Let us see what they say--not bad at all
I took out reviews from 2007-2008 (that's too long ago to be relevant), which were not complimentary...all the later ones are except for one really
S Dynasty
- Nearest Transit Station:
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51 St. (4, 6, 6X)Lexington Ave./53 St. (E, M)Grand Central - 42 St. (7, 7X)
- Hours:
- Mon-Fri 11:30 am - 10:30 pm
- Parking:
- Street
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
- $$
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Ambience:
- Romantic
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
55 reviews for S Dynasty
Review Highlights What's this?
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"I had my wedding reception here last weekend." In 4 reviews -
"This is one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in midtown." In 12 reviews -
"...they have private booths for private dining events, and the food was..." In 4 reviews
Rating Distribution | Trend
55 reviews in English
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Review from Carol W.
Brooklyn, NYThis is one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in midtown. The quality of the food is great and it is not the Chinese food you get on the corner. The restaurant is upscale, nice decor, quaint enough for a relaxing afternoon lunch. That is hard to find in midtown New York. Try this place out and during lunch and dinner this place gets bustling since it is right inside the hotel. -
Review from Hermany N.
New York, NYI don't really understand why there are so many negative reviews about this place. I went there for a private dining evet and I love the dining environment (though kinda weird for a Chinese restaurant). The shrimp or seafood noodle tasted little bit of light, but the Fried rice noodle, with slice beef in soy sauce is authentic cantonese food. The waiter is quite nice and friendly.
I expected it to be like 30 a person but actually it's much cheaper, definitely a good bargin on 48th street. -
Review from Meri S.
I was actually very impressed with the food here and I usually have complaints about Chinese food being either too dry or too greasy - neither was the case at my lunch today.
My party of four shared vegetable dumplings, five flavor eggplant, Ginger Root Chicken and vegetable Chow Fun and I throughly enjoyed all of the dishes. The eggplant was particularly delicious and the chicken was very tender.
The decor was pretty upscale for a Chinese restaurant and the service was acceptable, not stellar, but acceptable. My one complaint was that I needed a key to go the bathroom all the way across the hall since the restaurant shared its restrooms with the hotel in which it is housed.
The price was extremely reasonable and far less than what I was expecting. I would definitely come back. -
Review from Chloe Z.
Food-wise S. Dynasty definitely deserves 3.5 stars.
If you compare this to a Chinatown/Flushing restaurant, well it is more pricey indeed. Location, location, location!
S. Dynasty is a fine choice of LEGIT Chinese food without dredging yourself to Chinatown/Flushing and fighting all the tourists
So far I have sampled their soup, dim-sum and vegetable entrees.
Some of my memorable dishes:
Radish cake- very flavorful. The portion is more petit, like tapa-size portions, which I don't mind.
Tofu skin wraps - this dish is more on the heavy side. They put too much oyster sauce in there
Stuffed eggplants - pretty decent. Eggplants are not soggy and watery, but full of flavor. Thumbs up!
Oh, did I mention that the décor and service here is on par with Midtown sleek? - half star up! -
Review from Grace L.
The service and ambience is really great, bring a business partner or client here for a power lunch. My client and I shared a pork dish, chicken dish, soup dumplings, and beef soup, and it was absolutely delicious. I would highly recommend this place for a business event, or even a romantic dinner. The decor is upscale, they have private booths for private dining events, and the food was not greasy or heavy as would typically be expected of a chinese restaurant. It's the most authentic chinese food outside of flushing or china town, let's put it that way. -
Review from Lily L.
New York, NYIt took me a while to find the entrance the first time I went there - The address is 511 Lexington Ave, 2nd Fl, but the door that says 511 is locked and the actual door is on 48th Street.
I went there for lunch on Friday. It was not crowded at all. Less than half seats are occupied. I got seated immediately.
Very good decor, and very quiet.
The food is ok - definitely not the best Chinese food. The portion is ok considering the price. My friend and I ordered two dishes from lunch special menu and one entree from regular menu, and we finished everything. But we were both very hungry at that time. For the lunch special, the waiter didn't ask me what soup and rice I want, and he gave me egg-drop soup and white rice directly, which is a bit weird. It doesn't taste as good as some other Chinese restaurants in midtown, no need to mention Chinatown/Flushing. However, it's not a bad choice for a lunch during weekdays. -
Review from Preston T.
New York, NYVery nice decor and good for business lunch or dinner. Really good dumplings. -
Review from Alex S.
Las Vegas, NVFor lunch in Manhattan, this place is okay. I went hoping for beef and broccoli and did not see it on the lunch menu. At the waiters suggestion I ordered the beef with mushrooms and bamboo shoots. ($12.50 after tax). It was an ample amount of food for lunch and a decent price. I got a cup of soup that was a spiced chicken broth with cabbage and miso. A side of white rice accompanied an appropriate sized portion of beef. There were mushroom and bamboo shoots. These bamboo shoots were not canned. They were huge and tasty. The service was a little lackluster. My server took my order and served my drink. I didn't see him again for 10 minutes after I had finished eating, when he dropped off the check. No check for satisfaction and no thank you. Another server came by and collected my payment.
When I was a kid, we used to joke that we knew it was a good Chinese restaurant if there were a lot of Chinese people there. In this case, it was spectacularly average. But there were a lot of Asian people there.
I got out for $14.50, no small feat given that the McDonald's around the corner charges about $8 for a value meal and the Bull and Bear charges $20 for a Stoli. -
New York, NY1/10/2010
I had my wedding reception at S. Dynasty in August 2009 and was really pleased with the service, the food, and how the entire event turned out. Being Asian American, the hubby and I wanted to have the 10 course Chinese blowout feast for our wedding, but didn't want it in Chinatown with a golden dragon and phoenix behind us. Given that half of our guests were coming from out of town, we also wanted to have it in the city. On top of that... we had a $20,000 budget for the entire wedding. The impossible was done with some help from Steven Tang and S. Dynasty, which was an awesome alternative to the typical $150pp reception hall.
The banquet coordinator, Steven Tang, speaks English and Chinese and is really easy to reach and will help you out with a lot of the logistics of the wedding, from parking to hotel rates (the restaurant is connected to the Radisson hotel).
The restaurant is very classy - mostly dark wood furniture with light colored walls. It will accommodate about 100 people with a dance floor and large 10 person round tables. The service on the night of the wedding was spot on - dishes came out on time, were freshly cooked, and drinks were served quickly (and probably in excess). In response to some other reviews of the restaurant, I made sure that everybody had their own glass of water and that there was a pitcher on the table at all times. Worked out well... none of my guests complained.
I have never had the regular food at the restaurant, but the banquet food was really good. I don't think it can compare to some of the Chinatown restaurants, but it is better than most hotel-prepared wedding food!
Some cons about the place. It is in a T shape, so some tables were wedged all the way in the back of the space with a very limited view of the dance floor. In some ways, it was nice because it forced people to walk up and mingle instead of sitting in their seats all night, but I didn't like having to pick which tables to "stuff in the back" off the restaurant.
The restaurant is on the 2nd floor of the Radisson hotel and shares the same address, so it can be kind of confusing to find. -
Review from Peter A.
Brooklyn, NYJust had my wedding here.
The service was pretty good, but I did hear from friends that their waiter was bit snide with them. The food wasn't terribly awful, but wasn't overdrenched with sauce like some of the Chinese places I've been too in Chinatown. I liked the food, but it wasn't mind blowing to my tastebuds. The portions were a bit small, and they didn't serve water at tables. Instead you had to walk over the bar to get beverages...even water! That kinda killed the dinner reception for me....the most basic of items that should always be at your table should have been water at the very least. The space is gorgeous, but should anyone want a wedding here, definitely specify certain things you want.
Remember that along with the full price of the wedding dinner, you might be paying 17-20% gratuity on top of what you owe as well as any extra drinks that were purchased after the 3 hour open bar. Drinks were kinda weak too.
As for service, it was definitely a plus when it came to dealing with them about wedding dinner, but I'm sure it was all about making money.
Need wedding dinner advice for this place, give me a holler. -
Review from Nelson W.
"If at first you don't succeed, you keep at it."
Unfortunately, this motto does not resonate with S. Dynasty as shoddy food and service continues to plague the restaurant every I dine there. Charging Chinatown Brasserie-like prices without even trying to balance it with the same food quality is a disgrace - not that it stops the suits from coming in. Rest assured, it would be the Armani and Hugo Boss suits rather than the Jos A Bank suits.
Whether it is the lunch or dinner menu, the food is catered to a Western palate. The beef and pork tend to be very dry, but the vegetarian dishes involving tofu and mushrooms are prepared surprisngly well. That is probably because they use less oil during preparation. Nonetheless, there is not a single dish that comes away being memorable.
The space is what one would expect for a hotel restaurant - well organized with a medium-sized open area with tables and a nice window view to go along with separate dining rooms for more private, conference-type lunches. However, despite a wonderful arrangement, it feels cold and uninviting - not a suitable venue for a Lunar New Year celebration.
This is one Dynasty that will not leave behind a lasting legacy.
(Pun intended.)-
Assortment of Szechuan Lunch specials (braised fish fillet,…
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Review from Amir T.
New York, NY10/30/2008
Allow me to echo the sentiments of a fellow reviewer.... lousy.
I work very close to this place and I have been suckered in to ordering from here more so many times it's embarassing since this place is formidably unimpressive.
S. Dynasty is located in a hotel ergo it pulls longer hours than most restaurants in the area, so I find myself ordering from there more often than I should. As far as the food goes, if you're not getting either (a) the cucumbers in garlic or (b) the scallion pancakes, you are setting yourself up for utter disappointment. It is as if the places intentionally picks the worst ingredients (produce, etc.) to cook with and assumes that a healthy dose of MSG will make it all okay. Trust me folks, it doesn't. -
Review from Devesh J.
Calgary, Canada12/8/2010
I was expecting a lot when entered this Radisson Hotel's Restaurant.
No good food, not much choices either.
I am not coming back here again. -
Review from Cecille C.
Manhattan, NYI came to this place for a Hong Kong style wedding banquet. If you have been to this kind of thing, you will know "HK wedding = sea food + karaokey party".
The sea food here at this place is awesome but the karaokey part looked strange because the space is "T" shaped. Be careful of the layout if you want to have your Chinese event here! -
Review from Carol F.
I had my wedding here last August. Stephen and Shirley were great to work with and service the night of was excellent. Stephen had us upgraded to a suite for free, which was unexpected and kind. There were no complaints whatsoever about service. Some people actually still talk about the food.
I'm Chinese and my husband is Mexican, from Texas. The Texans had an awesome time - they loved the food and couldn't believe there was so much of it. The Chinese side is super, duper Chinese and they enjoyed the food. They have an excellent selection of wine and champagne and our guests enjoyed themselves very much drinking it.
My parents, aunt, sisters, and then-fiance all went to taste the food before booking and they liked it. My dad is so Chinese he can't even speak English after living here for 30 years. He knows his Chinese food. They never would have let us book the place if the food, staff, or decor was not up to standard.
The quality of food was high albeit Americanized. How can any New Yorker expect authentic Chinese food in midtown Manhattan? Come on. You can't compare this place to Wo Hop BUT I definitely think this place beats some "authentic" places in Chinatown which shall not be named because some friends were married there.
For a small, affordable wedding (ours was 170 and the restaurant maxes out at 180), I would definitely recommend this place. -
Review from Paige M.
Cincinnati, OHS Dynasty was located around the corner from our hotel, so my friends and I stopped by for a late dinner. Although it was an hour before close, the staff seated us graciously, provided attentive service, and the food came out freshly prepared.
S Dynasty is an upscale Chinese restaurant, much different from the buffets we have here in Cincinnati. Formal service and white table cloths are what to expect here. Our appetizers were served family style on a lazy susan, allowing everyone to sample a little of each. We had barbecue beef sticks, dumplings and spring rolls.
For a main, I had General Ching's Chicken over steamed rice. My friends shared a spicy beef and spicy chicken dish. They preferred the chicken. Our fourth friend had a big pile of fried rice, which she devoured.
The food was delicious albeit pricey for Chinese (then again, it is NYC.) Appetizers average around $7.50 and mains cost $18.00. -
Review from Nadine L.
Chicago, ILAfter I arrived in New York to meet my boyfriend we were starving-We journied out of our room to find the first place that look good-Passed a couple places and saw a sign for Chinese, looked at the menu and thought "why not" walked up the stairs and there were maybe 3 tables that were occupied-
At first we were like "uh oh" I mean it was not packed on a Thurs night with lots of hotels around (It's actually in the Radison hotel) the waiter had to look up how to make my Vodka Collins since he was my bartender-
But the food was really good and it was nice that we could talk and we were seated in a nice area-
It's not the most memorable place you can eat while in NYC but it hit the spot and the service was good- -
Review from Chris M.
Fresh Meadows, NYThe food here is not that bad. The decor is excellent.
I came here yesterday for a networking dinner.
We had the following -
apps.
fried shrimp balls - very good, i think i ate 5. shhhhh, dont tell my table
beef skewer - the beef was tender but we didnt get knives so everyone cut the beef with their spoons
spring rolls - tasted like regular spring rolls, nothing fancy.
dumplings - maybe they were sitting on the table for too long, but they were a bit cold. and definitely had too much dough, not enough filling.
entrees
fried fish - when it first came out, no one had a clue as to what it was. After tasting it, it was really good fish (dunno what kind of fish it was because it was definitely deep fried and covered up) but the sweet and tangy sauce went very well with it and the crispy skin made the dish
beef and broccoli - i can definitely make better beef and broccoli, tell the chef to come talk to me
lobster - lobster cooked with ginger and scallions, coated slightly with flour - always delicious, cant mess this up, even if u tried.
string beans - very good
fried rice - the rice was very soft and it had just enough flavor (as to not power the other dishes but still give u relief from all the sodium and sauces)
All in all, a good dinner. Polished off two bottles of wine by myself so any dinner with that is a good dinner.
Would I come here if it wasnt for the event? No. Why would you when Chinatown is 10 minutes away, cheaper, and more delicious.
Happy eating, suckers. -
Review from Olga P.
Brooklyn, NYI give this place 3 stars for the food and 5 stars for the ambiance/location/decor.
We had a wedding banquet here recently. We did everything in one place, ie the wedding ceremony and the reception. This venue was absolutely perfect for us. We had 100 guests and the space is super classy and beautiful, not to mention in a nice Midtown hotel. The food was OK. It was much better than the average wedding fare I've had at various halls in Long Island and Queens but it wasn't as great as traditional Chinese banquet hall food usually is. We looked at several banquet halls in Chinatown and Flushing but were underwhelmed by the enormity and gaudiness of the spaces and the general factory feel, ie 3 weddings going on at once and we can throw in an ice sculpture if you book now. Boy, what a hard sell!
Everyone had a really great time, the dance floor that the manager provided for us was much bigger than I had originally imagined, which was nice. The reception table was really long and accommodated our long wedding scroll and flowers perfectly. The cake table was just the right size. The china they used was beautiful. The dark oak decor, the white tablecloths, the piano, and the dim lighting made the space elegant and intimate. The service was great and everything went off without a hitch.
I wouldn't come here just for dinner (it's pricey, the portions are small, and the food isn't better than the food in Chinatown or Flushing) but I would throw another banquet/party/etc here in a heartbeat.
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