S. Dynasty Restaurant

I am not a foodie and am one of those people who always play it "safe" when I eat out by ordering the same thing.

I absolutely loved this experience. I sat down, poured a beer, and ate until I could not chew a single bite more. At first I thought I would be hungry after the meal as we were served deceptively small portions family style. But after a half hour, I realized I needed to be more choosy and take even smaller portions than I had been.

I only had half an inkling as to what I was eating but I made myself try every single dish and most of them left me wanting more.

Pros: staff,style,rooms

Posted 09/27/08

I held my wedding reception here recently and came away quite impressed with the experience. We initially chose S. Dynasty because of its sleek modern decor, clean and calm setting unlike Chinatown, and tasty food from a prior visit.

We chose to bring our own alcohol and just have them provide bartending/ice. This worked out great because it allowed the bar to be open the entire night (7-12:30) and price wise was comparable to having them provide a 3-hour open bar. After reading a yelp review we specified filled glasses be on the tables so water wasn't an issue.

The food was well received by both Chinese and American guests. My wife's picky Chinese family (they're mostly from Beijing if that's useful to anyone) actually found the food to be good, especially the Peking duck, so that was surprising and a definite stamp of approval for this place. I tried most of the dishes in our 10 course meal and enjoyed them all, although my wife complained her spring roll was too fried. The lamb prepared 2 ways, chang-pei pheasant, chef's steak, and peking duck were especially good (I'm allergic to most seafood).

The waitstaff was quiet but very helpful and on top of serving / cleaning up. They seemed uncomfortable speaking English which could be taken as being aloof, but they helped us bring all the alcohol up to the restaurant from our vehicles and packed up our decorations for easy pickup the next day which was very nice. Bartenders were on top of the drinks and there was hardly ever much of a line even though we had 100 (quite drunk) guests. I had to tell him to open the last case of the best beer because he'd let it run out, so small slip there.

They offered us discounted rates at the Radisson for our guests, but I'd stay away from this as a few reservations were wrong when we arrived and the parking fee was miscommunicated. That was the only negative, but I'm only rating the restaurant itself.

Update: Apparently our guests raved about the food.

Pros: clean, sleek, ambience, food

Cons: poor coordination with hotel about rooms/parking

Posted 08/03/08

Friendly waitstaff, excellent food, prices are ok. I took my girlfriend there for dinner when I proposed to her and I could not have chosen a better place. I would do it all over again.

Posted 08/02/08

We made last minute reservations for a table of 9 during Restaurant Week. Staff was accomodating allowing us to be seated before the entire party arrived. The options on the pre fixe menu were broad, but I must say the food was up to par with what you would find at any standard Chinese restaurant, and probably for less $ (even w the pre fixe). We ordered 4 bottles of wine throughout the night. The staff was less than enthusiastic about serving us, and definitely took their time with attending to our table. At one point the waiter spilled a glass of water across the table, and proceeded to soak it up without the mention of an apology. Crossing this off of my list of places to return to.

Posted 05/10/08

My boyfriend and I really wanted to eat dim sum, but live about an hour away from Chinatown, so we decided to take a chance on this restaurant, which was only 20 minutes away. The place was deserted, probably because it's hidden on the 2nd floor of the Raddison hotel. Anyway, we ordered the West Lake Beef Chowder, Szechuan dumplings in hot oil, stuffed eggplant dim sum, shu mai, and the steamed juicy buns. We're kind of Chinese food snobs (ie. we think PF Chang is "fake"), but every single dish was excellent. The Szechuan dumplings had such a unique flavor that we were dipping the shu mai in the sauce.

Granted, the meal was a little more expensive than what you'd expect to pay in Chinatown, but the restaurant was beautiful and clean, and the service was excellent. If you don't feel like fighting the crowds in Chinatown, this place is a great substitute.

Pros: Beautiful and clean restaurant, tasty food, fantastic alternative to Chinatown

Cons: Pricier than Chinatown, dim sum choices limited

Posted 03/22/08

Dynasty is bar none the best Peking Duck house in New York City. I started going to Dynasty because it offered a pleasant, quiet atmosphere for business lunches, but it has become a family favorite as well. The Szechuan dumplings in hot oil are authentic (and cannot be found too many other places in the city), as are the garlic green beans. There are few, if any, dishes that disappoint. Zelda's review noted an increase in prices for take-out; bear in mind that those prices were well below the dine in prices and were due for an adjustment!

Pros: Authentic cuisine

Posted 11/25/06

We came here for lunch, without a reservation. The restaurant wasn't very busy, no doubt due in in part to its second floor location. I was impressed right from the start. The tablecloths were starched, the grand piano was polished to a shine, and the service -- just perfect. The food was also declicious. My favorite was the beef with mushrooms and bamboo shoots. The most impressive aspect of the meal was that the lunch entrees were around $8. That would not be so cheap for regular Chinese food, but this is a truly upscale place, and it could easily get away with charging $18-$20 for entrees. This place is definitely on my list as a great weekday lunch spot.

Posted 11/23/06

A friend of mine who has lived in the neighborhood for over 8 years swore to me that this place was THE BEST chinese in the city and told me to give it a try if I doubted her opinion. Well, after being a doubter, I am now convinced that S. Dynasty might actually be the best, at least in the neighborhood. The food was hot and delicious. The menu had a ton of variety, but the most impressive part was the affable and friendly service. I would definitely recommend this place!

Posted 05/10/06

Our company used to order lunch special from them all the time. We recently discovered that the lunch special went up from $5-$6 to $8-$10!!!! Ridiculous!
On top of that they messed up our last food order, and it didn't even taste good!
There are PLENTY of other chinese places in the area that are so much better and don't charge so much money for lunch specials that taste like crap.
Needless to say our group will never order from them again!

Posted 12/14/05

This is a great place to go for Chinese Banquet-- much more upscale than chinatown, cleaner (how can it NOT be?), better service (ditto), with the quality of food expected in a real authentic chinatown restaurant. Call ahead of time b/c they're sometimes booked for big big wedding banquets, thus closing down the restaurant. PS-- get the Peking duck!

Pros: Clean, good service, reasonable

Posted 11/15/05