Jing Star Restaurant

I love this dim sum place! It is cheap and convenient. The wait is never too long. All the plates are yummy. They even have the pineapple/​roast pork bun which is delicious! (It was actually our favorite pineapple/​roast pork bun until we went to HK.) The spare ribs is also our favorite. They have peanuts on the bottom that taste yummy too. (Too bad I’m allergic so I don’t actually eat the peanuts but my bf loves them.) My bf and I frequent this place on the weekend mornings. There’s never really a wait since we go around 9:30am. And if you want something that is not in a cart, you can let them know and they will go get it for you.
Sadly, my bf walked by and noticed that they changed their name, and is shut down for renovations… Goodbye super cheap yummy dimsum! T_​T

I’ve come here once for a banquet dinner and once for dim sum.
I would say this place deserves 3.5 stars.
I went for dim sum here on a Saturday at 1 pm. Even though there were a lot of customers sitting and eating the dim sum selection was pretty slim with barely any carts going around.
They were missing a lot of stuff I am used to seeing at a good dim sum establishment. There were no baos, no meat with rice wrapped in the lotus leaf, no sticky rice, no chive dumplings, etc
What they did have varied in quality. The meat dim sum dishes were all delicious — spare ribs in black bean sauce, chicken feet and beef tripe. Probably some of the best meat dim sum dishes I’ve had.
On the other hand the shrimp «chong fun» was bland. The small shrimps inside were kind of dry. The fishballs were not very flavorful either.
Price for dim sum is pretty good.
From what I remember of the banquet dinner, they make good steamed fish and veggie as well as seafood stir fried dishes and they were a bit less greasy than average, which is good.

This place is under the radar and is solid dim sum. By that I mean the dishes are good sized, hot, and tasty. Also it’s not too crowded and was able to get a table pretty quickly. Also it was amazingly cheap! 11 dishes for $ 33 which is fantastic.

Best Dim Sum in the city! You can get a whole meal for like $ 5, and food is really good.

Do I really want to write this review… no, not really because when the four of us arrived today (Saturday) at about 12:35 PM, we ony had to wait about 5 minutes for a table. Also because we were eating on «the other side» of the Bowery which is out of the toursit zone, for most of the meal we were the only non-​Asians in the place (a good thing!). And I fear that once the secret is out, my fellow quai-​lows will come crowd up the restaurant as they do now on Elizabeth Street!
Jing Star offers good dim sum at reasonable prices. The restaurant (yes, Louise, even the restrooms… at least the men’s room!) is clean and a bit smaller than some of the other area dim sum restaurants. Beause it is a medium size restaurant, the carts come through pretty regularly and the food is moderately warm. The selection is pretty basic: char siu bau, har kow, shu mai, nor mai gai, dumplings, lo bar go, etc. We supplemented the dim sum by ordering snow pea stalks and fried squid off the menu. Both were deliciously flavored!
So if after reading my review you give the place a try and like it but on your second visit you see me standing in line waiting for a table, for gosh sakes, let me cut in front of you!

Good food. the only negative point is that there is a big «no smoking» sign and I see 3 – 5 ppl smoking inside the restaurant. Not impressive at all. They care less about their customers. 2 stars just because of the food

Who wouldn’t be a fan when all the dimsum is $ 2/​each every single day? Need I continue on with this review?
Another thing that I like about the restaurant is that it is in the less-​traveled part of Chinatown so not a lot of people know about this place so we were able to avoid crowds and get a table on Mother’s Day (the day that all restaurants are packed with children eating out with their mothers). We were even able to bring in a baby stroller and put it to the side of our table. That’s a hard feat to accomplish anywhere in Manhattan.

In terms of quality this dim sum place is probably a little bit lower than golden unicorn or other tourist traps in chinatown. But it is never super crowded and carts come around often. Dim sum stops at 130.

«Banquet style» Chinese food made us feel like we were at a wedding reception with pretty bad, sad food — but hey, that’s happened to all of us more than once… right?
This place was no better than the crappy Chinese food down the block from my apartment. When I come into china town in search of decent, legit grub — my expectations are pretty high. This was an occasion where just because you see the locals eating there means it must be good… gone wrong.
The Peking duck pancakes were served with crispy, skin on slices of dry duck. The buns that they were or perhaps the sauce, had an off flavor — like something was definitely old and had been sitting around for a while. The hot and sour soup was yellowy in color and bland — not that flavorful dark color which you always want you H&S soup to have. We thought we ordered crispy chicken with garlic but we were brought out fried chicken that had been hocked to bits with a side of Pringles. Yes. Pringles. There was another duck dish with a ton of celery that everyone ate around (booooo) and a seafood dish that no one liked — to me the scallop I speared with my chopstick tasted metallic. A bad, bad sign.
There was a restaurant grade of A in the window but I’m not sure how. The fish tanks in the window were filthy. As were the windows and walls. The floors have an old beaten down maroon colored carpet with gum stuck to it (I bent down to pick up a dropped chopstick). There was a weird, old plastic bucket in between our table and the fish tank. Pretty much everything about this place left me feeling disappointed. Craving for Peking duck was not met. I would not return!

I had a pleasant experience. Not sure why some people are not a fan. Plus, it is off the beaten path of Mott Street, since it located on Division Street closer to the F train East Broadway stop and also Confucius Plaza. If you like dim sum and you like a quieter setting, then come here at around 11 am. I found it easy to have a conversation and also the waiters were highly attentive. I think we got like 6 dim sum dishes and other things for all under $ 20 including tip. It was really good! Did I mention there was full blast air conditioning? I don’t know but I absolutely enjoyed it here. The tables are widespread so we are not constantly bumping into each other. There was enough tables for people to not have to share with strangers. All in all, I thought it was fun to take the family.

There’s really nothing funnier than witnessing the strange confused looks you get from Asian families and patrons as I, the mixed «cant-quite-place-where-she’s-from-but-I-know-shes-not-Asian» Brooklynite, strolls in with my Puerto Rican best friend for a dim sum lunch.
I originally came here because one of my very good friends is Asian and was having a baby shower here, otherwise I honestly probably would never have even ventured into Chinatown — it’s just way too busy and crowded and there’s NEVER any parking.
Anyway, the dim sum here is slamming. Their shumai are quite possibly my favorite — huge juicy and flavorful pieces of shredded pork and shrimp cuddled in a tender dumpling. They’re not too doughy either, it’s the perfect consistency.
I also had their steamed shrimp dumplings, and some sort of dish where dough is fried and then wrapped in broad noodles. VERY yummy, but it has to be eaten hot otherwise it loses its appeal.
The egg custards here are good too, although for *me* they were a bit too eggy.
The dinner here is great too — super huge portions at affordable prices. I know I ate some questionable dishes and wasn’t told what it was until afterwards — but it was good going down! Definitely try their traditional Chinese dishes if you can.

This place doesn’t need my review, nor does any old-​fashioned chinese restaurant. These places fill up with moms and pops regardless of any Unilocal review. At chinese restaurants an average of 3 stars would be good enough for their standards. But I’m obsessed with Jing Star!
I’ve gone now 3 – 4 times for dinner in the past 6 months, and it’s been heaven every time. You’re going to get no décor, 19″ tube TV’s, dirty walls, holes on linens, and chipped serve-​ware. But that’s your typical chinese restaurant, and it’s been that way since I was a kid so who am I to judge when I don’t know any better. Chinatown has become a washed-​out oasis with watered down dishes catered to tourist and young professionals moving into the neighborhood. But at Jing Star, you still get HUGE traditional dishes at fair prices. The flavors and style are exactly what I remember when I was younger and thats a feeling I never want dead.
Must try:
Fish Maw Soup
House Special Chicken
Pork Chop Peking Style
Jumbo Shrimp with Walnut & Broccoli

Jing Star offers a $ 2 per plate dim sum special from Monday to Friday In keeping with the competition in Chinatown! Great for us bargain hunters!

I’m not sure what’s up with the low ratings, but I really enjoyed this place. Maybe I’m just not in the know when it comes to dim sum.
I’ve never been to a dim sum restaurant before so Jeff C. took me and a bunch of other people here and everything was yummy and tasty! Great tea!
Cheap too! $ 37 between 5 people.

Jing Star sucks for dim sum, but they do a legit family-​style dinner.
While Fuleen Seafood Restaurant (
) seems to be our go-​to spot for family dinners on my Dad’s side of the family… Jing Star Restaurant is definitely our go-​to spot for family dinners on my Mom’s side of the family.
We celebrated my Grandpa’s 82^nd birthday here over the weekend!
Some dishes were too greasy for my liking, but the shark fin soup, cantonese-​style lobster, steamed whole fish, and steak tips were all WIN.

It’s slightly below average dim sum but can’t complain since my party and I ate for free (someone knew the owner).
Food: 4
Décor: 3
Service: 4
*ratings out of 10

I’ve been here twice within the last 2 weeks. Not my choice either time but I was willing to give it a try.
First time was for a wedding on Memorial weekend. 2 Stars for the wedding banquet.
Pros: Service was good, waiters were refilling ice, sodas, and bagging up all our leftovers.
Cons: DIY Women’s restrooms furnished a la Home Depot style with some plywood stalls. Being stuffed to capacity with barely any room to move. Before the end and before the wedding cake was even cut & served, waiters were removing large glass table tops and chairs. Literally pulling them from beneath us and rolling them away.
Second time was for dim sum. Upon walking in we waited 10mins for a table even though there were half empty tables. The hostess didn’t seat it to capacity. He should’ve stuck the older small guests together at one table. We got seated on the upper level where no carts could reach us. Food was just meh. I got the fried taro & minced meat thing and thought the meat had a slight herbal/​medicinal after taste. We tried again with the fried ball that has minced meat in it, and same thing. They used too much Five spice seasoning. Shrimp rolls also weren’t fresh.
We were very disappointed. Also parking on Division st is horrendous, just don’t do it.

Used to be good as 27 Sunrise. Just came by here today to try their dim sum. Sad to say, it’s craptastic. Not as bad as Jing Fong but it’s a contender. Selection is horrendous as well: Two (count ‘em: 2!!!) carts for the whole restaurant which was, surprisingly, well-​populated.
As for the food: Har Gow (Shrim Dumplings), Siu Mai (Shrimp and Pork Dumplings) and Yue Chi Gao (Sharks Fin Dumplings) all fell apart as soon my chopticks touched them. Pey Dan Sao Yoke Jook (Century Egg & Pork Congee) was so bland that even the scallions couldn’t save it (I’ve had better at other dim sum places and at NY Noodletown). Pig Skin Stew was just as bland if not blander than the Jook. The only saving grace was the Har Cheong (Shrimp Rice Roll) – the Ngao Cheong (Beef Rice Roll) sucked – and the Jin Tui (Sesame Seed Ball) but then, to screw those up would make them another Jing Fong…
Only thing I can say is that it was cheap: $ 10 a head. These guys are no Golden Bridge or Golden Unicorn or Grand Harmony, that’s for sure! Blech.

I practically grew up eating Chinese food in Chinatown, so all Chinese food I have ever had in restaurants (no matter what state or borough) is compared to the food I grew up with in places like Silver Palace and Big Wong. Whenever I try a place I haven’t been to before I make it a point to keep open minded, but at the same time judge the quality of the food to the same standards as what I’ve experienced before.
First off, service in Chinatown sort of has to be judged by a different standard than say, Palm Steak House. It’s usually lightning fast (turn over is important) and mostly gruff. If you’re a regular who spends gobs of money, you’ll get some politeness and maybe some conversation, but that’s about it. Still, the service in this place was, to say the least, sad. The dinner I had was a banquet style meal, which means certain things are to be expected:
1. Regular refills of tea and water.
2. Switching out plates for new ones at regular intervals.
Sadly, neither of these things happened. When we had to ask for more drinks, it was as if we were bothering the waiter. The plates did not come even though many of our plates had tons of lobster shells and other bits of bone on them. My host had to call to the waiters three times before they came over. Here’s the killer, we were only one of three tables full that night. The place was at about 20% capacity tops and the service was lousy. I can’t imagine what it would be like if it was packed.
But what about the food? Well, let’s just say it didn’t make up for the bad service. The initial appetizer was a salted chicken that was okay in flavor, but not great by any means. There was a fish omelet that was both rubbery and had bones. The deep fried squid was soggy and not crispy at all. Only two dishes stood out as any good at all: the lobster (tasty and good serving size) and the water spinach sauté.
Overall it’s a sad showing. It seems others here like this place lots so maybe I went on an «off night», but I don’t plan on going back any time soon.

Yum Cha with Mom for mother-​daughter girl talk. All the serving trays are served in an unorthodox, nontraditional Chinese using metal tins rather than the customary traditional bamboo trays. EEK! Quality of food is okay as shui maai dumplings’ bean curd skin upon picking up with my pair of chopsticks all crumbled apart into nothingness.
The price somewhat fits patron’s budget especially in today’s ailing economy.