Our Place Shanghai Tea Garden
New York, NY 10022-4030
Phone: (212) 753-3900
Fax: (212) 688-8526
05/21/2008 Posted by CFoodlove
As Our Place is one of my favorite Midtown Chinese restaurants, I wanted to answer the recent review by DumpyBumpy. First, if DumpyBumpy was interested in the Shanghai dishes, he should have order off that section of the menu. He/She's correct that most dishes in the menu are New York-style Chinese dishes but that's because those are the dishes the restaurant's customers seem to crave‹and if the crowd at lunch and early dinner is any indication then that crowd pretty well reflects the ethnic make up of New York, including quite a number of Chinese. Perhaps the next time DumpyBumpy should order the Shanghai Style Whole Braised Pork Shoulder, which is a delight, or the Lion Head. My favorite is the Shredded Beef with Flowering Chives, which has never failed to satisfy my taste for complexity. There are a 1,000 Chinese restaurants where DumpyBumpy could order Moo Shu Pork, perhaps he should have ordered instead the always excellent Braised Soft Beancurd or the Flat Noodles. As for the Soup Dumpling, I'd put Our Place's against Joe's Shanghai's (any Restaurant) any day of the week. In the final analysis, I don't know why DumpyBumpy, who described the service as "amazing" didn't ask to speak to the manager and express his wishes for "authentic" Shanghai dishes. The restaurant has always accommodated my requests. I think it's important to answer reviews of this nature, because its silly to judge a restaurant, based on one meal during a busy lunch hour, and Our Place is packed between 12 and 2:00. I've had disappointing dishes at Nobu and even Jean Georges but would not say they don't deserve their reputations. In closing, after many visits over the course of the years, Our Place continues to hold its own against the City's best Chinese restaurants.
Pros: Authentic, Amazing Chinese Food
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