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So I had to think of a Chinese place to book Constance's first birthday dinner and decided to go with Affable Eatery. I got there after work and knowing it was my first time, I was lost. I was like oh shit, hopefully I find this place on time because everyone in my family got there already except me because my job was far away from there! So I arrived to the front of the place and saw that the name of the place was not Affable Eatery and I'm like what!? It was another name so I made a turn to go back to my original path to see if it was somewhere else but the map on my phone said Affable Eatery was right where I was at! So then I opened the doors and was I correct because I saw my family and Constance! We were situated in a round table covered with a red cloth and a glass wheel to spin around so that we can move the dishes around without having to pass or get up. So we got mayo shrimp with broccoli, soy sauce chicken , tofu, fried fish, lamb chops and they were so good. My favorite was the lamb chops and mayo shrimp!!! Every time I go to a dinner event, I always make sure I get those 2 plates. It was very empty at the restaurant too! Only few families were there. Very large and spacious with a lot of privacy between tables. There is also a mini stage for a large party. The bathrooms were at the back of the place and only 3 stalls. Very clean with a lot of tissue so that was a plus. Lot of tissue and very clean bathrooms is a must for me. So thank god for that. Lots of nice chandeliers too and very quiet ambience since there's no music and just few families from afar. Also there are fresh fish tanks so you know your fish is fresh! Good place to eat! I recommend!
Solid spot for traditional dim sum in Brooklyn. My party of 3 waited only about 10 min for a table last Saturday around 1pm. At first there didn't seem to be too many carts/food options, but they slowly came around and we got a pretty decent selection. We were so impressed by the baked pork buns - we regret not ordering more to bring home. There were also some non-traditional-looking items like the pink shrimp rolls pictured here which were delicious as well. Soft on the outside, and crispy in the inside. Love that they always seem to have a "special" of the day, to keep things interesting in this otherwise standard dim sum experience. I'd definitely recommend, but make sure you bring your Canto-speaking friends!
The flavor of the food was decent, but the selection was poor. We also found a hair in one of the dishes. After our meal, we were waiting to see if any dessert were coming out, but after 20 minutes, we gave up on dessert. The service was not that good either as they only changed out our plates once throughout our entire meal.
Was here for a wedding. The place is big! It held more than 400 people! Staffs are friendly, the food were delicious. Would try to visit this restaurant for another occasion!
I came for dinner for an evening event. The seatings are a bit tight and it's bright inside. The supervisor that served us wasn't very professional, he wasn't attentive and rushed. The food was simple, but not spectacular. The bok choy with mushroom looked so fancy with the gold on top, good if you want nice picture, but it taste like the usual dish. The the salt and pepper pork chop and fish were fine. The fried chicken wasn't very good; it taste like chicken that was premade the day before. The chicken and beef in the celery tasted homemade. We also had noodles and rice to end the night and it was fine. What wowed me is the red bean soup in the end, it was thick with sago!
I was pretty hesitant about this place initially when I walked through the glass door with a letter C health grade next to it...However at the insistence of my Aunt we stayed. The ambiance was typical of a dim sum place with its crystal chandeliers and cloth upholstery and chit chat everywhere. The service really was affable. Some of the cart ladies would leave their cart for you to go get another dish from elsewhere. Despite the C grade, the food was good. Of note, the reddish rice roll seen in my photo is apparently what this place is known for. Also, at the time of this review, my stomach is still feeling all right. If I get stomach troubles, I'll downgrade to a 3-star later. Would come here again with my family.
I've been to Affable Eatery (and its predecessor, New Spring Garden) a lot over the years. I can't even count the number of visits for dim sum, family dinners, birthday parties, weddings, and other special occasions (including some parties we've hosted). Out of all the big Cantonese spots in the area, this is definitely the one we've frequented the most. I visited recently for dim sum, my first time there since before the pandemic, and other than all the staff wearing masks, it was almost like COVID didn't exist. Full tables, carts loaded with food roaming around, loud and bustling, all the same as before. I've mostly been avoiding crowded indoor places since my kid can't be vaccinated yet, so I was pleasantly surprised by how spacious and not crowded it felt despite being busy. Maybe it's different on the weekends, but on a weekday morning, it was far better than I was expecting, given my memories of the tightly-packed dim sum crowds pre-pandemic. Since we usually come here for big family meals, I don't really do any of the ordering, so I can't help much on any actual dish names. But my favorites of the dim sum dishes we got this time (and some that I usually like there) were the chive dumplings and the taro cake. We also got a noodle dish with chicken, peppers, and pickled vegetables that was delicious. No idea what it's called, but if other family members aren't doing the ordering, I often order by photo anyway. I wasn't sure any of these large banquet halls would survive the pandemic, but I'm really glad to see that they (and others) are open and are still serving delicious food. One day, the parties and banquets will be back, but until then, at least we can still have dinners and dim sum!
12.21.23@12:10pm Walk in table for 4. Got seating right away cuz us weekday. Food was not hot enough. Less than 5mins it got cold already. Services of floor staff was great but those pushing out the foods keep trying have you take the cart stuff.
Have come to this restaurant for many dinner events the past years. It was my first time having dim sum on a Sunday. What a great experience! Restaurant has been nicely renovated and very spacious and open. Large flat screen TV that's used for visual advertisement. It was pretty packed but tables were nicely distanced so it didn't feel crowded. Staff was very friendly. Loved how the staff washed all the plates and cups with hot water in front of you to make sure they were "sanitized". We got our staples which included chicken feet, sesame balls, sesame rolls, tripes, chives dumplings, shrimp rice rolls, bbq pork buns, coconut and taro custard, etc. The chicken feet cooked with ginger was great and my first time having it made that way. Everything tasted amazing! Too bad we had to trek it to this part of Brooklyn as there aren't this size of dim sum restaurants in Chinatown. Would love to come back again when in the hood.
Came to AffableEatery for Christmas dinner and everything was spectacular. Food came out in a timely manner as there were only a few tables being served. Many post dinner desserts were included today- fruit, taro tang sui, malaysian roll cakes and sugar sponge cake! The vegetables were so fresh as well. This was our first time ordering this eggplant dish and it was delicious! Will be coming back for dim sum soon and dinner eventually!
Seriously, Brooklyn is hands down the best Brooklyn to get dim sum. Why would you ever go elsewhere huhhhh??? Come here to meet your extended Cantonese uncles and aunties :) We came here around 2pm and they still had dim sum!! Even though there weren't a lot of cart ladies coming around, we were able to have the chefs take our orders instead. We've been trained our whole life for this ya know ! My favorite dim sum has got to be the shuimai and chicken feet. The shrimp was huge in the shuimai, which was quite rare in Manhattan restaurants. You really got to be trained to like chicken feet and thankfully I've been trained all my life for this. The medicinal chicken feet here has so much flavor. If you like the taste of Chinese herbs, you'll like this me! Gotta give a shout-out to the employees for constantly refilling our tea pot! Sorry we probably increased your gas bill that day
Came here for a feast. The steamed shrimp were smooth and tasty. Beef was okay. Scallion soup is best with chilli sauce. Shrimp with broccoli were great. Lobster and the rest are okay. Some are little salty. Plus a bow of rice, brings more appetite. Best to eat with a large group.
The good: there was a 30 minute wait which I was surprised about, however, the it was worth it as we got a big table for just three of us. Food was excellent, inexpensive, and had great portions. The bad: without Cantonese language skills, it's hard to communicate exactly what you want, and talking to the cart ladies will be tough. Definitely missed some food because we couldn't understand everything. The waiters were not particularly attentive and you have to flag someone over (though this is somewhat normal for dim sum). The ugly: the bathrooms were FILTHY. Hopefully it doesn't translate over to their kitchen, because the food was super delicious...
The lobster with rice dish was super good! The soup was also really good compared to the other Chinese restaurants I've been too. Everything else was ok and basic. They ran out of Peking Duck and forgot to bring us our lobster salad so that was kinda upsetting. They did give us free bao for dessert. The buns were super cute and yummy read more
Been going to this place for a while, but not often. Went recently and feels like the dim sum has improved. They also have successfully replicated Tim Ho Wan's popular baked pork buns. It's a bit less sweet which I prefer. Maybe I'll visit more often now. read more
It is a common Chinese banquet / dim sum restaurant. We went to a wedding and food was ok. It is a huge place and they tries to decor the place elegantly. The service is hit or miss because at the beginning we had a terrible waiter then they changed to a better one. We had: soup, cold cut appetizer, chicken, fish, ball shrimp with broccoli, beef with vegetables, mushroom & veggies, lobster, noodles, fried rice, and dessert. Overall it was good. read more
This review is for durian lovers-if you love durian pastries, this place have the BEST! I always get the baked/fried durian pastry when I go for dim sum but that doesn't mean it's always good. Usually it's green on the outside but this place makes it golden yellow. We didn't have high expectations as the best we ever had was in flushing. But this place clearly proves me wrong. It was perfectly made, crispy and buttery flakey on the outside and creamy durian on the inside. It was so good, that I think even someone who doesn't like durian would fall in love with it. Trust me, go try it! Aside from the durian, overall dimsum experience was great. We got seated quickly on a busy Sunday morning. We had to share the table but that's like all places. All the dishes we got was very good as well. Great presentation and very clean. The waiters were also super attentive. Luckily this place is not too far from us, so glad we finally discover a dimsum place in Brooklyn that we like! read more
3 years ago
I've been here multiple times and most of those times for dim sum. It's pretty good. The place is big so you would get seated pretty quickly despite crowds waiting to be seated. I love their roast pork bun. If they didn't have it, I don't think I would care so much to come here. It gets sold so quickly. My husband had to hunt the cart lady down to pick one up before it ran out by the time the cart reached our table. I usually get the sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf, and ha gao (shrimp wrapped in thin rice paper skin.) I also get a fried dumpling of another steamed dumpling that has veggies in side. read more
I'd been here before back when it was called New Spring Garden and made it back after my parents raved about it. Our usual go-to is East Harbor, but always nice to try new things. The space was renovated really nicely, with two big ass TV screens. They're also going to be expanding next door, so it'll end up even larger than East Harbor. In terms of the dim sum, the cart ladies kept coming out, and had all the usual things. They also have a station in the back where you can order specialty dishes as well. Nothing really stood out as being excellent, but everything was solid. They have a pretty big selection of different types of dumplings and sweet dishes. There was a coconutty, peanut fried gluten thing that was tasty. Definitely give it a shot! read more
7 years ago
8 years ago
(This review is based on my dim sum experience here) Their dim sum tastes like typical good dim sum. Most dishes I got are your standard dim sum dishes: shiu mai, chicken feet, chive dumplings, etc. They taste great here. It was warm, it had flavor, there was a variety, and all-around good. Because I'm from NorCal, most dim sum I've had are in the Sacramento and San Francisco area; this restaurant's dim sum is definitely better. As for the restaurant itself, it looks really fresh and new! Plenty of space, lots of seating. Bathrooms are relatively clean for a Chinese restaurant. Ladies pushing carts were nice, and there were plenty of carts. All in all, would recommend anyone to come here! read more
5 years ago
My first time here was on the weekend of Chinese New Year during the busiest lunch hour and on top of that there was an hour long lion dance performance. Even amongst the crowds and loudness the staff were very accommodating and received good service from start to end. The interior is a banquet style space with decent interior decoration. There were dim sum carts going around the restaurant, the cutest piece of dim sum was the pig design on the bao. The dim sum on the cart were served room temperature, there is also another menu to order from if you do not want dim sum. The restaurant also had a private room that had two huge round tables. read more
8 years ago
We came here for the Chinese New Year dim sum brunch time. It was packed as usual but since the place is huge the line does move smoothly but caution if you have a large group ( anything more than 6) then the wait can be a long one. The food was good and bathroom is clean and they refill hot water to my tea pot quiet often when I turn my tea cap over ( signaling I need more water refills). I say this is great considering how busy it was. When waiting note that the number is shouted out via a PA system and if you don't know Chinese or Cantonese then you are out of luck. There were a good amount of variety of dim sum perhaps it is because of the new year but overall great experience. read more
I came here thinking it was still New Spring Garden and I then I saw the current review. I'm not sure why the reviews are so low. I am only speaking for the dim sum. It is a giant space and there are plenty of carts that come by pretty often. Some of the servers are a little bit more aggressive than others. The dim sum was all good quality, nice, and hot. The servers in the back where you can order special dishes was super friendly. We wanted some fried chive buns and they told us that they would bring it to the table. My favorite dish was the spare ribs on top of steamed rice rolls! read more
Meh. A huge dim sum joint that sometimes feel like it could become a possible fire hazard. My family likes to come here on Sundays because the wait seems to be a bit shorter compared to other dim sum places. However, still expect to wait at least 30 minutes (unless you know the waiters here). The pros about this place? Spacious seatings. Well, it's not exactly spacious but definitely roomier than other dim sum parlors. The con? The noise. With more people in a room, the louder it gets. Sometimes I feel like I have to yell so the other side of my table can hear me. The food here is just alright. They have the usual dim sum, nothing special about this place. If you're looking for quality dim sum, this is probably not your place. If your party values comfort and space while enjoying their meal, then new spring garden is not so bad. Would I come back here? I do but if I had a choice, I would choose to get dim sum elsewhere. read more
11 years ago
My second favorite dim sum restaurant in Brooklyn. This place is not as crowded as East Harbor. The waiting time is usually 5-10 minutes, even on the weekends. I came here this past weekend asking for table for 10 and we got seated within 5 minutes. While waiting for seats, I heard a lot of people say they come here when it's overly packed at East Harbor. There are A LOT of different varieties of dim sum here. There are some exotic ones that you normally don't see at any other dim sum restaurants. If you like creative new dim sum, then you should definitely try this place out. I usually come here with my mom's friend and we always order this one dish that I love: the seafood platter. It has all kinds of seafood and comes with noodles. You can choose any type of noodles you want. There is not once I left this place without having this dish. It can be a bit pricey depending on the seafood market prices. Recently, it has been around $45 for the entire dish. It is such a big dish, it is totally worth it. If you can't find parking around the area, there's a parking lot across the street from the restaurant. Tips are always recommended when you pick up your car in the end. On the weekend, there is free parking on the back street where the park is since meters are not in effect. However, they do fill up fast. read more
Came here for family dinner on the weekend for a party of ten. Place wasn't too packed, and décor was the typical Chinese Seafood Restaurant. We reserved the table two days prior just in case they had any type of wedding event that day. Since we had kids they didn't have enough high chairs/booster seats for the children. Food came our quick as we ordered just about 9 dishes. Surprisingly, the dishes all taste pretty flavorful meaning they were all well seasoned. The only complaint was the T-Bone steak was too under cook, not my preference. Overall, not bad. read more
8 years ago
Came here on a Friday night with my parents and there was no wait. I've never liked Spring Garden (it's former name) but my parents always liked to go because it's so close. After being renovated..it's bigger now with higher ceilings, a giant monitor on one end, super gaudy gold columns and loads of chandeliers. The food is the same, maybe worse. Dinner: We got steak with Chinese broccoli and it was okay and had the nice burnt/dragon's breath but too salty. The fish tofu casserole, fish maw soup and this other veggie dish were all okay. Standard stuff. Looks like they upped the prices $3-4, which is fine. Dimsum: Came back Saturday for brunch the next day around 1:30pm. Waited maybe 5 minutes, business must be bad as this is dimsum prime time. The same 3 carts circled the vicinity for 30 minutes. Where's the variety? Everything is pretty much standard fare. The big gluttonous rice "tamale" was particularly bad. Very dry and no mushroom??? The salted duck egg yolk was chalky in a bad way. Hargow has mushy skin but hey, at least the shrimp has some crunch. Passable. They now have a congee/fish ball/ fried dumpling station marked by gold bricks in the back. Didn't feel compelled to get anything there. Just meh. 3 stars because the food wasn't bad, it's just not particularly good. The decor is pretty gross and tacky. read more
11 years ago
By far the best dim I've had in New York! My Aunt and Uncle live in Brooklyn and took the family to two dim sum spots to compare, one in Flushing and this location. As a non-NY resident, Flushing is typically known to have some of the best dim sum spots. We tried out dim sum in Flushing, me and my cousin thought everything tasted great but my relatives could tell a few dishes were not as fresh, they were either were lacking or had an excess of an ingredient. Coming from NOVA where dim sum restaurants are not as abundant, I did not see anything wrong with the dim sum in Flushing. Not sure as to why this place is ranked only 3 stars, luckily my Aunt and Uncle avoided the crowd because it was Mother's Day weekend so we came here on Tuesday. My goodness, I finally understood what quality dim sum tasted like after coming here. Every dish was fresh, on point, and left me craving for more. There were a few hit/misses for the dim sum orders in Flushing, but New Spring Garden served quality dim sum and there were constantly carts coming around. Just avoid the crowd if you can during the holidays and come early on the weekend. Valet parking is available across the street from the restaurant. Found my go to spot for dim sum in NY finally! read more
3 years ago
7 years ago
12 years ago
New Spring Garden Restaurant is a humongous dim sum tea house. I haven't been to one of these in NYC in such a long time and I didn't know something this big existed in Brooklyn. I thought the golden age of huge dim sum tea houses were certainly a thing of the past especially when Silver Palace doesn't even exist anymore as a structure in Manhattan's Chinatown. Inside, most of the tables are large and can sit up to 8 or 10. There are some smaller tables in the mix that can seat 5 or 6 and if you are less than that and come like I did, you have to share a table. There are peach slipcovers on the chairs, with old traditional Chinese knotted enclosures. The place just seemed so huge, that half of the restaurant was still engulfed in darkness, as nobody sat on that side yet, until about an hour later. There are plenty of old fashioned dim sum carts that are pushed around the aisles and they have lots of varieties of dim sum, which seem to really pick up around 9:30 a.m. The dim sum are your standard sized pieces, without it being delicate or refined, just the regular tea house treats that are either savory or sweet. The usuals such as shuimai, steamed shrimp dumplings, beef or shrimp rice rolls, meat or fish balls, fried taro fritters, fried sesame balls, pork buns, pork in pastry, coconut pudding, black sesame rolls, congee, tripe, along with many others. The rice rolls had a nice chewiness to it and the shrimp were fresh enough. A little sticky on the har gow, a tip is to let them cool a bit. If that doesn't work, then most of the time the skin is too sticky and only a chopstick guru can get it just right. Spring rolls were a bit greasy. The fried sesame bitter melon glutinous ball had a coating of sesame seeds on the outside, which is a nice twist. Dan tarts needed help. The filling didn't taste like much. I found the food needed to be a little hotter when it reached the table. If dim sum is not your thing, you can order noodle or rice dishes as well. We had eight plates, with two ordered at the table to go and the total was only $24.95. I consider that to be a real bargain. This is a great place to chill out and have a cup of Chinese tea and enjoy dim sum with the locals. You can find families of all different sizes, men reading newspapers and even beading, and old grannies also enjoying their weekend dim sum tea. read more
3 years ago
7 years ago
There is only street parking. Come early for dim sum so no rush. The front entrance was a little murky. Decor was a pleasant view. I gave a star for a clean bathroom. Food was delicious. Service was friendly. Baby friendly. Handy-cap friendly. 7 people and a baby- the bill was $89. Not too bad. read more
12 years ago
I've been here for the past five years, the service is the best, and the food is beyond amazing for a great price. I absolutely love this place. I recommend coming here with a group or your family. The place is big, and is usually crowded in the afternoon. The price is average. It's just the lobsters that are expensive, but they're pretty good. I will keep coming here. My dad loves this place, and so does my entire family, including aunts, cousins, and my grandparents. You HAVE to try this place out. It's one of the best, and the workers always greet you with a smile once you walk in. Although, it's pretty loud in the afternoon since it's usually crowded. Great for kids, they accept cards, and yes they have beer. Have a good day! ~Samantha~ read more
Decided to come here with some friends after our usual dim sum spot had a 2 hour wait time. So we walked down the street requested a table for 6 with a 10 minute wait before sitting down and this place was packed also. The selections for dim sum are similar to our usual spot and prices are similar. The only thing I dislike was that they cook their beef tripe differently but everything else was good. read more
8 years ago
Of all the Dim Sum restaurants I have been to, this one is by far the worst one I have been to. There wasn't a whole lot of customers around 11 am, so everything was coming out hot from the kitchen. I was not impressed by the dim sum. Just didn't taste good or had no flavor. For example: 1. The roast pork bun which is my favorite when going to dim sum had no flavor. Couldn't taste the flavor of the roast pork. 2. The shrimp rice noodle dish was too dry. 3. They have Xiao Long Bao here. I was amazed, but not amazed. Hardly any soup in the dumpling. The dumpling wrapper/skin was too hard. What was up with the ladies pushing the carts, they kept bothering/pushing my friend and I to get this dish and that dish. Leave us alone. We will call you if we want something. That was really annoying. I won't be coming here too much. I'll stick to my usual dim sum place. FYI: They have a valet parking lot across the street. read more
I recently had my Chinese wedding banquet here. Just as well that it wasn't my primary celebration, but a obligatory thing to do for the parents in addition to my "Western" celebration. You know it's just a wedding, no big deal for the workers, since they probably have an event almost every weekend from baby banquets to birthday bashes. While the food was decent, none of the dishes really wow you even with the most expensive dinner menu. The only dish that got all the guests ou-ing and ah-ing was the lobster salad dish which comes with a little bowl of guppies and dry ICE to create a steam/smoke effect. I was most upset at the service towards the end of the meal because the workers wanted to clear the tables so that they can eat. They work in a restaurant, they should figure out how to stagger the service so that the workers get to eat and people are still serving. They rushed to get me to cut the cake,and then passed it out quickly. Then they "threw out" the rest of the cake without permission. I mean WTF? There were like at least 5 pounds of cake left, I might not have wanted to take it home, but I'm sure others would have. The one waiter servicing my table was very nice, but the rest of the staff shouldn't be allowed to all share the gratuity that was automatically added to dinner service. Reserving the tables was relatively pain free. The manager was really nice, and said we only pay for all the tables we use. We ended up using all the tables we booked. Everything was set up upon arrival, but the workers were anxious to get dinner started as we were still waiting for guests to arrive. Then at the end, they rushed through everything so that they can eat. A little customer service can go a long way. I still hear complains from my mother about the bad service. read more
The food was decent, there were always food coming around. The best was the chicken fingers, the pan fried veggie buns and Ha churn (rice cake with shrimp and the sauce) other stuff we got I wasn't a huge fan. Got full pretty fast though! We went on Labor Day so extremely crowded normal in NYC. In a good neighborhood because after we went grocery shopping at Fei Long, walking distance! read more
8 years ago
14 years ago
Also called "Spring Garden Restaurant" on Yelp. Went to dimsum with family here. I'm a Manhattan girl, so I never really venture into Brooklyn too much unless it's deemed necessary or if it is a family event. I was totally blown away by the quality of this restaurant. A few things that definitely impressed me: 1. Variety - So many different things to choose from. So many more options than Manhattan. All the classics were still present and were good, but I also found a lot of new dishes that are usually not offered in Manhattan. 2. Freshness - Restaurant is huge and the turnover is only minutes, so food is constantly refreshed and made. Everything I ate was hot. I had a cruller wrapped in crepe and the cruller was still crispy because of freshness. 3. Fast service - Waiters come and go and serve you quickly. I never had to wait for one. They zip in and zip out. Quick on their feet and so responsive to your requests that it brings 5-star restaurants to shame. I'm already devising an excuse to get my friends out to hang at this restaurant for dimsum. read more
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Ask the Community - Affable Eatery
Is dim sum served all day?
I don't know when they stop serving it in the day, but definitely not at night. It is a regular banquet type restaurant at night.
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