Lavinia at Home

Restaurant Type: Chinese
Our Rating: 7
Food: 7 • Price: $7.50-$15.95 (Appetizers), $5.95-$12.95 (Soups) $12.95-$38.00 (Main Courses)

Time ago this was the best Chinese restaurant in New York which is located at 570 Lexington Ave, (Cross Street: 51st Street; tel.: 212-583-1668). One day I decided to order take out and was disappointed about the food; it did not have any flavor, it was very blah. However I liked few small things: they had mini chocolates with order included, main course take out plastic container had date, when food was prepared. I had good size portions and had leftovers for next day’s lunch (my favorite).

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Restaurant Type: Chinese
Our Rating: 7.4
Food: 9 • Service: 8 • Décor: 6 • Atmosphere: 6 • Price: 8

If you love authentic, delicious and spicy Chinese food this is a restaurant for you. They have 3 different locations in Manhattan;
215 E 86th Street, between 2nd & 3rd Avenues, Phone: 212-534-8899,
338 Lexington Avenue, Phone: 212-370-9647,
36 W 48th St, between 5th & 6th Avenues, Phone: 212-398-2308. You have to make a reservations for this location. It’s very busy for lunch, but it’s worth the wait. The food is fresh and done to perfection and it’s slightly pricier than average Chinese restaurant. The only one thing is the atmosphere not very impressive.

Restaurant Type: Chinese
Our Rating: 8.0
Food: 8 • Price: 8

Looking for a night off from cooking, we decided to order take out food from a new upscale Chinese restaurant called Philippe. Located at 33 East 60th Street (between Madison & Park Avenues; tel.: 212-644-8885), Philippe presents a delicious array of dishes—with family style portions—to the Upper East Side crowd of Manhattan. It’s important to note that while they not offer delivery service, they don’t prevent orders from being picked up.

Philippe has a cramped lounge area, usually crowded, which is fun for drinks and people watching while you wait for your order.

Menu prices are relatively expensive for Chinese food, but most main courses are prepared for two. We ordered Pork Soup Dumplings, Hot and Sour Soup and Pink Prawns with Ginger, Sweet and Sour Sauce. They were unbelievably scrumptious. Yum! The only drawback was the way the prawns were prepared – that is unpeeled. With their shells still intact, the prawns were extremely delicious yet messy to eat. Philippe is now our favorite Chinese restaurant. Turns out, this restaurant is run by executive chef Philippe Chow, the former stove master at Mr. Chow.