Shun Lee West — Restaurant in New York

One of the best experiences I've had with hospitality recently! Venue: This is right next to Lincoln center; perfect for getting dinner right before a show. It's softly lit and the accent are dark and subtle red black and gold (the zodiac themed art is a sight to see, and one of a kind: the artist passed away with no one else having learned his technique). This place can get pretty full especially on weekends for dinner. Though full, it's not loud and there are both private and more public tables. There's also a nice bar area. There's a hall of fame for celebrities who attended this place, and in fact some movies were shot here, so you can feel like you're reliving a scene from Wall Street. Food: I recommend you go hungry because the food is amazing! There's varied range of prices too to accommodate various budgets. The dim sum is good and the textures are well balanced between soft and crispy; I especially liked the vegetable spring rolls. We also tried the duck which was terrific and balanced in flavors and textures. The portions are also generous and they have a very good selection of wines.

People: This is why I'm writing the review. Many restaurants can have great food and a nice venue, but what distinguishes Shun Lee West from the rest is their unparalleled attentive and lighthearted staff. The staff here is beyond friendly and easy to talk to. The manager Tony is exceptional! He made sure we were tended to in every small way at the table, and he's a great conversationalist too; he kept us company at the bar. (He remembers my friend from two years ago! Even though she only visits New York occasionally!) The staff members as well are very friendly and quite international, there were at least 9 languages spoken among 3 people there, so no one would be lost in translation here, as there will be someone to talk to you. Their ages and backgrounds are also varied and it seems like they all enjoy working there and each others' company; these interactions invigorate the atmosphere of the venue. If you're waiting for someone, the staff is ready to lightheartedly strike up a conversation with you.

All in all, I guarantee that this will be a great dining experience, definitely choose this among...

DO NOT COME HERE, IT'S A SCAM. I REPEAT, IT'S A SCAM. I grew up eating Chinese food and this is by far the worst experience I've ever had. No one gave us menus when we were seated and after waiting 15 minutes, we asked one of the waiters to bring them for us but he said he couldn't get us the drink menu because he "wasn't allowed to". They were severely understaffed (even though it was a Saturday evening at 6pm). We waited another 40 minutes for someone to take our order. The servers were so disorganized and it was just chaos in the dining room.

Another party got tired of waiting and left before they even ordered. We had to ask multiple times for the waiter to come, and they even served people who arrived AFTER us first!!! They didn't have specific servers assigned to specific tables, which made it even more chaotic. There was one table that needed to be cleaned up but nobody even noticed for 40 minutes, and there was a huge line outside. After waiting 1 hour, we finally were able to order. We waited for another 20 minutes for our food, then asked the server who told us they "actually didn't get our order" and made us order again. Then, the food arrived but it was cold, bland and looked like it was literally frozen/packaged food that they had cooked. Definitely not what we expected at this price point. There was no seasoning or even salt in any of the dishes. We ended up leaving because it was just such a ridiculous experience.

Other reviews have mentioned that this place is just an expensive tourist trap and the manager doesn't know how to run...

My wife and I have eaten at Shun Lee numerous times in the past. Tonight, we went for my birthday. I will start with a positive and say that we thought the food was very good, but almost everything else was not. It was a hot, humid evening and the air conditioning was not working. You would think that the hostess would let you know that when you checked in, but that did not happen. Or even better, they could have called us before we came to let us know. In any case, once we were seated, we decided to stay. Mistake. We immediately ordered tea and realized with the first sip, that it was not the flavor of tea we ordered. I picked up my menu and felt something a little slimmy. I looked down and saw a piece of food stuck to the front of the menu. I then asked three times for another menu before getting one. Finally, the waiter came to our table, looked at us and said "yeah?" (This happened to me once before, at a diner in New Jersey- but that was a diner in New Jersey!!) When I did not respond (as a form of protest) he asked if we were ready to order. I will end with this. We ate our dinner in a very unpleasant hot and humid atmosphere. Waited far too long for our check, and left a smaller than usual, but...