Potluck Club — Restaurant in New York

The decor and vibes of the place is very cute but the food is mostly pretty mid tier for Cantonese inspired dishes especially given their higher price point.

I got to try a bunch of dishes from prefix menu for a friends birthday so I’ll walk through each one on my thoughts.

Pork chive potstickers - good but nothing special given the price. The sweet soy sauce didn’t have much sweet flavor, mostly similar to normal soy sauce.

Endive salad - nice as an appetizer or palette cleanser if you’re eating a lot of things since the sauce is mildly vinegary.

Salt and pepper chicken with scallion biscuits - this was my only favorite dish here and I think a stand out! The chicken was very flavorful and juicy and fried well. The scallion biscuit was a delight and had great texture and paired well with the plum sauce.

Oyster mushroom rice roll with steak - tasted okay but not my favorite. Rice roll texture is a little too dry from how they stir fried it and the overall dish flavor profile is too salty with not much mushroom flavor coming through since they stir fry it with too much brown sauce.

Tiger shrimp with walnuts - tasted fine but not my favorite take on honey walnut shrimp. They opt for a more plain chili aioli that isn’t sweet and depend on the candied walnuts for sweetness. Also there was still some shrimp shell inside. The candied walnuts were A+ though

Braised short rib - decent meat texture and not bad but overall taste was too salty for my preference as they are really heavy with the dark soy sauce braise.

Spicy eggplant - not sure if it was an off day, but the eggplant was cooked too long so it was like complete mush, and overusing the brown sauce resulting in it being too oily and salty. Probably my least favorite dish that I tried here.

Given I tried so many dishes and there was only one I enjoyed, it was a little disappointing. Maybe some of the other dishes I didn’t get to try might be better but we basically tried 75% of the menu and only one was a hit while the rest were all mostly just okay or misses. Not sure if maybe the food just wasn’t executed well because they weren’t great at cooking food for a large party.

Also as a side note one of their glass water bottles randomly broke in our friends hand (it was not droppped, the spout literally just randomly broke off as she was just normally pouring it) and it cut her hand where it was bleeding. The staff here was pretty unconcerned and not apologetic about the situation though which was a little off...

Came for dinner once and their new brunch once as well. Definitely recommend dinner over brunch. Brunch is a newer menu and I can see them possibly refining it.

Gorgeous interior; good for dates and hangouts. Friendly service. Clean bathroom.

All in all, a lovely place. I loved experiencing the next generation of Chinese food!

Dinner 4.5/5: They will let you know when your 90 minutes is up.

The oyster mushroom rice rolls with steak smelled amazing when it came out. The sauce is so umami - beef and mushrooms - you can not go wrong! The rice rolls were nothing to write home about in terms of texture - I'd even say it was a wee bit over cooked but I know rice rolls are hard since they get soggy after a while. But I loved the sauce, beef, and asparagus and mixing it with white rice.

The fried chicken was delicious - light/not too breaded, crispy and juicyyyy. Salt and pepper is a little on the plain side so the spicy sauce gave it a little kick of sweet spicy. Biscuits although they sounded tasty, were not particularly standout.

Eggplant was fine. Saucy and worked with rice. I think this was the least eaten dish.

Jellyfish salad was good too - not very much jellyfish though. Stalks of cilantro seemed the be the base of the salad which is new to me. I do like cilantro but would've preferred it maybe ripped up a little bit more for easier eating.

Brunch 4/5: The classic Chinese bakery drinks like yeen yeung with oat milk felt slightly exorbitant at $5-$6 :'( plus it looked/tasted watery.

Chow Mein was my favorite - tasty and smoky. Expensive relative to traditional Chinese but you get a better cut of steak!

Endive Salad with Fried Chicken - the ingredients are so interesting with dragon fruit and pistachio! This was good and is also served during dinner.

Sunny Side Eggs over Radish Cake hash - I liked the radish cake but there was not very much of it in this dish. You can order this as a side.

Bolo Bao Milk Toast - I liked this one for it's uniqueness! Came with a side of red bean paste that definitely should add.

Taro Shrimp Fritters - I remember thinking it was fairly good at the time but unfortunately wasn't memorable.

French Toast with Longan/Blueberry Jam - was recommended this and it was good but very decadent with whipped cream and...

One of the OG's in the trendy Chinese fusion scene and must visit for those who love Hong Kong flavors and street culture. Came for brunch since all dinner resys were booked (validating my friends' opinions that dinner is the better menu), but still had a lovely time. The interior is a fun mix of old and new, with a cozy nostalgia of night market aesthetic and dim sum parlor during HK's heyday. The marquee over the bar sends positive vibes over the diners, while a trip to the bathrooms feels like you might be entering an escape pod that rockets you into a future in which everything is right again. No really, they're pretty cool and you should check it out.

Weekday brunch is a pretty easy feat to carry out, and it was nice not to have to weave our way through too many people in the restaurant. We got to pick seats at the kitchen counter in the back, which is an entertaining spot to watch dishes getting prepped and sent out. The only downsides are low-backed stools and getting food envy whenever something comes out that you didn't order.

You have to start with the HK milk tea or coffee milk tea, which in true Chinese fashion, can be customized to sweetness level. I wasn't really a fan of the Taro Shrimp Fritters, but the Pork Belly Cha Siu breakfast sandwich and HK French Toast were delightful. The sandwich works particularly well with the milk bread buns which really transport your taste buds to Chinese bakeries. The cha siu itself is actually fairly light, chewy as cha siu should be but still tender. It comes with a heaping side of fries which are crispy but oversalted. The Radish Cakes were the star of the eggs and hash, but the bacon was overcooked and the eggs were just alright. Would have preferred just a side of radish cakes dim sum style.

Service was so pleasant, from our hostess to our primary server, to other staff who checked in to make sure we were enjoying our time and kept our water carafe full. Overall, lots of wins but also some misses which will probably keep me from coming back for brunch, but worth a try for anyone who finds themselves in the area - and I might see you...