Kings Co Imperial LES — Restaurant in New York

Great food, cool and interesting space, incredibly nice staff. We were craving Chinese food on Sunday morning and wandered across the bridge to the LES to come to the ironically-named Kings County Imperial LES. We apparently hit their second ever brunch service, and the staff were excited to see us as the place was empty when we arrived. Definitely not for a good reason, though, as our noodles, shumai, har gao, and xiao long bao were all excellent. The soup dumplings in particular stood out, as it was a big order (6), they were super flavorful, and very substantial - a good bit more pork than the usual,.say at Joe's Shanghai. A few more tables filled up by the time we left, but at the moment, I'd call their brunch a hidden gem.

And our server (Jazzy, as per the receipt) was wonderful, always there when we needed more water or an extra dish for black vinegar. The bartender, too, caught me checking out the bottles as we were preparing to leave, asked what I was into, and quickly pulled out a couple of interesting Japanese whiskies - now I'm going to have to go back for a...

Positive: very friendly staff and delicious food

Negative: took way too long to get our food (one dish came out, then had to wait 30 min for the rest when the place was not busy). Slightly expensive.

I really think I would have gone with 4 stars if the food just came out consistently. We ordered 5 dishes around 5:30 PM when the place only had two other tables filled.

We got our 2 appetizers then received one of 3 main dish not too far after. But then there was this long wait. I saw many Togo orders being filled and being picked up. 30 minutes passed and our fried rice (mind you it’s just fried rice and only had 3 shrimps) and half chicken were still missing. We almost wanted to cancel the order at that point.

I would have been more understanding if the place was busy, but it really wasn’t either. Shrug

Food was delicious and staff was very friendly, so no complaint there!

Maybe we’ll give it another...

After a break for several months from this place, we went back and ordered about six dishes from Kings Co. Imperial on Delancey Street. It has been a long time since I have had takeout – and there are a number of very humble Chinese takeout places in this neighborhood – so listless and lacking in flavor. (On the other hand, at least half featured oversalting and several a certain zealousness with hot red peppers - I counted about 15 in one dish). Prior experience suggested that the menu was hit or miss which is why I'd skipped it for so long) - but this set a standard that is hard to come back from. You have to try, really try, to make something so basic as sesame noodles this flavorless. Food was ready quickly, and it’s a pretty spot. But on any given night,...