S Dynasty

I loved (past tense) this place.
I just found out that S. Dynasty’s just joined a dreaded ‘club’ here in NYC — a club which NO business would EVER want to be associated wit; the idiotic list of businesses shuttered in NYC, as the landlord’s ever-​quickening pace of driving rents up, exorbitantly, forcing out long-​time, well-​established businesses-​renters, with regular clientele, all of this, without having any new client lined up.
It sickens me, and I know I can’t be alone in hating this.
I was trying to call for a reservation earlier 2day, and after no answer, I dialed the hotel’s front desk (S. Dynasty was locate in a hotel), and they told me the sad news.
It’s pointless to tick the boxes below, and say how good the waitstaff was (terrific, and very nice), and the rest are, as S. Dynasty’s closure — right before the holiday season, mind you, only makes this whole situation sadder still.
So, this review is more of a eulogy, of the always delicious morsels I’d eat here. Just writing this gives me pangs of hunger, tinged with sadness.
One entered S. Dynasty (which was located on the 2^nd floor of the Lexington Hotel, and had big windows, right on the corner), either through a star*uck’s (they were on the 1^st floor, and you’d go through them, and now in the hotel-​proper, would take the steps), or an elevator form the lobby’s main floor, up one flight. Once on the 2^nd Fl. You could enter one of 2 ways; the first — the ‘main entrance,’ opened, into a dimly lit rectangular-​shaped space, which had tables running the 2 long walls. Behind one, was — I believe — private little rooms, but, I never 8 in this room, I would pass through it, to go to the main dining room.
The second entrance lead directly to the main dining room. In contrast to the intimate, dark room, was the main dining room — a spacious, square-​shaped space, which had giant windows running the lengths of 2 walls, and they looked out right at the corner of 48^th/​Lex.
The room had a piano, which, as I came for lunch, I never got to hear, but, I think was used later in the day.
The food was delicious. I’m a creature of habit– not adventurous with food, but, I always knew S. Dynasty’s cooking was better than many Chinese restaurants in their group; cuisine, price & locale.
My Fried dumplings were always crunchy, but they never had that rubbery chewiness I find in some dumplings. Inside, the meat was cooked, and a little puff of steam would arise, as I raised it to my (watering) mouth.
My main course was chicken, and it depended on whatever whim I had that day, because it could be chicken with Walnuts, or cashews, or lemon chicken (yum!).
The walnut’s, which were the sweetened ones, always had a sharp bite-​type flavor, which contrasted perfectly with the chicken.
I wish the entire staff of S. Dynasty all my deepest thanks, and my gratitude, for always making my time eating there a nice experience (even the coat-​check lady — who’s name escapes me at the moment) were wonderful, and I feel awful for the happening, not just for the reasons I mentioned, but, to have this happen — right now — as NYC’s in full holiday party swing, and this closing hurts these wonderful people in their pockets.
I hope by some miracle S. Dynasty will soon come back — somewhere here, in my neighborhood (which is blocks from them), and once again, I, and the other regular patrons could enjoy NOT just the food, but, ambience, the staff, as well.

The serving staff are so very miserable!

Ordered duck dish with vegetables which was mostly fat and a little meat. Broccoli dish was good. No tea offered after meal. They just brought a fortune cookie and Bill. Waiters were less than friendly. Felt unwelcome,. Room is nice and quiet. Good for a business meal.

It’s rather pricey but Dynasty offer decent service, authentic Cantonese and other Chinese dishes. I am a diehard seafood fan and my favorite is GINGER SCALLION LOBSTER. PEKING DUCK ROLL is average. Dining room is nicely decorated with Oriental theme. Two huge antique vase really stand out.

Staying in the Hotel attached to the restaurant.
Ordered the sesame chicken. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t good. It wasn’t anything. It was incredibly bland. There was texture but there was no taste. None at all.
I arrived early to pick up my order to go. The sole employee told me the bar was closed. The entire restaurant was bare. I was the only person in the place. She offered me a seat in the waiting room– 3 feet across from the front desk– while the entire place is empty. She said she could get me a drink although the bar is closed, so long as I sit directly across from her.
She places a to go bag of food on the counter and walks away. 30 minutes later she comes back– says that the bag is mine and I could have just paid before. Then she says the beer she handed me was 8 dollars.
A complete tasteless nightmare

Somewhat adequate Chinese food in an elegant setting, both of which cater to a heavily Western palate. Apparently lots of people from the UN come here. When we walked in, we were put off by how quiet and formal the place felt. Luckily, our table of 8 was given a private room so we could celebrate without having to whisper.
The restaurant «specializes» in Shanghainese food (that’s the S in their name), but the menu non-​assuringly includes lemon chicken, beef with broccoli, and other things along those lines. $ 13 – 30 per dish sounded average, even low, for a Chinese restaurant serving family-​style… But then the plates came. And they were miniscule! An order of «paper-​wrapped chicken» had morsels of chicken (individually wrapped in foil, not paper) so embarrassingly small that our host promptly ordered several more portions, with the expediency of someone concerned about losing face.
Service was very friendly. Bathrooms are outside the restaurant proper, shared with the lobby of the Hotel Pennsylvania. The restaurant entrance is actually not on Lexington, but around the corner, up the ramp on the second floor of the hotel.
Of the huge array of dishes we tried, not a single one was memorable (other than the comedic portions of the paper-​wrapped chicken). I don’t see any reason for anyone to ever come here, unless you’re looking to bring a dinner guest to a space that feels slightly stuffy and the guest has no sense or opinion of what Chinese food should taste like.

From the start I could not have felt less welcomed. I came in because they are attached to my hotel and it is raining — I should have chosen to get wet
Good was fair. But in NYC fair is my fault when there is good and excellent within a 5 minute walk of any spot

Food was pretty good. It is kind of pricey for the portions that give you, which aren’t that much, but I guess that’s what happens when you go to a midtown restaurant.

It’s even worse than Chinese dishes provided by the supermarket near NYU… wordless…

S Dynasty is attached to the W Hotel. The restaurant was able to accommodate a large party (~25 people) at the last minute. It was understandable to see why.
The food was comparable to a generic fast food Chinese carry out and set at a high end restaurant price. Service was fast, but not amicable. It felt like we were burdening them with giving them business!
The décor was nice. We had our own private room (not that the restaurant was packed to begin with).
So, yeah, ³⁄₅.

TABLE HANDMADE PEKING DUCK SKIN ROLLS
MADE RIGHT AT YOUR TABLE
by a polite Chinese guy wearing
a white shirt & tie (some with sport jackets)
in Mid-​town NYC…
What a hidden gem… here are the positives (BTW– my in-​laws JOTB Chinese):
0-​NOT OILY, GREASY, & rather healthy… way better than my Chinese relatives or most «AUTHENTIC» Chinese places, which is a GODSEND, with my IBS, GERDs, & healthy diet.
1-​Great authentic savory Chinese food, served by polite well dressed Chinese staff
(this is NOT Chinatown, in a good way).
2-​Huge portions for one at a fantastic price for this quality in midtown (I overstuffed myself at under $ 50)
3-​The real deal Peking Duck rolled at your table with both the tasty crispy skin & all the fixins. Not fatty, nor greasy! Huge portion at great price.
4-​Very clean (definitely not Chinatown).
5-​Extremely nice ambiance, complete with classical music, a pleasant view, & lots of authentic fancy décor.
6-​Staff was the most polite, well dressed, well spoken, & good mannered Chinese that I have ever seen in an upscale Chinese place in the US.
7-​One of the rare great upscale Chinese places anywhere in the US.
8– Besides the amazing Peking Duck, the Hot Sour Soup had tons of stuff & had a great savory balance of both Hot & Sour. It was a peerless rendition of the classic.
9-​The Dim Sum Buns, were huge, juicy, tasty, & way more plentiful than that in Chinatown.
10– Overall, a fantastic bargain, if you know what to order (& have a Chinese MIL).
11– GO HERE!
especially off peak & do NOT get a cheapo lunch special. Make sure that they KNOW you KNOW & what authentic non-​Americanized style… they will do it with just a smile & few thank you’s in Cantonese or Mandarian…& you better use chopsticks.
Most Chinese places think you are a «genius» if you know some basics… it shows that you have an interest in their culture…& are not just an «ugly» American. Sorry, but I am biased.
It sure helps that it is in a decent hotel when NYC has Arctic Weather!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The only significant negative is that they have few, but good & generous DIM SUM items… but I can plenty in SF’s Bay Area, without any travel hassle like in NYC’s Chinatown. SF’s Chinatown proper also stinks in terms of good clean non-​greasy food served with a smile… but that it what the Bay Area excels at. When I lived locally in Manhattan, back in the day & made trips to Chinatown anyway for Kung Fu lessons, or what not anyway, it was worth getting DIM SUM, a hanging duck, or nice buns, except for the insane crowds!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My recommendations:
1-​DO NOT bother with a trip to Chinatown… while also authentic, they cater to Chinese who DO NOT want to pay a premium on service, hygiene, fine ingredients, civility, politeness, décor; need I go on. Only go if you crave the Chinatown Cultural experience & want to eat like the poorer Chinese do… with all that entails.
2-​While most of the menu is Americanized here & most customers are NON-​Chinese, there is still plenty to tickle your fancy.
3– If you are staying at the Hyatt/​local midtown hotels, this is a best bets for Chinese… plus no crowds off peak. It was directly across the street from the Hyatt 48-​Lex (which had crappy overpriced food).
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The food & staff here really cheered me up after JETLAG!!!
SURE while they cater to the Yuppy Buisness crowded… having a nice conversation with good food in Chinese place is a virtual
OXYMORON.
Most distractors act are biased, even verging on racist… yes, we all know this is not Chinatown… and in this case, this is a slam-​dunk for good food.
IF you think that Chinatown is just 10 minutes from Midtown with especially a car… you must be on really good drugs. Getting from Midtown to Chinatown & back, with traffic & no parking when you get there is a long long trek. Sure you can take the IRT subway… but can you make it back to go to your hotel restroom, before you have to run to the restroom from all that grease? Clean Public restrooms in NYC Chinatown… what diseases do you want? The only viable time to go to Chinatown is late at night, when it is almost dead, but then you have limited choices of «tourist» food, still horrid bathrooms, & no DIM SUM.
Making fun of the staff, who are polite & are not «sell-​out» to us White Devils, is simply racist, mean, & absurd.
The food, service, & such should stand on it own.
If American business people, tourists, & especially me (the well traveled, self-​proclaimed Chinese food gourmand), like this place… I thumb my nose to the prejudiced detractors… I have eaten frequently in Chinatown in many Cities… and while cheap, they taste cheap.
And as I know from my MIL, many Chinese & Chinatown places do NOT place a premium on either the health code nor politeness… it is NOT apart of the habits… especially in Mainland China.
If you relabeled it,
CHINESE FUSION,
it would sell like HOTCAKES!

My family had a weekend lunch party to celebrate my son’s new baby, with over 60 guests including 14 kids! The beautiful dining room fit our six tables comfortably, and they provided a small private room for kids to color, play, or hang out while parents kept eating. Basic banquet menu was very nice. Service was excellent, coordinated by Shirley. They even provided the traditional red eggs and ginger. Great party!

This is not a real Chinese place, at least to me having traveled and eaten Chinese all over the world. It caters to mostly business yuppies who want to eat bland Chinese on white table cloth and napkins for lunch and say «YA i had Chinese» and not smell of Asian food in their clothes.
This is Chinese made for the Midwestern bland pallet. I ordered some schezwan items and they were absolutely dead, no flavor no taste. However the place was packed with business types and women with neatly pressed suits who were have a quiet, WOW a quite conversation… Damn, that was the first time I could have a normal audible conversation in a Chinese restaurant.
Even Chinese service service staff are wannabe upper crust white, when my office colleague tried to converse in Cantonese, the responses were all in English.
Forget the food, if you just want to eat in a Chinese restaurant and have a conversation go here.

I did not have high expectations coming here given it was housed in a Midtown hotel and there were not a lot of diners here on a Saturday noon. The décor was elegant and the servers were friendly enough.
When I got the menu, I expected the Midtown price and it was. My friends who came here before however enjoyed the food nonetheless. We started with the Sechuan wonton in spicy chilli sauce. To be fair, it is not spicy at all. I did like the chili peanut sauce and the dumplings although i wish it was spicier.
For main dishes, we tried the crispy beef and that is very delicious to my surprise. We also had sauteed loofah with scallops and that is also very good and reminds me of my hometown food! The BBQ pork bao (steamed) is also pretty good although you can probably find the same quality ones in Chinatown for cheaper. Their deep fried shrimp balls are crispy and light. That will be my recommendation too.
All in all this is a pleasant and clean Chinese restaurant that isn’t noisy, dirty or loud. I like the ambiance and the food quality. This is good for a change if you want the good food without a trek down to Chinatown or Flushing.

This place was amazing. I consider myself a pretty good judge of Asian food! My boyfriend and I were walking around the city and happened on this place. For appetizers we shared the stuffed eggplant, vegetable steamed dumplings and then ordered some fried because they were that good. My boyfriend had the sesame chicken and I had the hot and sour soup. Neither of us were disappointed! I am writing this review to help myself remember this place so that we can come back and try the rest of the menu.

Bad service. Medium food.
We’ve (party of 5) ordered a table for 9:00pm. At 10:15pm they gave us the check while we haven’t order any dessert or the check. For asking for the dessert menu, they answered :“No dessert, the kitchen is closed”…

乌龙茶还行。
冬菇虾虾味不够。酸辣汤酸味重了些，过稠。鲜竹卷口味偏淡一般。小笼包和蔬菜包都是皮太厚，里料不足，小笼包汁水少。
红油抄手和服务员是这餐为数不多的亮点。
整体感觉还是更像一家装潢十分精美的美式中餐店。如果对dim sum有所期待而去可能要失望了

Even for lunch, make reservations! This was a lesson learned as soon as we walked into this 2^nd floor restaurant on Lexington. The first thing we were asked was, «do you have a reservation?» Between the time I answered and the question being asked, my head was screaming «OMG, we’re not in Texas anymore! RESERVATIONS for lunch?! OMG!» Camly, I responded with, «no, we don’t have reservations. Is there a table available for two?» She smiled, and led us to the last available table. This was at 1pm. Again, we were not in Texas. Texans start eating lunch at 11:30am and are usually done by 1pm. Apparently the east coast more than just a time shift.
All that said, we ordered from the lunch menu. I had a delicious mushroom, chicken, and bamboo shoot dish, while my husband has some sort of beef dish.
The service was impeccable. It was only minutes from ordering when we received our food. We were in and out within an hour. Perfect timing to make our next event.

This is the only Chinese place I will go to in New York. It’s as close as it gets to HK or Mainland China. Having grown up in HK and Singapore I know full well about the food. The menu has a wide variety, but then again which Chinese place doesn’t!
A secret combination on the menu is the scallion pancake topped with the hot pepper — try it! I also like the sesame cold noodles with the hot pepper combo.
The Peking duck is a good effort — try it to share since you might not want too much.
All in all a goto place for me if i’m in the mood for Chinese.

Never eaten in the actual restaurant but ordered from seamless a couple of times. They hook you up with the food! I love love their saucey eggplant dish with brown rice. I’ve also tried their sesame noodles, hot and sour soup, chef’s delight, all tasty.
This is a step up above your typical chinese take-​out joint.