Red Sorghum 夜宴
Chinese restaurant · Long Island City
28-03 Jackson Ave, Long Island City, NY 11101
Highlights
Sichuan & Hunan cuisines w/ baijiu cocktails in a stylish setting
Sichuan & Hunan cuisines w/ baijiu cocktails in a stylish setting
"This Long Island City restaurant from Vincent Lin — behind Midtown’s Hunan-focused Blue Willow— feels like a movie set with its 1930s backdrop. Located in a stretch of Jackson Avenue thronged with new high-rises and boasting a giant dining room and bar, the lunch and dinner menus here focus on traditional Sichuan and Hunan cuisines, while the cocktail bar features mixed drinks made with baijiu." - Melissa McCart
"Walking into the Long Island City spot that opened in April at 28-03 Jackson Avenue feels like stepping onto a movie set—everything is dramatic and red, with giant Chinese vases and a fancy cocktail bar—then the Hunan and Sichuan food seals the deal; my favorite is the golden yolk tofu, brought bubbling in chile oil and topped with toasted soybeans for crunch, an absolutely delicious and relatively unique dish." - Melissa McCart
"The team behind Ye’s Apothecary and Blue Willow debut a lushly designed Hunanese-Sichuan restaurant and baijiu bar in Long Island City. Business partners, Mandy Zhang and Vincent Lin, are particularly proud of bringing in Hunanese techniques of pickling, firing up the wok at super high temperatures, and using lots of chile peppers. They’re well represented in dishes like the brine rice noodles with sliced beef, sour string beans, and pickled chiles; Miss Lou’s beef stew with slices of tender, fatty beef alongside pickled cabbage, and enoki mushrooms in a rich and sour broth; and the century egg claypot, where century eggs are mashed with eggplant and green chiles." - Caroline Shin, Eater Staff
"On the first floor of Tishman Speyer’s Jacx office tower on Jackson Avenue, I visited Red Sorghum, a new Sichuan- and Hunan-focused restaurant run by Vincent Lin and Mandy Zhang with Bruce Li as executive chef; its Chinese name, “Night Banquet,” and the décor—inspired by old-school cinema and Wong Kar Wai’s set designs—make the place feel like a 1930s movie set, all red tones, beaded lampshades and Edison bulbs, fringed blinds that can be lowered to create evening, a dominant bar, orange banquettes, bent-cane chairs, and large Chinese vases. The menu is built for groups and big-format sharing: highlights include an eggplant dish with green chiles and century eggs mashed tableside in a mortar; a fiery fish soup with green peppercorns made with black sea bass; a stir-fry of dried radish and smoked pork; a creamy soup of red dates and pork meatballs; and Miss Lou’s famous beef stew, a homely brisket with enoki mushrooms and konjac noodles. Red Sorghum doubles as a scene-y cocktail lounge with many baijiu-forward drinks (a sorghum sling, a Negroni featuring two forms of baijiu alongside mezcal and vermouth, a warm Pimm’s-and-Pastis cocktail), plus 18 straight baijius across six flavor categories available in $20 flights, as well as wines, whiskey, and nonalcoholic spirits—though beer is an easy fallback. Mid-afternoon on a Saturday it was mobbed and patrons tend to dress up; bring a crowd to sample more dishes and dress up a bit so you won’t feel like a schlump." - Robert Sietsema
"Ambitious Chinese restaurants serving multiple cuisines have been popping up in Long Island City lately, and Red Sorghum, from Vincent Lin, is one of the newest. Located in a stretch of Jackson Avenue thronged with new highrises and boasting a giant dining room and bar, the menu focuses on Sichuan and Hunan food and there are lakes of red oil and heaps of pickled chiles. Yes, you can get dan dan noodles, but why not go for the Hunan fish head in chile sauce? The bar features mixed drinks incorporating baijiu." - Eater Staff
