Golden Sand Seafood Restaurant
“The places I've always liked in Manhattan for dim sum were Jing Fong, Golden Unicorn, Dim Sum Go Go, and Nom Wah Tea Parlor.”
“When we came to NYC as tourists 4 years ago, we found this restaurant by chance while walking around China Town.”
“The staff was not the friendliest but they were definitely very accommodating of our huge group.”
Golden Sand Seafood Restaurant
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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On any weekend, the dim sum experience is not unlike engaging in organized chaos. After futile efforts of trying to get into Jing Fong and Golden Unicorn (both of which had a 45 mins), we settled at Golden Sand.
We were seated in a relative quiet corner after a mere 5-10 mins wait. While there typically isn't anything wrong with the corner, we quickly discovered that because our seating area was actually on a ledge (almost like a mini stage), none of the carts could come by our table. As such, we ended up spending the entire meal chasing after carts and narrowly squeezing through a sea of people.
**I recommend avoiding this area at all cost unless you're ordering off the menu – it'll render a frustrating and disappointing dim sum experience.
Now the food. I have nothing against the dishes but I caution against picking any of their large-plate dishes off the cart. We tried one – a jellyfish appetizer – which was a small plate of marinated jellyfish atop pickled veggies – for $10. NOT WORTH IT. We only had about 8 dishes and our bill totaled $42, not including tip.
With all of that said, come here when the wait elsewhere gets ridiculous. Keep the aforementioned in mind and you'll be golden (hehe).
I came here for Dim Sum and boy oh boy was it crowded.
Unfortunately the food, while fresh, it wasn't quite as tasty. This could be in that they didn't use salt or MSG (which gets a bad rap but i love MSG when used correctly). So the food, no salt, tasted a little bland, but the meats and everything were definitely fresh!
The restaurant is small, but the very very clean mirrors and wall decor makes the restaurant look deceivingly large. There IS a small room for other diners on the side. One of the workers though, didn't have a uniform on and thus you didn't know if she was someone's Aunt just yelling at people and grabbing food or if it was the manager. Everyone else wore the standard Dim Sum food cart lady carts.
Overall my impression is that it does dim sum only ok. Portions were reasonable, price was decent and we didn't order a lot since the food was just mediocre. Season the food a little more and this place will be better and a hidden gem. I think a lot of older people go here b/c they use less salt and it makes them feel healthy.
I'm just speechless, nothing about this dim sum experience was pleasant, the food just failed to appeal to us . There was no seasoning in any of the dim sum , I'm not even sure if the beef was really beef . I prefer fresh ingredients and Golden Sand was not fresh . Every thing on the carts were cold and there were no shrimp dim sum initially so we requested it . When the shrimp dim sum arrived I immediately noticed the shrimp were not deveined. GROSssssssss …. We spent $18 and didn't eat any of the food we pulled from the carts. I am definitely turned off by wanting to try any other dim sum location in Manhattan China town bc this one had such great reviews .
Well let me start by saying usually when I give five stars, it doesn't mean that its a 10, but this place is certainly deserves the highest possible rating and is my absolute favorite Yum Cha (Dim Sum) place of all time. Incredible Prices-the best in all of New York (except Weekend, Holidays and any items with Shrimp), Huge Selections, Fresh Foods, Phenomenal Service. I must have been at least 50 times (and no I have no affiliations with the place and the owner was surprised that was even possible).
Also very spacious seating, elevator in the back. It's good for banquet dinner too. Now those who are not familiar, this place used to be "The Nice Restaurant" and the new owners in my opinion honors their reputation onwards.
The collaboration between Cantonese and Fijianese co-workers is incredible and they are really the most professional workers in the industry by far. I appreciate that they give you your space peace and quiet when trying to enjoy your Yum Cha.
Aside from the Dim Sum dishes I recommend:
Shrimp/Beef/Cilantro Rice Roll
Steamed Black Bean Spare Ribs
Siu Mai
Chicken Feet
Pan Fried Chestnut/Turnip/Taro
Pan Fried Scallion Pancake
Tofu Roll consisting of Chicken, Pork & Fish
If you are in a big group, I would also recommend any of their Pan Fried Noodles, Stir Fried Rice Noodles or Fried Rice to compliment the Yum Cha experience. They actually do regular cooked dishes just as good as say Hop Shing or Dong Lai.
With this place you could really forget about Jing Fong, Grand Harmony, Golden Unicorn or anywhere else as those places you have to wait hour(s) before being seated on a weekend, prices horrendous and service is lousy
Golden Sand is truly the Best of the Best.
Considering how the state of Manhattan Dim Sum is already in cahoots with the general Chinese community, I had high hopes for Golden Sand. Formally J&B Seafood and King's Seafood (yelp.com/biz/kings-seafo…) I actually thought it was a new establishment till I realized they just rebranded themselves 3x over. For our fellow Chinese savvy friends, it was and still remains 敬宾 (Jing Bin).
To be fair, the place looks a lot grander than it actually is. Located on the second floor of the 39-41 E Broadway building, the place is banquet ready and is somewhat reminiscent of one of the floors at Golden Unicorn (麒麟金閣). The tables are dressed and very group friendly, even if it is a tad cramped during their busy Dim Sum hour.
For Dim Sum standards, the food is less than stellar. While it might work for craving seekers, it won't truly satisfy the craving if you know what I mean. There have been a lot of misses in my experiences here, but the short list of highlights are their shrimp rice noodle (蝦腸), chiu chow dumplings (潮州粉果), and the glutinous rice in lotus leaf (糯米雞). For noodle dishes, the beef chow fun (乾炒牛河) is as greasy as it is tasty. Almost everything else has been somewhat of an afterthought.
Dinner service is infinitely better and understandably pricier. The banquet style dishes featured stellar presentation and were fairly tasty in their own right. This especially goes for the crispy chicken (炸子雞) , steamed fish (蒸魚), mushroom yee noodle (伊麵), salt pepper squid (椒鹽魷魚), jellyfish (海蜇), Peking pork chop (京都排骨), and the house special seafood fried rice (海鮮炒飯).
Their saving grace hasn't been the dinner service (although I recommend that over Dim Sum any day), but rather their customer service. Being rude in Chinatown is practically a given, but I've had the opposite experience here. So many times they've let me sit solo at a table while waiting for less than punctual Dim Sum companions, never rushed me for my bill, or given me flack for any reason. They've accommodated my substitutions for allergies / food preferences and have been really great about taking reservations on a weekend. There isn't even a hassle when I used a credit card (bring cash instead).
Hence, as much as I am unimpressed with their Dim Sum there are still reasons to come out here and give them a shot. I'd still rather be here than so many other shoddy spots in Chinatown.
Authentic Dim Sum in Chinatown (confirmed by the fact that I was the only white person in there on a Saturday brunch time).
Super duper crowded, but we managed to get 3 seats at a shared table. I let my Chinese friend order everything with the promise that I'd try everything that was put on the table. Therefore, I really have no idea what I tried, but I will try to describe what was memorable.
– Chicken feet – yep… tried this. Having no idea how to eat it, I tried to nibble the meat off the bones before being told I'm supposed to eat the bone as well. Yea – can't say I was a fan of this, the meat was gelatinous and the crunchy bone didn't help either. Passed the rest of the bowl over to the next person.
– Pork spine (i think?) – good meaty flavor with a light soy-saucy dressing.
– So… the rest I'm not really sure of. There were some steamed dumplings (xiao long bao), shu mai, some other slippery noodle-y things stuffed with meat.
Anyway – overall it was a really good experience and insight for me into Chinese dim sum and the variety of food that they have. Really enjoyed the experience even if the food wasn't necessarily my cup of tea.
No lie they charge for water. Like from the tap.
And for the record there was not a miscommunication. I went to the host to ask and he confirmed that the water charge was part of the service charge. I dislike tea and tell all the dim sum places that I don't want it upon entering. I stand by the original post that we were charged for tap water.
This place is great! On a Sunday at noon, it's nearly impossible to get into a dim sum place in Chinatown. However, this little hidden gem allowed us to be seated IMMEDIATELY.
I hate to write this review because more people will find out about it, but I suppose it's a must.
One negative is that you have to really track down what you want. We were under the impression they were missing a lot of the dim sum staples, but we simply were not looking hard enough. But everything tastes decent, and was plentiful.
Also when you first sit down they try to trick you and give you a bunch of stuff you don't want. Don't fall for it! Tell them you don't want it!
Definitely a good sub if the other dim sum places are with lines out the door!