so that the chunk isn’t as dense. This was so dense that it was clear no tenderizing or marinade had been used prior to battering. It was like biting into my arm, which is also gluten-​free.
Beautiful décor, though. Kitchen was trustworthy — some of my family is Celiac and some are non-​Celiac gluten intolerant. I’d feel safe bringing my Celiac family here, as they appeared to know how to prevent cross-​contamination in their kitchen. I appreciate that this place exists at all.

This place is a mix of Asian culture food from sushi to pad thai. If you want a bang for your midtown buck, dine here. Prices are less then moderate & you get more then the single serving. I ordered the vegetable spring rolls, shrimp pad thai & hot green tea beverage. The appetizer was a regular roll & the shrimp pad thai dish was okay, nothing impressive. If anything, the green tea was good. My check came out to $ 17.20 plus tax so $ 19.49. Not bad for appetizer & noodles I couldn’t finish.
I give this place 3 stars for fast service & decent food.

The Unilocal prompt on my page pretty much said «You’ve checked into this place 16 times… you’re the Duke… so just write an f’in review already!» So fine… here we go:
I still remember the day that I walked into a PF Chang’s in Broomfield, Colorado, and discovered double pan-​fried noodles with chicken. Oh those thick crispy noodles, wilting beneath the heat and weight of that viscous, gravy-​like, MSG loaded sauce that enveloped it. Pure. Chinese. Crack. It was the stuff that heart attacks are made of I tell you…
Then I moved to New York, and there was no more double pan fried noodles. Sad. Day. Sure, there are many chinese restaurants that have something similar on the menu, but it’s just not the same. There was a little void in my stomach.
Lilli & Loo however, has a decent facsimile. If it weren’t for this one dish, I probably wouldn’t eat here as often. While it’s not exactly like the stuff at Chang’s (nothing ever will be), it’s good enough to satisfy my craving for it.
Now I just wish they’d add it to the lunch special menu so that I can order it in a smaller portion size and not feel like a bloated pig every time I get it. The thing can seriously feed 3 people, yet I somehow manage to choke it all down in one sitting… then I just hate myself for 2 days after… but you don’t need to hear about my food problems… or do you? PM me… we’ll talk.

We were very disappointed with the portion size of the «half» Peeking Duck dish and when we called to complain they swore we were served half a duck. There wasn’t enough meat to even make one pancake, so maybe they’re serving ducklings but for $ 23.00 the customer should expect much more! I just wish they had taken accountability for their mistake or had charged $ 7.00, which would have been a reasonable cost for the amount of food we were served.
I would definitely recommend passing on this place!

After being diagnosed with Celiac Disease, it was impossible to find a safe Chinese restaurant. My doctor sent me a list of restaurants and this happen to be on it. Once I arrived, I realized I had been here 2 years ago. The first time I went here (pre-​celiac), I loved it. It wasn’t in my neighborhood so I soon forgot about it. After being diagnosed I’ve been here countless times. Even my non-​celiac family and boyfriend love it. There is a separate gluten free menu and its 5 pages! They have every Chinese dish you could think of. My favorite is the GF egg drop soup (it has corn pieces in it too) and the chicken and broccoli with white rice. The only thing I don’t recommend is the dumplings. They may be fine for those who are not gluten free, but for those who are, I do not recommend. The tables are a bit close together, but it’s Manhattan. Overall, I adore this place and wish I could rate higher.

Diners beware! I came here with my husband for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. We sat in the back near the kitchen. While we waited for the food our waiter sneezed and wiped his nose with his hand. Instead of going to the rest room, he went into the kitchen area, where he continued to sneeze. I got up and peeked around the side of the wall to find him cutting & putting vegetables ON MY PLATE WITH NO GLOVES ON AFTER JUST SNEEZING & WIPING HIS NOSE WITH HIS HAND! I turned to a waitress who was standing there and told her what just happened. I walked back to my table to tell my husband. 10 seconds later the waitress brought us our food as if I didn’t just tell her what the waiter did! We were so disgusted we just walked out. Why anyone but the cooks are handling the food and how anyone can be so devoid of common sense and hygiene is beyond me!

OH YES.
This review is based off my Seamless order but seriously, Lilli & Loo is BOMB. I’ve been craving Chinese for a while and I heard good things about this place so figured why not (also helps they have a 20% discount for first time customers).
I ordered the Age Tofu appetizer and the black bean shrimp dish (I added eggplant and asked for it spicy). Everything was perfect. The tofu was great, the shrimp dish had so many veggies and lots of shrimp, NO SKIMPING HERE! The only thing is that there were a lot of carrots and I’m not a huge bunny rabbit carrot-​lover so next time I guess I’ll keep that in mind with my order modifications.
The best part though… Seamless said delivery would take 45 – 60 minutes, but they were at my door in less than a half hour. Solid.

I’ve been here any times. Every time I enjoyed myself with amazing Asian fusion food. They serve fresh and delicious food. I love the ambiance here. It reminds me of being in a high end Asian restaurant.
This is the perfect place to take your date to, or to have a small get together. The servers are pleasant and provide quick service.
I would highly recommend this place.