China Blue

Great service and friendly staff. The.food came out quickly and was nice and hot both by temperature and by spicy. We didn't make reservations so we had to sit at a high top. There was very little room between us and other people, but that is New York. Good restaurants are always busy. They do take reservations here though so if you plan ahead you can get a nice place to sit. The interior is well decorated. They have a full bar with many types of cocktails and drinks.

This restaurant is. Amazing. The decoration was very vintage, like shanghai in 1970. The food was delicious, especially the rice cake! Must try

It was a nice experience. We were visiting family in NY and decided to run around Manhattan for the day. We hadn't eaten for a while and decided last minute to try China Blue since we didn't know what was walking distance around the area that we would like. I had pretty low expectations since I grew up in the 626, which is densely populated with all kinds of authentic Chinese cuisine from Beijing to Shanghai to Chongqing to Hong Kong. Service wasn't great but since it's a Chinese restaurant, that wasn't surprising. The restaurant wasn't that big and it had maybe three other parties already there when we sat down. I really loved the decor. I felt like I was taken back in time to China during the 1930's and 40's. It was very reminiscent of those days with the old lamps, vintage typewriters and telephones. There was one room that reminded me of old Chinese tea houses. I really enjoyed the ambience there. They had a pretty crazy alcohol menu, which I totally did not expect. It was quite extensive and looked great but I don't partake in libations and my husband didn't feel like drinking in the afternoon, so it was a hard pass. The dim sum selection was very limited and made-to-order. I don't know if that's typically what NY dim sum is like. Where I live, most of the dim sum restaurants are push-cart style where you can see everything and some items like Turnip Cake are cooked on the fryer cart when you order. We ordered: •Crystal Shrimp Dumplings •Baby Cucumbers •Pan Fried Pork Dumplings •Shanghai Shumai •Shanghai Spring Rolls The Spring Rolls were disappointing. They were just regular Chinese egg rolls. When I hear/read "spring rolls," I don't expect egg paper; I expect rice paper like with Vietnamese spring rolls. I expected something light and refreshing, so those were probably my least favorite. All the other items were typical, nothing special or different from things I normally order except for the Pan Fried Pork Dumplings (also known as Pan Fried Pork Buns). I loved China Blue's version. They were so perfectly done and the juicy meat inside was seasoned so well. Totally my favorite of the meal. Between that, the hot tea and the crispy cucumbers, I was pretty satisfied.

The decor was comfortable, inviting, and relaxing. The food was fantastic and authentic. The drinks that we had were excellent. We tried the Shanghai shumai, the eel wuxi style, dongpo pork, lions head meatballs, and lotus with glutinous sweet rice. Everything we had was delicious (especially the incredibly tender and moist meat ball). I would 100% go back for the drinks, ambience, and food.