Royal Seafood Restaurant Reviews

We are two ladies in our 60s and we were recommended this restaurant by our hotel concierge (a super nice guy). We wanted to have proper Chinese food. Unfortunately the visit went wrong right from the start with us being ignored waiting to be seated.I think they wished we'd go away. We should have done. Big show checking we had actually got a booking. Took ages for us to be served with Chinese folks getting served first. OK I know they are probably regulars and it was family meal time but that's not the point. We were also disapproved of for leaving food which we couldn't take with us as we are in hotel. Server could have advised on portion size. The food was good. When it came to paying the bill we rounded up the total but the manager came after us because it didn't total the suggested 15% tip. We warned our concierge about sending Europeans there especially girls. A real shame. By the way, it's illegal to be forced to give a tip.

PROS: carts bring dim sum to your table for you to select. Many dim sum choices. Food was delicious. We shared a table with 2 lovely chinese ladies who helped us order. Felt like I was in China without going to China. Prices were inexpensive. We were amazed how cheap. CONS: Long waits in the front of restaurant with no chairs. Your number is called out in chinese. Then after a while English. The place is NOISY. Servers do not understand english well. They will not bring water unless you ask and it's very hard to flag down a waiter. You have to wave a server over and sometimes stand up to get their attention as they will not come back to check on you. Bathrooms are located far far away in the basement and typically not luxurious in the least.

okay so its a no frills - very typical traditional cantonese restaurant with little old ladies who speak little/no english who push around carts filled with dim sum... and the great thing about this is that this type of restaurant in hong kong is rapidly declining and its very very authentic... please don't complain about the service - you will get it 10x worse in hong kong/china... the good thing is that if you know what you want and know how to say it in cantonese - your life would be very easy in here as you can just tell one lady what you want and she will go around the restaurant and pick out all the dishes you want for you and bring it back to your table instead of you waiting for the carts to come around - if you don't speak cantonese - the little old ladies will have a guess at what you say and they usually understand you! the dim sum is average - i've had much better in michelin star dim sum restaurants across the world... and better dim sum in general... its a good experience and its fairly decently priced and you can pick a lot of different dishes according to what is fresh and what is being wheeled around in the carts which is good be prepared to queue on a saturday morning as there are tonnes of chinese there...

Unfriendly waiters, we felt like we had inconvenienced them asking in English what food they could recommend. Some of the fish in the fish tank looked like they had already passed the best-before date. We couldn't tell if they were dead or alive. The food tasted average (we didn't order fish) and the cleanliness was severely lacking. Basically we can't recommend this restaurant.

After reading about dim sum restaurants in New York, we choose Royal Seafood on Mott. It was a usual Chinese restaurant with large tables. They seated us at a table with another couple. They had twisted a tablecloth and placed it across the table to create two seating areas. The food was served from carts. Everything that went by was just standard dim sum. Very few of the staff spoke English, so it was difficult to ask questions. Even the cashier seemed to speak little English. I think our only option was to pay cash, but I'm not sure about that. The language barrier made the transaction difficult. The food was good, service was quick and the prices were reasonable.

I was in town for a layover and was on my way to pick up some cookies at Ferrar's to bring back to Denver before my flight. Happened on Royal by accident. Decided to have some breakfast. It was fairly crowded and there were plenty of carts roaming around. Staff was helpful and explain items in English. People at my table also gave advice. Great Dim Sum. I will be sure to go back next trip to NYC.

Thankfully, we had an in to get in here, bc this place is always packed! Places next door are empty bc this place rules the street. Steamed pork buns are amazing, buttery and light; steamed shrimp dumplings (har gau) just sticky enough; siu mai (pork dumplings) were some of the best I've had. Tea flowing, a few Tsintao, a great way to induce a SUN coma! Get there early or late...

We got there a little late on Friday around 2 pm for dim sum. Got seated right away. Carts were being pushed around so you can choose whatever you want. We had to share a table but we were ok with that being the restaurant is very busy for lunch. They had really good selection of dumplings. Got the usual shrimp, ribs, chicken feet etc.. Waiters are attentive. Cart pushers speak some English so don't worry if you can't speak Chinese. All you have to do is ask to see what's in the cart. When we were there, their credit card machine isn't working so we had to pay cash.

My friends and I were having dinner. Their shrimp with walnuts were delicious. The size of the shrimp were close to colossal. Lobster Cantonese style was good and flavorful. The T-bone steak was cooked medium. Stay away from their ginger chicken-a bit on the dry side. Steamed striped bass was good. Service received was ok. They were on the busy side.

My wife and I were from NY now SC and while traveling to the northeast we stopped in NYC for a few days and on Sunday we went to Chinatown for Dim Sum and ate at Royal Seafood and had an awesome time. The wait wasn't bad, and we were seated with a other Chinese couple, which added to the experience. They spoke some English, and we spoke no Chinese, but we managed to communicate. We had Chicken Feet, a Pork dish, a few Shrimp dishes and our favorite Snails in Black Bean Sauce. It was fun and delicious.

On a typical China Town/Little Italy street, in a typical "nothing special" house is this fine restaurant. The fishtanks at the entrance are full of life fish, eels, crabs and lobsters, a good sign! We had very good dumplings, tiny pork ribs with bones, excellent pan fried flounder, very good salt and pepper squid, nice noodles, crispy chicken and excellent minced pork with bean curd. All around a fine meal.

In order to get authentic chinese food, I normally try to find and dine at restaurants where mostly local chinese people eat.This is one. This is my first time. I found this restaurant by accident because the restaurant I was intending to go was not open at 1000am. I went alone. Ordered congee, chicken feet, shumai, pork with bamboo wrapped in bean curd. Pros: good food, tasty, resonable price All were delicious. The congee (rice porridge with pork and 1,000 year old egg) was just the right size for one person. Normally when u order congee, it comes regular size for about 4 people. Dim sum quantity was decent. I'd sure like to re-visit for noon or dinner and order other things. Cons: altho restaurant appears cleaner than most average chinese restaurants in Chinatown, the bathroom needs some upgrade/maintenance. place is a bit far from #6 subway station.

Eating here was a bit of an experience. There was a queue of people waiting to be seated in what was already a very large restaurant at 11:30 and very little English was spoken. Service was on the typical Chinatown level of brusque. The food itself was excellent (as good as anything I've had in Hong Kong), although I had some difficulty working out what it was sometimes. Seating was on round tables shared between different groups and the waiters brought dim sum and other dishes round on carts, offering them to diners and then marking up their order cards. I had three dim sum dishes and a bowl of sticky rice with what I think was pork in it. All four were excellent and I would very happily eat any of them again. The total bill was just over $10 for this and a pot of Chinese tea, so very reasonable. If I hadn't been leaving New York the next day I would definitely have returned.

We came here for lunch. With a large hall and mostly Chinese-speaking diners, it seems like an authentic place to have a good Chinese meal. Food was indeed very good, and prices were OK (though they have no lunch specials/discounts - so you pay on average $14-18 for the main courses). Service was generally OK, although some of the waiters could not speak English which made ordering a bit hard. Overall - a good, authentic dining experience.

Enjoyed our small dimsum selection. The prawn cheong fun and spare ribs were good. Things were fast paced here and lack empathy for those who doesnt speak much chinese language. Ordered a charsiew noodle dish and came out disgusting. Workers were always seen mumbling... not sure cursing customers or not happy working... but then again that is typical of most chinese restaurant workers. Returning? No way even if it's free!

You know a Chinese restaurant is good when it is packed with Chinese people all wanting to eat. We saw people eating both dim sum and regular dishes. Everything was great!!! You will be seated at a table that may already have people there, which makes it more exciting.. Just walking through China Town is an adventure in its self. Have fun!!

This is about as close to Hong Kong you can get without a flight. Traditional and authentic Dim Sum in New York City’s Chinatown. Big open restaurant with push carts full of food being pushed around by Chinese ladies. Order as they drive by. We followed to large extent the recommendations I found on the web; braised beef tripe (with no doubt, the best tripe I ever had), shrimp rice noodle rolls and pea shoot dumplings. On top of that we had the shrimp dumpling, pork shumai and an incredible durian cake. All dishes so good, that I can’t wait until I have the chance to go back.

If you want great Dim Sun in NYC this is a must. The food is a 10. No one there speaks a lot of English and it is a little chaotic but do not let that keep you away. You will love the food!

So me and my daughters wanted to experience some authentic Chinese food and I figured China Town would be the best place to find food. I did my research and read several reviews before we chose Royal Seafood. Well we expected to wait for a good minute when we arrived based off the review. I didn't expect the rude treatment after we patiently waited for 1hr and half. Folks were coming in after us without reservation and was put ahead of us, others were asked to share tables Not us... so we finally realized our money wasn't good enough to spend there, but it was expected to purchase illegal watches and purses. Maybe you will have a different experience maybe not. Either highly rated restaurant in China Town expect to wait for a long period of time during holidays or the weekend.

Due to street construction this place was a bit hard to find but easily located once we were in Chinatown. Excellent service, fast service, excellent food; try to lobster [not on menu, have to ask for it -$18 for one, $35 for 2] and other items well worth the walk.

The person who gave this a complaining one star rating is a fool. This place is hysterical and delicious, but some of the dishes are...weird...by American standards. This place is loud, chaotic, and very Chinese. Tables are all large rounds with eight or ten people sharing communally. If you are not Chinese, you will be one of the few. The wait staff speak virtually no English, and they are all business. We had something like a nine course feast: octopus, catfish, lobster, abalone, seaweed, shark fin soup, fish maw and more. It was an eating adventure! I didn't care for some items because they just aren't my preference. The squid was the best I've had, and the catfish was great. Fish maw is fish bladder, and I had difficulty with that. All in all, a great dining and cultural experience for me. But...my wife came away hungry because of the many culinary adventures placed before us. So if you're not daring with your dining, this is not your place.

My mother and I dined here this morning. She recommended this place for its prices. Most plates are only $2.50 per dish. For 8 plates, our total was only $21.75. While some dishes were much tastier here, others were not. Some of the really great plates were the pork spare ribs, shrimp wrapped in rice noodle, sticky rice with Chinese sausage and sliced pork and the shu mai. Like most places in Chinatown, the service isn't fantastic. The wait staff passes by many many times to remove empty plates. If you are part of a party of 3 or less people, expect to be seated at a table with someone else. This place gets really crowded and fast. Get here by 10:30 am.

Don't miss the weekdays early brunch dim sum specials @ $2.25 . Best deal for local residents; but, who care what language--just point and pick from steaming rolling carts bringing out fresh dim sum. At dinner time, try out "specials" at low price when you order additional regular menu items. Fresh seafood--cannot miss!

Went looking for some Sunday morning Dim Sum and came across Royal Seafood. Was overjoyed that they had a cart service as most joints don’t these days. Service was brisk and the place go very busy leading up to 1100. Good selection and quality and the 2 of us ate like kings for only USD$29.25. Highly recommend! We’ll be back.

We decided at the last minute to get DimSum on Christmas Day. Apparently, this is something a whole lot of people do on Christmas. This destination was very crowded, because the food is fresh, tasty, and authentic. We had a big pot of soup also, which was VERY good. The prices were very reasonable, given the quality of the food and the attentive service.

We had a very filling and satisfying dinner here on a Sunday night. The restaurant's clientele was almost entirely Chinese, which made for an authentic experience. Although I was surprised by the fact that many of the wait staff were unable to understand our orders in English, they were cheerful and helpful. A decent place to eat, but not a highlight of our trip to New York.

We ate there on two occasions. First time on a week day - we were absolutely alone for lunch. And the second time we came on Sunday - and the place was crowded, we were seated at a table where seven people were eating yet. My neighbor explained me that on weekends there is such a happening when you can taste from different samples given by waitresses with carts. You choose whatever your eye catch on these carts and they write down in your check what have you taken. You can also order from the menu which we did too - a special T-bone (yammy!). It is a very worthy kind of lunch because dishes from the carts are significantly cheaper then from regular menu. Also it entice you so much when you actually see the food. Worth a try!

We knew it was a favorite place because my family was the only Americans in the restaurant and it was full. Can't imagine there is a better dim sum restaurant in Chinatown. As soon as you are seated they wheel food right up to the side of your table and you make the selection which there is many to choose from. If you want the best dim sum this is the place for you. And the price is extremely reasonable. My family are on $15. We had picked about 4 items that were all excellent. I highly recommend this restaurant.

Excellent dim sum w lots of chinese. But it's a rather stressful place though. Need to get Q number from a microphone guy sitting behind a pillar, share tables (common practice in hk), look out for trolleys of dim sum passing through to grab what you want. But the trolleys come by frequently enough incl the popular dishes eg har gow so it wasn't that bad in the end. Got to eat all the dim sum dishes I want. Leave tip on table aft the meal. So gd we wanted to come back for dinner too!

If you want classic, Cantonese style, Hong Kong atmosphere with the noise and the crowd, dim sum, this is the place to go! The food is consistently excellent. The service is efficient. You get the full package of experience. It's not for the faint of heart. On weekends, you will get large crowd and you will have to fight your way through to get a number and then wait. We waited more than 40 minutes for a table for 8 at 10:30 on Sunday. Shorter if you have smaller parties. It's an experience. There used to be lots of places like this in Chinatown but it's many fewer now, but this is still the best. It's better than anything in Flushing or Brooklyn.

If dim sum could be considered the food of the gods, this is where I would bring them, The dim sum are extraordinary, and the flavors remain in your mouth well after your last bite. Warning, though -- the place is large, noisy, everyone is busily chatting in Chinese, and you're likely to share a table with others if you're only two. My partner was uneasy -- the sensory load was too much. The dim sum is brought around in carts, and you pick what you want (trying to understand the English) and the purchase is marked on a check. I loved the place. Again, the dim sum are simply scrumptious!

The choices for dim sum in Chinatown are seemingly endless, with many aficionados on these pages extolling one or another. We really enjoy dim sum, but not sure I'd put us in the category of aficionado. But we do recognize iconic experiences and being shoe-horned into this absolutely buzzing restaurant will be one of the enduring memories of our time in New York. From the street it is not clear just how sprawling this restaurant is inside. Once inside the maitre-de with a wireless microphone is presumably, given that I don't speak his language, seeking confirmation from a staffer of the availability of seats among the dozens of tables stuffed in the room. The two of us sat at a table with another elderly couple already seated and mostly through their meal. No new tablecloth, but rather a large clean napkin spread on our side of the table to approximate some degree of cleanliness. When the couple across from us left they were apparently messier eaters, requiring staff to roll up their half of the tablecloth and replace it with another half of tablecloth. This couple, despite the language barrier, were very friendly and really wanted to know about us, where we were from, how we found the restaurant (we were two of only about a half dozen caucasians among hundreds of restaurant-goers). But conversation mostly had to take a backseat to eating, as the carts descended upon us almost immediately. With dim sum provided through cart service the language barrier really isn't a problem: you see the foods in the steamer pots, point, and it's yours to eat. In addition to the dumplings we were familiar with from other restaurants, there were many more we'd never laid eyes on before. Not a stinker in the bunch. We ate until we were stuffed. Total damage: $16.75. For a unique experience in Chinatown, The Royal is a great candidate.

Their dim sum is awesome... I really enjoy the food and speedy service, but the restaurant is always full, people are talking out loud and I don't understand most of the offer :). Well, but the food, again, is good. The price is quite cheap, with a medium plate of 4 - 5 pieces of dim sum and dumplings for only 3 - 4 USD :) The parking is difficult if you drive a car but other than that, the food is rewarding.

This is a horrible restaurant. Smelly, dirty, noisy, you name it. Well, if you don't believe, see it for yourself. I never set foot on this restaurant again. I found this restaurant by google and whoever put it up on the web is a big liar. We've been there just a week ago. It is very hard to beleive that there are people giving 5 stars to this restaurant. The only thing I can think of is perhaps this restaurant has a new owner and he or she turns it into a horrible place to eat.

Open your mind and your mouth for an unforgettably rewarding experience in Chinatown, New York. We "round-eyes" stood out like "sore thumbs" and got some strange looks from the regulars, but soon learned to take a number and watch closely for our time to be seated. Our table was occupied by two lovely young women - the staff pushed half the tablecloth to the center of the table and placed a fresh one on our half. The ladies were wonderful companions and guides to the delicious offerings that came to our table. No idea what we ate, but it was filling and excellent. For three, including a 6'2" hulking grandson, the bill was $19.75 - and we'd paid $30 each for a so-so breakfast buffet at the Sheraton that morning. Go, but be nice. It would be sad if this became so touristy that the Chinese quit enjoying Royal Seafood.

We took the advice of trip advisor ratings and we were not disappointed. It was full of locals and that's always a good sign. Food was great but they only serve beer and soft drinks so if you are looking for a glass of wine you have to bring it with you.

I go to this restaurant for 5 years. Mostly people in this place are Chinese families, adults and children. All the food is delicious, the service is excellent. In the evenings, sometimes you have to wait for a table, but it's worth it.

Stepping off Mott Street in New York City into the Royal is like stepping from one side of the Pacific into the land on the Asian continent. Service was prompt, food was tantalizing, ambience was busy in a delightful way. If you enjoy Dim Sum on a sleepy Sunday morning, make this your stop of choice.

Imagine 12 friends after a wedding getting really hungry and in need of an inexpensive place to dine. ROYAL SEAFOOD is the place to be. We brought in our own wine and secured a large round table. we couldn't finish all the food that we ordered because the portions are so large. Can't wait to go back again

Imagine you enter a restaurant for a dim sum lunch and the place is packed with 300-400 patron's and you are the only Caucasian couple in the room. You are quickly seated and begin A FEAST OF DIM SUM, UNLIKE ANYTHING YOU HAVE EVER HAD BEFORE. Everything you eat is perfectly prepared, no one speaks English and it doesn't matter. You point and eat and eat and then when the two of you can't eat any more, but God knows you want to, they hand you the bill and it's $18 for two....in New York. I can't recommend this place any more than to say, it will be the very best dim sum you have ever had. Don't miss it.

I went there last Friday with my visiting friend, we were a party of 2, after waiting about 15 minutes with others waiting we were told the following. You leave no table for 2 people. I showed that there were 2 parties of 2 eating, and 1 party of 1 eating. They basically threw us out. I had no issue waiting or even sharing a table with the other parties that were waiting we would have been a big table. Everyone eating there and waiting to eat was Asian. I personally will never go back there. Instead we went to Fuleen's on Division which was great, 5 stars.

All its dim sum dishes are very authentic and excellent. Dim sum is the Chinese (Cantonese) version of the Spanish Tapas - little dishes. Start with popular ones like steamed pork buns, shrimp dumplings, pork ribs, and sticky rice. I like its more adventurous dishes such as braised chicken feet, pig tripe, etc. They push the carts out and you select from the carts. You go there for food, not for the decor or ambience (it is noisy). Prices are reasonable.

have had tried many dim sum restaurants globally and this place was highly recommended by friends in the culinary business. Place was absolutely packed and obviously the dim sum offerings were very fresh. It was on par with the ones i had in Hong Kong three weeks before my trip to New York. go early if you mind the wait.

If you go for weekend dimsum, you'll find Royal Seafood crowded and noisy,and it won't be obvious how you can find a table. But you will and you'll like what you get. First good sign: It's full of Chinese people. Next, the trolleys that come around are loaded with goodies of great variety and good quantity and quality. Everything we ate (shrimp dumpling, shu mai, turnip cake, tripe....) was fresh, well prepared and not at all expensive. Don't come here if you expect peace and quiet or elegant service, but the atmosphere is actually fun and the dimsum is definitely above average. Only downside: the waiter harassed us for a tip - something I've run into in other Chinatown dimsum places.

We had dim sum here and enjoyed the exotic experience - the maitre D uses a microphone to direct activity and you sit at communal tables with strangers. The carts came by quite frequently and we had a good meal, however, I found that the variety of items was not extensive during our short visit. Ask your host for sauces such as soya and chili to dress up the dumplings. This place is very authentic - we were the only non-Asians in the large dining hall. I am accustomed to authentic Chinese cuisine and I found this place tasty but average.

A little too Chinese place for me.. I went with a friend and was soooooooo crowded! One thing is sure.. if you are looking for Chinese food this is the right place.. prices were ok but the place was packed! All screaming loud people having lunch..

Wow I could write a book about my experience at Royal Seafood in Chinatown but will try to hit the highlights. Had to go out on a limb and try someplace new to me with limited intel but it was worth it. If you want a new/different dining experience than make sure that you do the Dim Sum here. It is like a loud and rowdy family gathering where you get to sit with strangers and point to what you want to eat as the servers roll the baskets of deliciousness by your table. It was wild, it was loud, it was fast, it was delicious (even though most times I really did not know what it was), it was a really fun experience and it was extremely reasonable. I know that everyone in our group had a blast and have agreed that we will return.

Just great. I lived in China for couple years, and I can assure you that the food at Royal seafood restaurant is authentic. Its all about the experience. the noise is part of the culture. the food is amazing. $13 in average for a dish - the portions are MASSIVE ! Had : 1) Clams in black bean sauce 2) Duck tongues 3) Pork chops - Pekin style 4) Dumplings 5) Green tea - on the house Came to $52 - there was 2 of us - we took 2 hours to finish everything. Absolutely worth it if you want authentic food.

Went for dim sum at 11am on a Tuesday. It was jam packed with elderly Chinese people. I think we were the only white people in the place. There was a line of walkers at the doorbecause it's so cramped. It was loud, chaotic and so much fun. We first shared a table with two old men. They left and two old ladies sat with us. They were great! The food is excellent and cheap. $20 for two and we were stuffed.

It is the typical Chinese restaurant in Chinatown with regards to cleanliness (you better close your eyes and change your standards) and you will literally feel in China because of the communication with some waiters and terrible if you do not speak Chinese, but all this is worth the feather. The dim suns that come out fresh in the stands are very worthwhile. We love all of shrimp and seafood. The fried noodles are wonderful, we always order with seafood. You should look at the menu calmly, and have the patience to look at all the trolleys and pick up what you visually like, because you certainly will not understand the explanation of the waitress who drives the cart. Over time you'll know what's good and stay anxiously waiting for the cart to pick up one more. The waitress goes by writing down a chip that has the prices manually, and in the end you go to the cashier with your chip and can get an idea of how much you will spend, even though the account will come in Chinese. The food is very good, and the price excellent for the quality of the seafood served. Usually has a queue, but well organized. Try to ask for a table just for you because usually the waiter will put you at a table already occupied by Chinese customers because the tables are large, usually eight people. I insist to get an empty table, but if it is full this is impossible. We are regular customers of the restaurant whenever we go to New York.

But not the shrimp fried rice, nor the so called won-ton soup with all of 3 won-tons that smelled and tasted weeks old. We wanted to feast but could not because the credit card machine was down and we did not have that much cash. The authenic Chinese dishes at the other tables look very inviting and we were salivating. We were disappointed that it was cash only as we wanted to try all that yumminess. So we had to base this review on what we were able to afford to order. Good beef chow fun but a bit pricey - but maybe it's because it's NYC. Not sure if we would go back as others said there are other places that are good and not as pricey.

Yesterday on the last day of March three of us went to Chinatown to have dim sum at the Royal Seafood restaurant on Mott Street. Recommended by a friend who had lunched their last week we looked forward to coming here mainly because there were carts. Very few restaurants have dim sum carts now. The Royal Seafood’s interior is large and had indoor seating with strict adherence to social distancing. Before being seated, we had our temperatures taken, contact information written down and used hand sanitizers. We chose a table far away from everyone else. So how was the food? Plump shrimp wrapped in eggplant was our first choice but it was cold. Not even room temperature but cold. How unappetizing. Shrimp hargow was piping hot and ribs in black bean sauce were the two dim sum that were tasty. We ordered another plate of ribs. The other dishes were meh and they only had beef rice rolls and I prefer it with shrimp. Then suddenly we became aware that the carts had stopped coming and we were told that even though the restaurant was still open no dim sum was forthcoming. All three of us felt underwhelmed. At $19 each this dreary lunch seemed expensive for the choices offered. We decided never to return.

My family has been dining here for years but a recent experience has made us decide to never come back again. We asked for a table for 5 and was told to wait. The waiter walked away from us and continued his business. After standing there for 5-10 minutes, another waiter seated us and apologized saying that they thought we were waiting for takeout. When the bill came, we made the mistake of undertipping $1 from the recommended amount and the first waiter who never seated us came back with the bill demanding more tip. We gave them extra tip but will not be returning. I can't believe they had the audacity to come back for $1 The floor was very dirty as another reviewer stated. There was a used qtip, crumbs and some questionable stains on the floor next to our table. Also, one of the new waitresses does not understand Cantonese. I find it very strange that a Cantonese restaurant in the heart of Chinatown hired a waitress who doesn't understand Cantonese. When she reached over to clear the table, her shirt went into my tea cup. Additionally, the portion and taste of the food here is very inconsistent. You will get significantly less of a portion if you dine during the Chinese holidays and every time we come, it tastes like the food is made by a different chef. There are days where the food tastes food and other days where it's not so good. Nonetheless, we will be taking our business elsewhere after the terrible service today.

As others have written, the dim sum is very, very good; far better than the average dim sum, although I think their variety is somewhat limited. For some odd reason I have never seen soy sauce on any table; but then I have never asked for it either. It rarely needs any extra sauce. Always crowded, one sits at large, round tables with others, as is common at many similar restaurants. Caucasians seem rare, almost only Chinese customers. I have never yet ordered main dishes from the menu, as most tables do, but they always look tempting. Certainly go-well worth it

I was racially profiled and discriminated when I went to this restaurant! My brother and I were accused of being two African Americans that came there over the summer ordered food and did not pay the bill! Two variables that made their story false...one being that there was no indoor eating because of COVID and two this was our first time at this restaurant. We aren’t even from that area! Not to mention my brother is quadriplegic and in a wheelchair! I asked to speak to a manager and he pretended to be the manager which I know was a lie. Once they saw that I was video recording they began to back track and recant their statements . I am currently seeking an attorney so this doesn’t happen to anyone else! It was the worst day of my life!

A local New Yorker recommended this place to us. The place is full of Chinese people which is always a good sign. Ladies push Dim Sum filled trollies around the room offering their wares as they do. It's not always evident what they have but patience is rewarded with authentic dim sum and all reasonably priced too.

Unless you're a local, you get treated horribly. I went in with my family for lunch. Rushed to a table and waited...... We finally got some pork dumplings. No tasted and to be quite honest the contents to me were questionable. Felt sick after eating. We finished these and walked out - not willing to test my luck on getting sick here. I'm sure there are much better in the area, perhaps we'll have better luck next time.

Everything in this restaurant is true chinese. They speak almost no english, and 99% of the clients are chinese. They are very welcoming of english speaking clients and they do their best to accommodate. The atmosphere is crazy dim sum restaurant style, just like you see Anthony Bourdain visit. If you are in a party of less than 5, you may be seated at a large table with other restaurant goers. The waiters roll carts of steamer baskets of different foods. They will show you what they have, and you can point to what you want. Waiters stamp your dinner check with the items they gave you and you pay at the cashier when you are done. Don't forget to leave the tip on the table before you get up, or they may approach you for it, but in a courteous way. The food is NOT American-Chinese like you get in yr neighborhood, it is TRUE chinese food, and it is fantastic! Lunch for 5 people with tea and water only to drink was $41 before tip.

I had a diner with a friend. We had steam crab ($65?), vegetable ($20) and two small hot and sour soup. I know the crab is expensive ($28/lb). It is difficult to know it is more than 2 lbs. I won't go there again.

We showed up right before closing for lunch - they seated us right away. Lots of large round tables with lazy Susans on each. Ordered hot sour soup, egg plant , fried rice and orange steak. Fried rice was ok but Everything else was amazing. This will b a regular stop for us each year. Thank You

We were advised by a chinese family in chinatown to try this restaurant. The restaurant was a pleasant surprise. Mostly chinese customers who probably already know about the quality of the food. We ordered crab and fish soup and hot sour soup, steamed fish, shanghai bami, nasi, beef with bambooshoots. The food was excellent and big porcions. Really a good restaurant for chineese food.

I've never been anywhere like this. The restaurant is predominantly full of Chinese people and alot of the staff barely speak English. The room is very basic, you get a number from someone on a podium who is viewing available spaces and, in our case, after about 15 minutes we were allocated some seats on a table, which we had to share. Then food arrived via trolleys and you say yes or no to the dish and your card is marked accordingly. The food was delicious, and piping hot, and part of the joy was not knowing what was turning up next, it was exciting as you were constantly surprised. The portions are very big and definitely sharing ones. It's total pandomainion but fun. The food is outstanding as was the experience. It's the best Chinese I've ever had, and I'm tempted to go back to NYC to return to this place. Go. Enjoy.

Wandered Chinatown getting pretty hungry on a Saturday afternoon, when my wife just got tired of string in the windows and grabbed me off the street and we got sat with some random Chinese couples. What a great decision by her ! We stayed for less than an hour, as the waitresses brought dish after dish. I can't tell you what half of it was, but the food was great, the place was thronging and the bill was less than $25 and we were too stuffed to consider sweet !

We love dim sum. One of our friends suggested us to try this, since we were looking for a traditional dim sum restaurant. We enjoyed the food. Not many varieties, but the food was good. They still pushed carts and served dim sum which we liked very much.

This is basically a dim sum restaurant catering to locals in Chinatown. Everything is in Chinese and most of the staff do not speak English. You are seated as places open at tables based on the size of your party. In most cases you will be sharing a table with locals. There are no menu's. The food is wheeled around in carts and you are offered what is on the various carts. In most cases, unless you speak Chinese, you will not know what you are eating until you taste it. Our meal consisted of a variety of dumplings, chicken feet, pork, spring rolls and a shrimp cake. Everything tasted great. However, if you are not an adventurous diner you probably should pick a different restaurant. The prices are very reasonable. We will be back. Note: we were the only 4 Caucasians in the restaurant which probably seats 200 people.

We've been there many times, which was why we did it again yesterday, since COVID-19 scared off many. We got more attention, besides the usual delicious food. We've eaten at many Chinese restaurant, esp. Cantonese, since it's the king of Chinese food. This place is unique. The cooks are indeed experts. We believe they were trained back in old China. As such, the unique taste of their dishes, highlighting the best of Cantonese dishes. The dishes were also well-designed and formulated, naturally. We just had a blast.

Don't be put off by the CHinese-language Dim Sum form, or the fact you can't speak Chinese. The maitre d' has a system, with microphone, to tell staff where to seat you, alone or with friends. Round tables are shared by 1-3 families (seats maybe 8-10) and you are visited by a trolley every 5-10 minutes. The food is better than elsewhere, the shrimp dumplings are fantastic, as are the pork delights, and desserts traditional and fancy (I recommend going for dessert to Simply Bakery, not grammatically correct, but superior pastries, on Bayard). For 3 steamed dishes and a pot of tea I paid $7.50 and sat with 2 families, the only Westerner. Fantastic. Friendly, and encouraged to fit in. Go for it! Walk through the markets on Mott first.

We were seated right away, although there was a bit if confusion. We were all pretty hungery after a long day of walking around the city. The weakness of the restraunt is in the language barrior. The waiter was nervous to come and take our order because we dont speak chinese. But after a long wait he finally came over and answered our questions as best he could. It was frustrating, but the food was great! Family style chinese food that seemed traditional and really was delicious.

We visit this wonderful restaurant whenever we can, especially when there are six to eight people in our party. The dim sum is fresh, unexceptionally tasty, and cheap. The fact that almost no one speaks English only adds to the great chaotic ambience. The noise of the families around us doesn't bother us because we don't understand it so don't register it, and that goes for the televisions that broadcast Mandarin soap operas. My only problem with this place is that I just keep eating as they bring the dim sum around and I never know how much I ate. I love it.

I frequented this restaurant for more then 10 years. The food is delicious and very affordable. Best is to go late morning for their Dimsum. On week days they offer 20% discount. Weekends can be very busy and may need to get a no. To wait in line. Mist waiters speaks Chinese only so do not expect to use English here. Their unable to communicate in English may be misinterpreted as unfriendly for some which is an unfair feed back. I even have problem speaking English in Miami as most speaks Spanish. Just because they don't speak English doesn't meant unfriendly to me.

The shrimp dumplings , hot n sour soup and wonton soup were the very best I've ever had!!! The Kung pao chicken and fish with veggies were outstanding. But the shrimp & garlic sauce left something to be desired taste wise although the shrimp were huge in size. Yes, there were some language difficulties. (In fact, they had us use the employee bathroom rather than the customer one.) But....Definitely going back for the soup and dumplings!!!

excellent dim sum - dumplings, noodles, spare ribs and custard tarts. Go by 11:00 a.m. or earlier as it does get crowded and you have to take a number. Note: They prefer that you pay with cash.

We chose the restaurant because there was very little advertisement or menu items displayed in English. Out of the entire gigantic dining room, we were the only 2 guests who were Caucasian. So, we knew that we were going to have authentic dim sum-the local people had chosen. We had taro root dumplings, buns filled with a golden liquid custard, rice noodles that wrapped around a bundle of shrimp, ham and veggie sticks, to name a few. Great green tea. Lunch for 2 was $17 and we were very satisfied.

The dim sum here is pushed around in several different carts. The food keeps coming (not like other places where the kitchen is not as fast). This is a restaurant that caters to mostly Chinese. Quality at one time was very good but it has gone south a bit. For those that aren't dim sum food critics, you will not notice the slight differences. So it is a place I would bring friends for the experience and atmosphere.

It is a popular place for Chinese people. While we were there we were the only non chinese people and the restaurant was full. Service is speed and food is very good.

We are not Chinese food experts, but considering that 98% of the people in the restaurant were Chinese, we have to assume the food is authentic. It was certainly good, as was the service.

Servers need to learn hospitality. Most of the waiters have pretty bad attitudes if you try asking them a question. They should consult with the ladies pushing the dim sum carts. The waiter then served me the wrong dish. Gave them a 10% tip because the service was awful but the entire staff insisted that 15% is mandatory in New York! Right. Hope the extra $4 was worth it - One star!

We were brought here by friends, and we were the only Caucasians here. It was a Thursday, midday, and very, very crowded. You have to give your name and take a ticket, and wait for your number to be called. It was quite a wait, and lots of families kept coming in for a table. But we finally got a table, and we were 4, but were given a table for 8 and told we’d be sharing with another group. No problem. Service was brisk, and the dim sum was very, very tasty, and very, very reasonably priced. And it’s cheaper during the week than on the weekends. Also, I’m told that in the evening it is predominantly a fish restaurant.

My son loves Chinese food and wanted to try some authentic fare in Chinatown. So we spotted this place and went in. He ordered squid and cold jellyfish. He ate a few bites of the jellyfish but said something didn’t taste right and ate most of the squid. I spent $40 for him to eat there and he was still hungry when we left. But that soon changed when we got back to the hotel. He began violently vomiting - several times and was sick all night long. He did some research and found out if jellyfish isn’t prepared right the toxins in it can make you deathly ill. So I would not recommend this place unless you want to be sick.

my mom treated my son and me to dim sum here. really tasty shiu may both pork and shrimp, shrimp toast as well as custard tarts

A friend of mine suggested to meet at the restaurant for dim sum. I wasn't very enthusiastic at the beginning because all the dim sum I tried were not up to my expectation. As I was waiting for my friend in front of the restaurant I saw groups of people disappearing through the front door. In one way it was very promising for the place seemed to be very popular; on the other hand I could not figure out how did they accommodate so many people. As we entered the place there was a big crowd at the door waiting to seated. There are about 30 big round tables set for 6 - 8 customers each. Your wish to have a chair there was entered into a big book with the number of people in the group. at the same time we received a number scribbled on a torn piece of paper. A guy was standing on a pedestal in the middle shouting numbers into a mic. It felt like an auction. When our number was called the 3 of us was seated at a big table with 4 people already happily eating there. They were very nice and happy people. Trollies packed with all kinds of fresh dim sum were passing through pushed by cheerful ladies. You pick whatever you want from the trolley, they put a mark on your bill and that is it. You eat one after another until you can hardly move. Not only excellent food but great fun!

I love dim sum, at which restaurant patrons sit at their tables while staff wheel around carts filled with varieties of Chinese food brunch specialties. I have eaten dim sum at several good places in Toronto, but Royal Seafood on Mott Street in New York is the best I have had yet. My wife and I were among perhaps 4 to 6 Caucasians in a restaurant that sat at least 200. All the rest were Chinese families, friends or couples. This is a real test of how authentic the dim sum experience will be, and Royal Seafood passed with flying colours. Because the food is brought to your table and shown for you approval, you do not need to worry about the language. Over the years I have learned that, however much it is a delicacy for those with a taste for it, I really do not like fried chicken's feet. But there is almost nothing else that is not delicious, and at Royal Seafood the dishes are the best I have had. Expect to share a table unless you come in a group of 6 or more. We sat with a mother, her 20 month son, and her two sisters, and even though there was only minimal sharing of language we had a great time. This is authentic Chinese family dining.

Ok, so....kinda hard to quantify this one. it is undoubtedly the real deal, a Hong Kong food hall clone. The waiters are brusque but in our case had some English and quite hepful. We went on a Tuesday night and had a table to ourselves, the only non-Chinese group in the place. Went rogue and ordered far too much..each main is really MAIN!! jellyfish appetizer was huge but light, refreshing and good, duck tongue could have been more tender to be honest, the salt and pepper frog lacked salt and pepper but was very succulent, the beef dish and bean curd were both good. I would say for 'authentic chinese experience' worth a visit, with more than my poor knowledge of menu,...it could be good. The Shrimp dim sum was very good. Dont be daunted...get in there!....on another note, no drink menu..we were on holiday in New York so not bold enough to rock up with a drink (alcohol or otherwise) so made safe with the comp green tea and tap water.

3 of us went for dim sum Saturday morning at 8:15 .Dim sum starts at 8 and already the place was over half full .Service was quick and food was tasty .I went with 2 chinese speaking friends so I did not have trouble ordering and I felt that even if they were not there I would not have any trouble ordering .Parking on a Saturday was no problem but in Chinatown its 4 per hr or 10.75 for 2 at the meters .There is a parking garage across the street though if you cant find parking .