Blue Willow 夜来湘

"Had made reservations for dinner and after showing up exactly on time, we were seated right away on our table of four and the place was at capacity with walk-ins waiting at the reception area. I highly recommend making reservations for dinner! The setup and ambiance was a very typical Hunan place setup with a small and effective table lamp on every table. Noise levels were on the lower end. This place means absolute business and we were in and out within an hour after polishing our order which included two of their signature cocktails, The Remedy, and a Sichuan Old Fashioned - both priced at $18. The Remedy was a much better one, and I was expecting a slight kick in the old fashion hopefully coming from the peppercorn bitters but that wasn't the case. Both beverages were fairly spirit forward. For starters, we tried the Salt & Pepper Prawns ($14) and Vegetable Fried Dumplings ($10). The dumplings were fairly tasteless but had plenty of veggies in it. Prawns did come with a tail - so if thats not your thing - something to remember! For mains, we got the Hunan Stir Fried Noodles ($17) which were made vegetarian on request, an extremely delicious Xianjiang Lamb ($28) which was thoroughly enjoyed for two days, and a very flavorful Hot & Sour Shredded Potato ($17). Off all the dishes, Lamb was fairly spicy. Service was top-notch, food arrived within 5 minutes of ordering - in fact our food was served before our cocktails, that's how quick (and efficient) the service was."

"Overall, a nice Hunan restaurant with good food and good service. The mustard greens with red peppers were delicious. The husband and wife appetizer was great as well. The mapo tofu was a little underwhelming- not as spicy as I would like. I prefer Szechuan food but if you like Hunan this is a good place to go."

"We were first delighted with the menu selection and the price but the food wasn't impressive. The portions were so tiny that I think even a child would still be hungry after eating an appetizer. Dim Sum was just okay (which hardened and dried after 1 day in the fridge) and the won ton soup had like 5 pieces and a lot of seaweed to get your tongue tied up and fooled. Perhaps there are better dishes on the menu and we didn't pick the right dishes but we weren't impressed by our selection. Not sure we would come back."

"One of the better Chinese restaurants in the city! I had low hopes since restaurants around the midtown area can be really disappointing, so I was pleasantly surprised when the food was authentic and the menu items had a variety but the right type of variety. Having grown up with extremely authentic Chinese food meant that I’m often disappointed by this cuisine in this city. I am happy to add this to my list of places that I can give recommendations for at a reasonable price! We came here for a birthday which was also very convenient since they had a semi-private room at the back on the 2nd floor. Service was also prompt and the food came quickly, so overall quite satisfied with this experience."