Royal Seafood

"Few of the behemoth banquet halls that once dominated Chinatown remain, with dim sum services in the morning and Cantonese seafood menus in the afternoons and evenings. Royal Seafood (the “royal” part attests to its Hong Kong influences) is a spectacular example of this historic type of restaurants. Attendants still roll carts full of dim sum around the dining room. The dumplings are delicate and well-formed, while the classic Cantonese American dishes still abound, including pan-fried flounder, clams with black-bean sauce, and lobster e-fu noodles." - Eater Staff

"Royal Seafood may only be a decade or so old, but there have been a succession of Cantonese banquet halls at this location, and the glitzy gold and red decor persists. Seating is at big communal tables as the dim sum carts roll by until early afternoon. Evening lists a menu of Cantonese and Hong Kong standards, many featuring seafood, chicken, or pork. Few places give such a good picture of Chinatown’s historic vibrancy." - Robert Sietsema

"Royal Seafood is just one big carpeted room on Mott Street full of huge round tables, and though it can get busy on the weekends, it's our go-to spot for a weekday dim sum brunch when we remember work doesn’t matter, but egg tarts do. Make sure to snag plenty of pork buns, rice rolls, and chicken feet off the carts because it sometimes takes a while for them to recirculate. Even on a Tuesday morning, you'll see someone pairing their chicken feet with a bottle of Hennessy, so come here when you'd like to briefly forget about all of your responsibilities, and just focus on eating a lot of shrimp." - bryan kim, molly fitzpatrick, willa moore, neha talreja, will hartman

"It's time to play hooky and go to weekday dim sum brunch instead. Choose Royal Seafood, a palatial and carpeted spot in Chinatown that serves dim sum on carts seven days a week. Look out for plump har gow, perfect mounds of sticky fried rice, and slippery rice rolls with beef and shrimp. Even on a Tuesday at 9:30am you'll see someone pairing their chicken wings with a bottle of Hennessy, so come here when you'd like to briefly forget about all of your responsibilities, and just focus on eating a lot of shrimp." - bryan kim, molly fitzpatrick, neha talreja, willa moore, will hartman

"Royal Seafood serves dim sum on carts seven days a week, and it's pretty much packed at all times. (Although skipping work on a weekday and going for a cheeky dim sum brunch will most likely guarantee your spot, so keep this in mind.) The Chinatown spot looks pretty normal-sized from the street, but inside you'll find a palatial, carpeted room where extended families and friends occupy big round tables for hours at a time. It's also a great place to dine solo—we once witnessed someone working their way through a mound of chicken feet and an entire bottle of Hennessy (by themselves) at 9:30am. We respect it. You come to Royal Seafood to pick whatever looks good off carts at a rate that your stomach can barely handle, and we would never get in the way of that. But if you need somewhere to start, keep an eye out for plump har gow, perfect mounds of sticky fried rice, and slippery rice rolls with beef and shrimp. Plus aggressively flaky egg tarts." - Willa Moore