Ancient Ginger — Restaurant in Town of Smithtown

Originally, myself and a group of friends were supposed to visit another Chinese restaurant but when I was tasked with reviewing it, found it to be horrendous (Empire) Instead, after about 1.5 hours of looking for GOOD places to have Chinese, I found Ancient Ginger. Kind of an odd name but all of the reviews were great. So I suggested we go here. I went here with two other people and here is my review from start to finish.

There was plenty of parking and close to the restaurant. Upon entering, it is nicely decorated, a little smaller than I had hoped with table seating. It was already full and the hostess was polite. We were given our menus and we all selected from a varied selection. General Tso, Fried dumplings, Pu Pu platter, Chicken with garlic sauce, egg rolls and brown rice. For as busy as they were, our drinks quickly arrived. Upon arriving, the manager Joon came over and I remarked I wanted my dish to be as hot as they could possibly make it as I love spicy food. He told me he could give me something that would be incredibly spicy and he let me try two different kinds on a small dish next to my food.

We didn't wait long, maybe 10 minutes at most and all of our food arrived. The portions were huge, cooked just right, they didn't short change us on anything. Everything was very high quality. Every time we asked for something, it was swiftly delivered. The two hot sauces Joon shared with me were incredibly spicy, so much so that I can say only one other time in my life have I ever had the pleasure of experiencing something as nice as this.

Joon asked me if I liked the sauces and which one I liked the best. The one I had indicated, he actually shared some with me to take home which is outright amazing. I don't mean some sauce packets, I mean real spice. Eventually we finished our meals, the atmosphere was perfect, the food was great and when the check came, we thought it would be a lot. Much to our surprise, it was really affordable and for the quality of service, the food, how it was cooked and delivered to us at the table, he could have easily charged more.

I know which restaurant I am always going to for Chinese food and that is Ancient Ginger. If you doubt at all, go there and give it a try. You will be VERY surprised how good everything is from start to finish. I'm not sure if Joon was the manager or the owner but he behaved and treated the guests as if he was the Owner. He runs an amazing establishment and I am so thankful I spent the 1.5 hours to find them because it was very worth it.

I urge you try them...

Ancient Ginger has the BEST pork dumplings on the island. These dumplings have the most incredible flavor you could ask for in a dumpling. Aside from the flavor, the authenticity of these dumplings is unmatched. As someone who has had dumplings from many Chinese food places, I truly believe that each dumpling from Ancient Ginger is crafted with the utmost mastery. The wrapping is not the thick, flour mass that you get as most places around here; it is thin, light and carries the flavor of the filling beautifully. My friends and family all agree as well. There have been numerous occasions where I’ve ordered only dumplings for family and friends and they were absolutely blown away. The price is RIGHT too! You can get an order for $6.50 and it is 100% worth it! Ancient ginger’s dumplings should not take away from how delicious their food is. My family asks to order out at least once a week. This is just really good Chinese food. I’m not even kidding, I don’t write reviews but I truly believe this place deserves it after all the nights it has come in clutch for either me, my family, or best friends. The staff is so polite, and the service is lovely. Of all the Chinese food places I’ve tried on the island over the past twenty years, Ancient Ginger will ALWAYS be at the top. I’ve challenged friends to find a place on LI with better dumplings and I now challenge YOU. If you are on the fence about ordering from here today/tonight, read no further and call now. You will...

I hate giving poor reviews but the service tonight was AWFUL!

My husband and I ordered takeout tonight and with the order we asked for moo shu and the pancakes that go along with moo shu. We receive our order only to just get the pancakes!!! We call and the gentleman on the other line said he couldn't understand what we were asking for and thought we just wanted the pancakes! Who want just the pancakes and not the moo shu!?? Also if you don't understand....ask!

So we ask to have the moo shu delievered which they do and it takes another hour for that to arrive. The delivery man then won't leave our house since he doesnt have our credit card on file (the one we just used for the delivery order). Our dog keeps barking like crazy since he rang our doorbell multiple times as my husband is on the phone with the restaurant giving them our credit card number yet again!! We ask the delivery driver to stop ringing the doorbell since our toddler son is asleep and we don't want the doorbell and dogs to wake him up. He continues to stand right outside our door antagonizing our dogs! Finally my husband is able to give the credit card information to the restaurant and the delivery driver eventually leaves. They charged us another 10 bucks for the moo shu filing when they were the ones who messed up our order in the first place.

Super annoyed with the experience tonight and will not be ordering again from...