House of Joy — Restaurant in New York

I visited House of Joy in Chinatown NYC on a Sunday afternoon, and as expected, it was super busy. The restaurant came highly recommended, so I was looking forward to the experience.

The Wait & Seating • The wait was around 30 minutes, which is understandable for a popular dim sum spot on a weekend. • We were a party of four, and due to the crowd, we shared a large table with a party of three. It wasn’t ideal, but it’s a common setup at dim sum restaurants, so we didn’t mind too much. • One thing I would highly recommend is adding seating areas for people waiting by the door. There is currently no seating for those waiting, which can be especially difficult for people with disabilities or those who have trouble standing for long periods.

Food – Just OK

Given the strong recommendations, I was surprised that the food wasn’t better. Everything was decent but not outstanding: • Pork Spareribs – Tender but lacking bold flavor. • Ha Cheng (Shrimp Rice Rolls) – The skin was thick, which is not ideal for this dish. A thinner, silkier rice roll would have been much better. • Har Gow (Shrimp Dumplings) – Fresh • Siu Mai – A classic dim sum item, decent, but not particularly memorable. • Cucumber with Soy Sauce – Surprisingly one of my favorite dishes! The simple yet flavorful seasoning made it stand out.

Service – Excellent! • Despite the crowd, the service was very good. • The staff was on top of refilling our water glasses and kept everything running smoothly. • The tea was very nice, adding to the authentic dim sum experience.

Location & Accessibility • House of Joy is located on Pell Street in Chinatown, New York. • The restaurant is not the easiest to get to because Pell Street is closed off to cars. • If you’re taking a taxi or rideshare, the driver will drop you off at the entrance to Pell Street, and you’ll have to walk about a block to reach the restaurant. This is something to keep in mind if you have heavy bags, a stroller, or mobility concerns.

While House of Joy had a great atmosphere and attentive service, I found the food to be just okay—not bad, but not quite living up to the hype. The 30-minute wait and shared table were expected for a busy Sunday, but I was hoping for more flavorful, standout dishes. The shrimp rice rolls being too thick was particularly disappointing, as that dish is usually a dim sum favorite.

Additionally, I strongly recommend that the restaurant add seating areas for those waiting at the entrance, especially for individuals with disabilities or mobility issues. The location is also something to consider, as getting there requires a short walk due to the street closure.

Good service and decent dim sum, but the food didn’t quite meet my expectations. Would I return? Maybe, but I’d be open to trying other dim sum spots in...

I was looking for a new dim sum place since the one I liked closed down due to covid, and I came across this one on Yelp. Reviews seemed good, so my cousins and I went to give it a try. It was AWESOME! We got there around 12:30PM on a Sunday and it was packed; a person with a microphone was broadcasting to get tables, and there were about ten tables ahead of us but we only waited probably about ten minutes (would've waited less if we hadn't missed the first time they called us). We ordered a ton of food, and they were all awesome: intestine mixture: great flavors and chewy shrimp steamed rice roll: giant shrimp, chewy skin, nicely flavored soy sauce fried taro dumpling: really thick, soft taro and plenty of juicy pork filling BBQ pork pastry: really flaky pastry with tasty BBQ pork inside fried tofu skin wrapping vegetables (I don't know what this is called): good combination of fungus, bamboo, pork, and shrimp filling lotus sticky rice: really tasty rice, chewy but not overcooked, plenty of filling har gow (steamed shrimp dumplings): giant shrimps and super chewy skin porridge: consistency was good but not salty enough, not enough egg and pork either; collectively our least favorite dish out of everything we ate chicken feet: I don't eat this but my cousin really liked it egg tart: came out HOT! Egg was runny and steaming, awesome flaky crust

I really wanted to eat the fried salted dumplings and radish cake but we were too full by the time those showed up on the carts, sigh. Guess I'll just have to come back!

All this food was about $55 post-tax, not too bad for 3 people as we were stuffed. Really delicious, highly...

Sensing the palpable buzz from the street, we approached the building curious, and found what first appeared to be chaos. We soon realized this was a perfectly-designed storm of diners, servers and chefs keeping service fast, and tables turning. We heard a voice over the speaker call out a number, and soon found a man with the clipboard and headset/microphone directing the show. We walked up and flashed our fingers to show our party number of 2. He scribbled this next to a number on the clipboard, wrote the number on a slip of paper and gave it to us in a flash. Despite this impersonal method, there was a humanity to all of this, with happy diners munching away, and the wait being so transparent as we heard number after number called. Our turn came and we got seated at a large round communal table with others and tea was set down. Carts with food were brought around - and the servers would lift a lid to show the food and you’d decide if you wanted it. This kept options flowing and a no-wait system. A well-worn menu on the table was helpful for dim sum amateurs like us for pointing and gesturing. The food was delicious. We got shrimp crystal dumpling, shrimp in rice noodle, bok choy, a tarot dumpling and pork peanut dumpling. Every bite was super fresh, clean and delicious. No Americanized goopy sauces. The vibe was happy and lively and the pretentiousness was nil. We ate till full and the bill was under $40. Aptly named, it brought us a great deal of joy - and the reception person even obliged when we asked him to...