I've heard about this restaurant for a while and my friends and I came here during the Winter of 2018 for dinner. The place is simple and has just enough seating for small-like groups. There was 7 of us so their tables fit us just perfectly. We ordered an assortment of dishes to try: crab and pork soup dumplings, Yu Garden's pork soup dumplings, sticky rice shu mai, pan-fried dumplings, crispy noodles with vegetables and pork, and the house special meatballs.For the most part, this restaurant and food was average, nothing too exciting or 'wow' where I would or could come back seeing as how it's closed now. The service was okay, but I honestly feel there are better NYC spots for Shanghainese food.
Jando S.
The actual Yu Garden (豫園) is so famous that many Shanghainese establishments worldwide also bear the same name. At one point this was also an issue in NYC (#1), but this Yu Garden ended up becoming a destination for other reasons (#2) despite closing not much longer after.Visually, the place is everything I love about NY establishments: simple, cozy, with just enough seating for small'ish groups. The narrow interior was sometimes packed on weeknights, but seemingly empty during the day. My favorite time to come here (or pretty much any Shanghai restaurant) is during cold winters / freezing weather to enjoy the hot food.Their soup dumplings were probably the highlight of most meals with densely packed soup and larger than average shells. The highlight for me personally was their rice cakes (炒年糕) and pan fried soup buns (生煎包), which I think is not easy to find, even in a place like Flushing.And for the most part, the place was quite average, but not exceptional. I am usually really excited for Shanghainese style breakfast with hot soy milk and fried dough (油條) but this one was disappointing. I would also say their fried rice / noodle dishes (but especially the house special noodle - 上海粗炒麵) were blander than expected. Couldn't really enjoy the fried croaker or the lion's head (獅子頭), because everything was just subpar.While I might not have enjoyed everything I've eaten here, they definitely were on the decline flavor wise, up to 2 years before ultimately shutting their doors. I do wish there were more Shanghainese spots in NYC in general, we need all the options we can get.___________(#1) Which was this place was often confused for this one: All because of a guy named Anthony Bourdain.
Cariana Salvatierra
Loved this place but unfortunately it closed and it is now a bbq spot.
Crystal Y.
Pretty standard for Flushing Shanghainese dumpling place with all the options like xlb, veggie dumplings, hot soy milk etc. Good if you are in the area and don't want to travel to the more well known places in downtown Flushing. Honestly the problem is0Flushing has such a high standard for Chinese food that Chinese restaurants in it need to be graded on a Flushing curve. Take a 3.5 star Chinese restaurant in Flushing like this one and move it literally any where else in the country with the same cheap prices and I would easily give it 5 stars.
Chris Chin
Had my duck for Thanksgiving and cake too across the street for dessert. Duck and dumplings, love this combo. The pan fried shredded pork noodles were a bit saucy but very tasty and good value. You must try this place when you come out to Northeast Queens.
Jingjuan Qi
The food is very shanghaiese , the service is very good.
Taylor Cerdas
Excellent food, the soup dumplings are fantastic. Great prices too
PC GMail
Lion's head was good. It offers some very shanghainese dishes.
J Dubz
Very average Chinese food. So many better places nearby
Angie I.
Young man with glasses was a superstar. From the moment we walked in, he quickly acknowledged us and greeted us warmly. He was the only server in a full house with all tables occupied. It was ultimately a one man show and he was doing a phonemonial job! So much patience even in a very hectic environment when he is constantly running back and forth to the kitchen and every table. When the food came, I quietly mumbled hmm hot sauce, he heard me and brought it out! That is A+ service. We enjoyed the XLB and rice cake dish! Prices are very reasonable.
Good food. Comfortable place. The soup dumplings are divine
Deacon Harris
As you can see i ate everything... and loved it
Gary L.
The young man that greeted and served us was full of smiles, warm, inviting, attentive and gracious! The food was authentic, phenomenal, affordable Great neighborhood spot. Come here now!
Alvin T.
My father and I were in the neighborhood and didn't feel like driving further down Kissena towards Main. I saw "Yu Garden" and made the wrong assumption that it's associated with Shanghai You Garden on 40th rd, which I've had fantastic dining experiences at. We went in, sat down, and ordered our food. The first dish that came out, drunken chicken, was the one that ruined our experience at this restaurant. I was very excited too as Shaoxing wine is one of my favorite flavors! My father and I looked at each other during our first bite with puzzled faces.... we both realized that the chicken was frozen!!! We spat it out and tried another piece, just to make sure we weren't going crazy and maybe it was an isolated incident, but the second piece confirmed that indeed the chicken was frozen. I asked the waiter kindly to send it back and soon after, the chef/manager came out and had the audacity to explain to us that drunken chicken is a cold dish... This isn't my first rodeo with Shanghainese cuisine; I ordered drunken chicken not frozen chicken! She kept on explaining why it was FROZEN (our refrigerator is on the fritz... UHM, NOT MY PROBLEM) and offered to microwave it for us... I kindly just asked to send it back as we wanted no part of that dish. The XLB was mediocre. The fried rice cake was way too saucy. When we asked for the bill, the waiter looked at me with a sad look in his eye... he knew I shouldn't have been charged for the chicken, but alas, there it was on my bill. I knew it was futile to kill the messenger, so I asked to speak to the chef/manager lady again regarding the charge for FROZEN CHICKEN on my bill. She didn't even bother showing her face this time and the waiter took the FROZEN CHICKEN off my bill. I will never be coming back. Bourdain (may God rest his beautiful soul) must be rolling in his grave for filming an episode of Parts Unknown here as I'm sure he would not have enjoyed the food and service I experienced tonight.
Stina K.
A friend had a craving for beef scallion pancakes so we came here. Quoted a 25 minute wait and we waited about 15 which was nice. They brought around water/tea/cookies while we waited which was great customer service. It was a bit odd that we had to order before we were even seated so it put us on the spot a bit but would rather food come out quicker so it wasn't a big deal. We ordered 2 orders of beef scallion pancakes, rice cakes with seafood, and 2 orders of pan fried dumplings. They were nice enough to bring us free soup dumplings along with free dessert. Never had the rice dumpling soup dessert before but it was phenomenal. It was very nice of them to provide. The ONLY reason why I took off a star is because the restaurant has poor ventilation. The four of us were seated in the back and while we were waiting for the check smelled the most VILE smell coming from the bathrooms. It was enough to make you gag and break dinner etiquette because it was so bad no one could ignore it. Everyone at the table had a laugh about how the person probably needed to see a doctor because that type of smell shouldn't come from a healthy human being. Regardless it's a bathroom so "sh*t happens" (literally) but if their bathrooms are going to be so close to the tables they need to have better ventilation or keep a bottle of fabreeze or something in there because I likely would have thrown up at the table had I not already finished eating if I would have smelled that earlier. This doesn't put me off from coming back but I will make a point to be asked not to be seated in the back again.
I've heard about this restaurant for a while and my friends and I came here during the Winter of 2018 for dinner. The place is simple and has just enough seating for small-like groups. There was 7 of us so their tables fit us just perfectly. We ordered an assortment of dishes to try: crab and pork soup dumplings, Yu Garden's pork soup dumplings, sticky rice shu mai, pan-fried dumplings, crispy noodles with vegetables and pork, and the house special meatballs.For the most part, this restaurant and food was average, nothing too exciting or 'wow' where I would or could come back seeing as how it's closed now. The service was okay, but I honestly feel there are better NYC spots for Shanghainese food.
The actual Yu Garden (豫園) is so famous that many Shanghainese establishments worldwide also bear the same name. At one point this was also an issue in NYC (#1), but this Yu Garden ended up becoming a destination for other reasons (#2) despite closing not much longer after.Visually, the place is everything I love about NY establishments: simple, cozy, with just enough seating for small'ish groups. The narrow interior was sometimes packed on weeknights, but seemingly empty during the day. My favorite time to come here (or pretty much any Shanghai restaurant) is during cold winters / freezing weather to enjoy the hot food.Their soup dumplings were probably the highlight of most meals with densely packed soup and larger than average shells. The highlight for me personally was their rice cakes (炒年糕) and pan fried soup buns (生煎包), which I think is not easy to find, even in a place like Flushing.And for the most part, the place was quite average, but not exceptional. I am usually really excited for Shanghainese style breakfast with hot soy milk and fried dough (油條) but this one was disappointing. I would also say their fried rice / noodle dishes (but especially the house special noodle - 上海粗炒麵) were blander than expected. Couldn't really enjoy the fried croaker or the lion's head (獅子頭), because everything was just subpar.While I might not have enjoyed everything I've eaten here, they definitely were on the decline flavor wise, up to 2 years before ultimately shutting their doors. I do wish there were more Shanghainese spots in NYC in general, we need all the options we can get.___________(#1) Which was this place was often confused for this one: All because of a guy named Anthony Bourdain.
Loved this place but unfortunately it closed and it is now a bbq spot.
Pretty standard for Flushing Shanghainese dumpling place with all the options like xlb, veggie dumplings, hot soy milk etc. Good if you are in the area and don't want to travel to the more well known places in downtown Flushing. Honestly the problem is0Flushing has such a high standard for Chinese food that Chinese restaurants in it need to be graded on a Flushing curve. Take a 3.5 star Chinese restaurant in Flushing like this one and move it literally any where else in the country with the same cheap prices and I would easily give it 5 stars.
Had my duck for Thanksgiving and cake too across the street for dessert. Duck and dumplings, love this combo. The pan fried shredded pork noodles were a bit saucy but very tasty and good value. You must try this place when you come out to Northeast Queens.
The food is very shanghaiese , the service is very good.
Excellent food, the soup dumplings are fantastic. Great prices too
Lion's head was good. It offers some very shanghainese dishes.
Very average Chinese food. So many better places nearby
Young man with glasses was a superstar. From the moment we walked in, he quickly acknowledged us and greeted us warmly. He was the only server in a full house with all tables occupied. It was ultimately a one man show and he was doing a phonemonial job! So much patience even in a very hectic environment when he is constantly running back and forth to the kitchen and every table. When the food came, I quietly mumbled hmm hot sauce, he heard me and brought it out! That is A+ service. We enjoyed the XLB and rice cake dish! Prices are very reasonable.
Restaurantji Recommends
Good food. Comfortable place. The soup dumplings are divine
As you can see i ate everything... and loved it
The young man that greeted and served us was full of smiles, warm, inviting, attentive and gracious! The food was authentic, phenomenal, affordable Great neighborhood spot. Come here now!
My father and I were in the neighborhood and didn't feel like driving further down Kissena towards Main. I saw "Yu Garden" and made the wrong assumption that it's associated with Shanghai You Garden on 40th rd, which I've had fantastic dining experiences at. We went in, sat down, and ordered our food. The first dish that came out, drunken chicken, was the one that ruined our experience at this restaurant. I was very excited too as Shaoxing wine is one of my favorite flavors! My father and I looked at each other during our first bite with puzzled faces.... we both realized that the chicken was frozen!!! We spat it out and tried another piece, just to make sure we weren't going crazy and maybe it was an isolated incident, but the second piece confirmed that indeed the chicken was frozen. I asked the waiter kindly to send it back and soon after, the chef/manager came out and had the audacity to explain to us that drunken chicken is a cold dish... This isn't my first rodeo with Shanghainese cuisine; I ordered drunken chicken not frozen chicken! She kept on explaining why it was FROZEN (our refrigerator is on the fritz... UHM, NOT MY PROBLEM) and offered to microwave it for us... I kindly just asked to send it back as we wanted no part of that dish. The XLB was mediocre. The fried rice cake was way too saucy. When we asked for the bill, the waiter looked at me with a sad look in his eye... he knew I shouldn't have been charged for the chicken, but alas, there it was on my bill. I knew it was futile to kill the messenger, so I asked to speak to the chef/manager lady again regarding the charge for FROZEN CHICKEN on my bill. She didn't even bother showing her face this time and the waiter took the FROZEN CHICKEN off my bill. I will never be coming back. Bourdain (may God rest his beautiful soul) must be rolling in his grave for filming an episode of Parts Unknown here as I'm sure he would not have enjoyed the food and service I experienced tonight.
A friend had a craving for beef scallion pancakes so we came here. Quoted a 25 minute wait and we waited about 15 which was nice. They brought around water/tea/cookies while we waited which was great customer service. It was a bit odd that we had to order before we were even seated so it put us on the spot a bit but would rather food come out quicker so it wasn't a big deal. We ordered 2 orders of beef scallion pancakes, rice cakes with seafood, and 2 orders of pan fried dumplings. They were nice enough to bring us free soup dumplings along with free dessert. Never had the rice dumpling soup dessert before but it was phenomenal. It was very nice of them to provide. The ONLY reason why I took off a star is because the restaurant has poor ventilation. The four of us were seated in the back and while we were waiting for the check smelled the most VILE smell coming from the bathrooms. It was enough to make you gag and break dinner etiquette because it was so bad no one could ignore it. Everyone at the table had a laugh about how the person probably needed to see a doctor because that type of smell shouldn't come from a healthy human being. Regardless it's a bathroom so "sh*t happens" (literally) but if their bathrooms are going to be so close to the tables they need to have better ventilation or keep a bottle of fabreeze or something in there because I likely would have thrown up at the table had I not already finished eating if I would have smelled that earlier. This doesn't put me off from coming back but I will make a point to be asked not to be seated in the back again.