SHI — Restaurant in New York

Diners be ware, especially if you are planning to visit this restaurant for a family outing or to celebrate a special event like a birthday. I went to SHI with a large group of 14 people last night for the first time to celebrate my cousin's 21st birthday - a milestone, once-in-a-lifetime occasion. The problems with this place started at the outset. Upon being seated, I felt my hands sticking to the chair as I tried to pull to the table as the fake leather covering was dirty from something the prior diners had spilled. The table was also visibly dirty; apparently the staff is in a rush to clean and seat people, so they clearly are not doing a good job. The men's restroom was also disgusting, with visible feces on the toilet. Our group of 14 people was handed just a 3 or 4 plastic menus that were also sticky and clearly dirty. So much for COVID cleanliness.

The experience worsened from there. Our large party of 14 people was informed that we had 90 minutes to occupy the table, which would have been fine with a smaller group. However, by the time 14 people get settled in, pass around the dirty menus so that each person can decide their meal, and place the order, 30 minutes had elapsed. This left just 60 minutes to receive drinks (17 minutes), appetizers (22minutes), and meals (23 minutes). By the time the people in our party were taking their first bites of an exorbitantly priced meal, we were at 92 minutes. No matter to the management at this place that it took so long to get the food - what mattered to them was that we were over 90 minutes and they wanted both the thousand dollars my uncle would would pay them for the meal and the table back to seat someone else and earn more money.

They quickly informed us we had to leave, and denied us the opportunity to have desert with a candle in it for my cousin's 21st birthday. I was shocked at such greediness and rudeness, and my aunt pleaded with them for an exception as it was her daughter's 21st birthday. Again, no matter to them. Give us your money and get out in the street, which by the way had several empty tables that could have accommodated our group. As someone who has worked in the restaurant business for over a decade, I couldn't believe what was occurring given the circumstances of both a large party, the time it takes to prepare and consume food, and the fact that we were celebrating an important family occasion. The callousness of staff at SHI is disturbing and unprofessional. The lack of cleanliness was disgusting and probably violates Department of Health policies. I will never go back there, and I really wonder about the motives of the people I encountered there last night. Again restaurateurs, be ware of this place and find some place else to eat Asian fusion if you can. There are hundreds of Asian restaurants in queens just a short train stop from this deeply...

Before I go in on this review, I should probably note that it is largely based on my New Years Eve (12/31/12) experience. Though I've visited the restaurant before NYE, it's the NYE experience that sticks out in my mind the most.

First of all, as many other reviewers have stated, the view of the Manhattan Skyline is fantastic, especially at night! If you get a window seat, you'll be pleasantly distracted.

On to the experience itself, Shi's NYE event was excellently executed. The manager in charge knew the names of everyone in my party and checked up on us multiple times during the night (Ticket Purchases/reservations were made through him via telephone). Our ticket purchase included reserved seating throughout the night along with a 5 hour open bar. Our table had a dedicated server whose responsibilities included handling our coat check for us (we got to our table with no delays), bringing food to our table (despite the fact that it was supposed to be buffet style) and managing our drink orders. Our guy handled his duties to perfection (I'm so sorry I can't remember his name). Kudos galore!

The food provided came pretty much straight off of their menu. You would think that its quality would suffer since they made such large quantities, but that was definitely not the case. Kudos to the chef!

The crowd demographics were definitely skewed towards the Caucasian, Asian & Southeast Asian at the beginning of the evening but became a little bit more heterogeneous as the party wore on. I mention this because the DJ did an excellent job of keeping the crowd moving regardless. He played some genres I didn't think the crowd would respond to but the crowd loved it! Kudos to the DJ (and the crowd)!

I had no complaints about the first time I went to Shi. I remember we had a lot of sushi and there were no problems with wait times etc. So based on that and NYE, I would definitely go again.

Know before you go:

1. Street parking in the area is really tough. Either pay $10.oo for nearby garages or get there early.

2. Besides the 7 & G Subway Trains, the LIRR also has a "Long Island City" (formerly known as Hunters Point Avenue) Station nearby.

3. Bring a camera. I'm telling you, the view...

In Summary: The food quality has become subpar with little to no flavor and the customer service is non-existent. I have been going to Shi since the summer of 2012, but after my experience yesterday I will NEVER be going back. Shi has always been my go to spot if I wasn’t in the mood to go into the City. I’ve gone maybe 3 times this year alone, not including my visit yesterday. The food was inedible – the chicken felt like rubber and took me forever to chew (I don’t think its real chicken); I had maybe 3 bites and couldn’t finish. My husband and I decided that we were going to leave because I was not enjoying my food. He paid the check, but didn’t write an amount in the tip line, as he decided to tip with cash. The waitress saw that the line was empty and proceeded to ask my husband, “so wait no tip”. How rude and distasteful is that server. My husband never tips with his card and always leaves over 20% in tip in cash. She became very confrontational and even asked us “if the reason we weren’t tipping was because I didn’t finish my food,” which I find very ironic because she never came once over to ask me if everything was okay, as she stood watching me not eating. She even said to us “that’s not right to not tip because the guys don’t get paid, they only get the tips.” I don’t know what kind of business Shi is running that they don’t pay their workers, but I am almost sure that violates NYC Labor Laws. Shi’s food quality and service has declined over the years and their minimal entrée options are not worth the trouble to deal with untrained, entitled servers. Once she heard that I would be leaving a review, she tried to give a fake apology pushed by her manager, because they know there is no longer a line of people waiting to get a table. Shi has lost a long standing customer and it’s sad to say I will...