456 New Shanghai — Restaurant in New York

This was the most horrific experience I have ever had in a restaurant in my LIFE I had family visiting from abroad who wanted to eat in China Town, so last night at 9:30pm the 4 of us entered this disgrace of a restaurant, hungry and ready to eat. Upon arrival we were told rudely by a waiter that we have to be quick to order because the restaurant will close soon. We ordered quickly, yet the waiters were still rude and unhelpful to us when we asked standard questions about the food. For example, when someone asked a question about the dish she was ordering he replied "what are you talking about??" and intimidated her into ordering the wrong dish (she did not want Udon noodles). They practically threw down sauces as they presented our appetizers, no announcement as to what the sauce was for, so we ended up using it with the wrong dish. (The sauce was actually for a dish that was delivered several minutes later). We had multiple waiters, who were ALL super rude. No-one smiled and no-one had time for us. One of them was in such a rush when he served our food he placed it lopsided on top of other items on our big spacious table and didn't bother to correct it. We really felt extremely unwelcome. We ordered one soda - ONE - and they gave that to the wrong person. After half way through the meal we noticed that my deep fried chicken was not cooked properly, it was pink and raw (see pictures). When the waiter came to collect our plates and asked if everything was ok we showed him that several pieces of chicken were uncooked. He told the owner of the restaurant immediately who proceeded to argue with him over our table. He seemed to be insisting that it was uncooked as he kept pointing to it, and she would not accept it. She stormed off and the waiter looked at us and SHRUGGED his shoulders as if to say 'deal with it'. The chef even came out and the owner was saying something to him about our food, but he wouldn't even look at our plate before returning to the kitchen. Another waitress came and told us in no uncertain terms that we either call the police or they can deduct that plate off our bill. They were angry with us - as if we had done this! There was still no apology at this point, in fact, we never got one at all... We opted for a deduction as we just wanted to leave quickly. The bill came, with the uncooked chicken dish deducted and the 'tip suggestions' aggressively circled in front of us as if to say 'you better tip'. Naturally, we refused to tip, the waitress proceeded to argue with us insisting we ought to because they had deducted the chicken off the bill - She actually said it was not their fault the chicken wasn't cooked properly lol! I'd like to point out, we were not at any point rude or aggressive as they were to us, we were just calmly disgusted. We could have made a scene, but coming from a restaurant background we chose not to. After calmly explaining that we would not tip because of the service and possible food poisoning, she was irritated and told us "ok whatever whatever just go". We left. After leaving I realized I had forgotten a coat under the table that I had purchased before coming to the restaurant. When we went back for it they told us to wait, that they had to get it out of the garbage!!! When we tried to speak to the owner, to even explain that we are sorry this has happened and why we expect a basic level of customer service in NYC she literally refused to look at us, pretending she could not hear or see us (we were standing right in front of her) and walked away. I have honestly never experienced anything like this in my life, and would urge ANYONE who is thinking of going there to NOT even step foot inside. These people do not care about you or your health, they just want your money and will get it by any means - EXCEPT if it means good...

Update Finally got to eat at 456 again since they closed for renovations before covid! We were so happy and grateful to dine here after all this time. Extremely happy to find the place still popular, and safely separated between tables for safety, they have the customer's safely in mind and even turned away some people when the dining room was at recommended capacity. We were most impressed with our food, which was possibly even more delicious than before! Everything was freshly made, delicious, and the quality and incredible value of everything we had was just excellent. I always recommend the soup dumplings, pan fried buns, cold noodles. Their fried rice and noodles are also excellent. For a healthy option, I like to order a nice sauteed veggie to enjoy with all the dumplings! Always a favorite and happy to support!

456 is one of those rare places in NYC where when it's time to pay the bill, you may be pleasantly surprised by how low the check comes up to after a very satisfying meal. To give you an example, an order of their dumpling dishes cost about 30%-40% less than similar restaurants further uptown. They serve delicious soup dumplings, pan fried buns, and a good variety of standard American Chinese and traditional Chinese dishes. The pan fried buns are one of the best deals you can find at under $6 for a generous order of 8, and they are absolutely delicious and are always made to order. In case you're wondering, they also reheat very well and are just a yummy the next day. Now that they're no longer a best kept secret, it's a little more of a wait to get seated on a busy day, but I'd be happy to eat here anytime....

Was a wonderful food and service experience. This spot came recommended for Chinatown and did not disappoint whatsoever .

Came for authentic Chinese food and we certainly got that.

Appetizers;

Ordered the pan fried dumplings, these were juicy and flavorful, although not my favorite dish was prepared well. Spring roll had a good crunch but lacked flavor for me even with the sauces included.

Vegetable fried rice was really great, above average quality in my opinion

Entree;

General tso chicken was quite flavorful, we added a portion of tofu to the dish which was solid but did not impress us.

Hunan beef was perfect, great flavor as well as a kick but not overbearing whatsoever.

The in house spicy mustard is always a must, and this also was on point, slightly more mild then others I’ve had but in no way was this a bad thing .

The server mentioned that unless you ask for any of the dishes to be extra spicy then they lean on the more mild side

Service was great, waiter was easy going, not rushing us to order, and explained the dishes that we were unsure of.

Overall this place seemed like the right choice , we strolled down the avenue to compare our other options . None of which stood out, beside there being insane lines at some other spots.

Certainly reasonable, uptown would have been double this price at least. Also I’m not looking for the cheapest food. I’m looking for the best quality regardless of the frills or decor, which was modest and...