DaDong (May 2018) - Authentic Cuisine in a Modern Space
My spouse and I and three family members dined at DaDong for lunch on a
Sunday afternoon in late May 2018. DaDong is open daily from 11:30 am until
11:00 pm. You can make a reservation
using the online Open Table system.
DaDong NYC is the first
non-Chinese location for the restaurant that first opened in Beijing in 1985.
It has since expanded to include 10+ restaurants in Beijing and 6+ in other Chinese
cities including Shanghai and Chengdu. The restaurant enterprise also offers
some fast-food outlets and even a venue aboard a cruise ship. The restaurant’s
name is derived from the owner’s first name (Dong), and the prefix “Da”, means
“big” in Mandarin, a reference to the chef’s tall height.
DaDong NYC opened in
December 2017 in a modern building that sits between West 41st and
42nd Streets (between Broadway and Sixth Avenues). Technically, the
restaurant’s address in 3 Bryant Park; however, this restaurant is not located
ON Bryant Park (although it is within a half block). The restaurant entrance is
accessed from a “pocket park”, a pedestrian-only space that runs between the
numbered streets mid-block. An Equinox gym faces 41st Street,
whereas the restaurant offers windows on 42nd Street. DaDong
occupies nearly 13,000 square feet on two floors of The Cube Building that can
accommodate over 400 guests at a time. The elegant second-floor dining room
features a large bar, above which sits a suspended gold sculpture. In addition,
the restaurant also offers a nearly 4,000-square foot outdoor space and several
private dining spaces. An elevator transports guests between the levels. In the
dining rooms, a neutral color palette provides a blank canvas for contemporary
Chinese art.
DaDong serves modern
Chinese cuisine. The restaurant is world-famous for its Peking duck; the
restaurant’s chef even developed a proprietary wood-burning oven (converted to
gas for its Manhattan location) to prepare them, and he works with an Indiana
farm to properly raise the birds. Spain’s famed chef Ferran Adria, France’s Alain
Ducasse, and the UK’s Heston Blumenthal are fans of DaDong. In its Chinese
locations, it reportedly offers a 280-page menu, which has been blessedly
condensed for the Manhattan site. The executive chef has worked at NYC’s
Atlantic Grill and Blue Fin..
Our group
shared a variety of dishes: sweet and sour pork ribs (our least favorite dish),
steamed crystal vegetable buns (our favorite), pan-seared buns, dumplings, cold
avocado noodles (a very small portion), Beijing Zhaijiang noodles, seared
cauliflower (another favorite, but rather spicy), and a whole duck (served
not only with traditional pancakes, but also with alternative sesame buns and
condiments of garlic paste, melon, and sugar). Disappointingly, the restaurant was out of two items that we ordered
(the Iberico ham-wrapped sticky rice and the Brussel sprouts). To add to our
frustration, we were surprised to learn that the restaurant does not offer a
Bloody Mary as a beverage option, even at weekend brunch time.
Our meal at DaDong was satisfactory; the service was good, and the food was
tasty, but we wish that the restaurant had been properly provisioned.
