06/13/09

The real deal

by Targeteer

As the previous reviewer notes, this is a restaurant for those who have outgrown sweet and sour pork. The soup dumplings are excellent and the flavors of the appetizers and main dishes are very subtle. If you need a lot of sugar in and sauce on your food, this may not suit. But if you are developing a taste for Shanghai, as we are, thanks to Chinese relatives, this place is a convenient alternative to Chinatown and Queens, and the green walls and ample space make dining relaxed and pleasant.

• Pros: Authentic food in midtown
• Cons: No real downside

06/11/09

excellent shanghaiese

by hungryinharlem

My wife and I used to like this place and hadn't been back in a while so we decided to take my parents. I got worried by all the negative reviews on this site, but we had an excellent meal (with alcohol -- if they lost their liquor license, it's back). No offense, but the strong negative reviews of this place miss the point -- if you want General Tso's chicken and egg rolls, go to Empire Szechuan or some other brown-sauce emporium. Evergreen still makes terrific Shanghaiese food -- at least as good as the uptown Joe's Shanghai, if not as good as Flushing or Chinatown's best (and as others have noted, the ambience is nicer). Try an assortment of the small appetizer plates (especially the preserved duck with anisette), one of the casseroles, or the excellent sauteed pea tendrils with mushrooms.

FWIW, my wife knows people in China who know of Evergreen as a place to eat when in NY. It may not cater completely to American tastes, but it is solid Shanghaiese food in an elegant setting.

• Pros: Rewards more adventurous eaters
• Cons: Skip it if you want Americanized Chinese

02/05/08

avoid this place

by duducat

They've lost the liquor license so when I wanted a drink to balance out the mediocre food I couldn't even have one. Avoid it, period.

• Pros: none
• Cons: bad management