Wu Liang Ye

Not impressed! Tofu and mushroom dish had grossly overcooked tofu (didn’t think that was possible, but apparently it is); nice enough atmosphere. Waitstaff was very attentive at first, but when I mentioned that one of the dishes was bad, it was swiftly ignored. Won’t be back!

Good food, reasonable price, will revisit soon. Suggest order: Dan Dan noodle, Kong Bo chicken, duck, sweet and sour fish.

Yes it’s by Rockefeller Center. Yes it gives off the impression of Americanized Chinese food. But their Peking duck is not kidding around: they give the right thin pancakes (not the fluffy buns other places do), ample servings of meaty duck with crispy skin, and just the right amount of hoisin sauce. Their dandan noodles are also very good: small portion (perfect for appetizer), slightly spicy but delicious sauce, firm noodles. Their beef and scallion is smokey and meaty and perfect and authentic. Their spicy dumplings (hong you chao shou) were definitely fiery, in a good way. Their double-​cooked pork reaffirmed my faith in that dish after having bad versions at other Chinese restaurants. Prices aren’t cheap, but pretty reasonable considering your portions.

Yikes. Well, I’ve been going here since the mid 90s. It was great back then. Now, it’s terrible. The steamed veggies cost 16 $ and weren’t fresh at all. My chicken was $ 19 and like exactly quality you’d get at a takeout place. To add insult to injury, they add SERVICE CHARGE. 18% automatically. No mater how bad service is. Save your money. The old Wu Liang Yi is long gone replaced by a sad, tired, usurper.

The original and still the best Sichuan restaurant in midtown. Dan-​dan noodles, steamed buns, anything with capsicum, tea-​smoked ducked with young ginger are all standouts.

Have to say it is my all time favorite restaurant. I go eat there every time after shopping on 5^th. Nice service and high quality food. Very authentic Chinese restaurant.

World’s best won ton soup or at least best I have ever had. Herman runs a great restaurant. The prawns, string beans, and beef with broccoli are my favorites.

Food is acceptable. However, the restaurant has really limited space so probably won’t be a relaxing meal. And they are overpriced. Let’s say the food is not bad at all but not worth $ 25+ a dish.

Good service but the place was so packed and food tasted about average but asked for much higher price. Within steps walk, you have better options.

Authentic but expensive, I know this place since they opened in the mid 90s when I was going to grad. School in BYC.
it was well known back then since grand opening, most mid down Chinese are not authentic so WuliangYe was a welcome addition.
The name came from a famous Chinese hard liquor, hard I mean 110 proof & the weaker version of 76 proof (38% Alchohol is my fav.)
Had shredded beef & steamed dumpling this time, very good.

Perhaps it’s because my family has been coming here for well over a decade, but this is one of THE most authentic Chinese restaurants in Manhattan (especially in Midtown.) If you are looking for szechuan food, and can appreciate authentic dishes such as fuqi feipian, then you must try it. However, even American Chinese staples such as the sesame chicken are delicious. The restaurant décor if fairly dated, and rumored to be owned by the Chinese Government itself, but the main focus is the food.
Sure the service has zero frills, but most Chinese restaurants are all about the food and not necessarily the hospitality or décor. Prices are slightly greater than other Chinese restaurants but blame it on midtown and the fact that people will eat here for anything.
I have been eating here since I was a little kid, and I’ll continue to get my fix here.

Authentic and tasty but extremely pricey chinese food with the usual poor service that’s typical of chinese restaurants.
Each entrée is around $ 20; they are greasy, but they are almost always delicious. Dishes are meant to be shared. If you’re to order one for yourself, you’ll definitely have enough for another meal.
If you’re new to szechuan food, some of my favorite dishes are 1) cumin lamb, 2) dan dan noodles, 3) spicy eggplant, 4) mapo tofu, 5) sliced, spicy beef appetizer (probably tendon). Basically go for anything spicy with the red peppers and peppercorns and they’ll probably make it well. If you’re still unsure, ask them for the most popular (but don’t trust them if they say general tso’s chicken)
The restaurant itself is very uncomfortably cramped. Seats are very close to each other and tables are small. No matter where you are, you’ll feel like people passing by are invading your personal space. Normally ambiance doesn’t matter much to me if the food is worth it, but here, I expected the premium on the food would at least buy me a little more elbow room.
No lunch specials here, so you might as well come during dinner.

Very good Chinese place and apparently highly regarded by the real Chinese community. Above average atmosphere (for a Chinese restaurant) and attentive and bilingual service (ah!). Had a very authentic twice cooked pork with leeks. So good. I’m usually not even the biggest fan of this dish either but this one won me over. Lots of chinese people dining here – which is a good sign. They don’t have a separate menu of lunch so you have access to all the good stuff. Would definitely come back. Not cheap for Chinese though.

A lot of people may whine and moan about how pricey this place is, or how much of a rip off compared to Chinatown, blah blah, but hey, you are in Midtown right by Rockefeller with legit Chinese food.
When my manager suggested we go here, I was a bit skeptical, but I was pleasantly surprised. I’d say all of the customers were Chinese /​Asian, so that’s a good sign.
I had the spicy beef soup and it was pretty good. The broth was awesome, noodles and beef brisket were on point.

I wanted to give this place no stars, but I’ll give it one for location. Besides that. I WILL NEVER SET FOOT in this restaurant. Bad attitude, bad service!!! Stay away from this place and I recommend you spread the word.
As far as food. I couldn’t tell you because we were seated, we were treated like aliens from another plane — so we got up and ledt. A party of 8 would have been good money plus tip.

Summary:
Great Sichuan option in the Rock Center area. I came here with coworkers for lunch and it’s a great option if you have reservations, otherwise the wait can be a bit long.
Atmosphere:
A bit small and cramped but the décor was trying to be very fancy.
Food:
We got a variety of dishes which my Chinese coworker ordered (this happens a lot, there’s two different kinds of menus, one Americanized, and one traditional Chinese). We actually got one Americanized dish (Tangerine chicken) which was very good. We also got the Tofu which was phenom. We ordered a few other dishes which were pretty good which I can’t remember. The only underwhelming dish was the scallops which were very overcooked and tough.
Service:
We ordered 10 dishes for 13 people and were only brought 9 but no one could remember what the 10^th dish was so we let it go.

Servicio rapido pero algo rudo y mala comida totalmente desabrida. Arroz frito blanco ?? Ni agregarle soya ayudo.

You know it’s got to be great Chinese food when the place is visited by all Asians
This service is pretty good the atmosphere is unique but if you’re trying to have a conversation with someone across the table from you they get it the place is extremely noisy
A definite must place to eat

Excellent Szechuan restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. Very authentic and exotic at the same time. This is not a place to get General Tso’s whatever.
We generally get seafood dishes (spicy fish and a cool tasting clam dish — the long thin ones) as well as a duck dish made from tofu.
The only small downside about this place is the price. It’s very pricey for Chinese food, but for quality, it’s still worth it.
My tip (which I always follow) is to go with someone who is an expert at ordering this type of cuisine and I have never been disappointed.

Wu Liang Ye was recommended to me by a family friend who grew up with my parents in Chengdu; upon learning that I was in NYC, he stated it was one of the better Sichuan restaurants in the city. As I’d been to my fair share of them, I’d mentally bookmarked it for over a year — and finally had the chance to visit around Lunar New Year with a few friends in tow. The restaurant is in a prime area near Rockefeller, making it an easy stop for those who work in Midtown. The dining area is rather tightly packed, or at least it was on the night we visited, but we were able to get a table in the corner of the room without a problem.
The menu has almost all the typical dishes you’d find on at a Sichuan restaurant as well as a fair number of American-​ized ones, and prices definitely skew on the higher end; there’s certainly a premium on the location. For the three of us, we ended up over-​ordering… but two appetizers and three entrees is certainly enough for three people, especially since dishes are, by default, served family-​style.
The appetizers were both pretty strong, as the Spicy Mungbean Noodles (凉粉) were pleasantly springy, coated in a sauce made with the typical sesame paste, Sichuan chili oil, Sichuan peppercorn, ginger, and garlic. It’s a light and refreshing dish I typically associate with warm nights, and hits across the requisite notes of spice, texture, and saltiness. Another surprising crowd-​pleaser were the Dan Dan Noodles (担担面), which had a surprising mound of chewy noodles and minced pork that were coated in a chili vinaigrette that had an uncanny resemblance to Han Dynasty’s. There was a notable amount of heat to each bite, and these too quickly disappeared from the table.
As for the entrees… I was disappointed to note that the Ma Po Tofu (麻婆豆腐) was cooked with soft, not silken, tofu, and while the sauce wasn’t overly thickened or heavy, it lacked the punch of chili that we had been hoping for. The doubanjiang (豆瓣酱) was reduced properly, however, and had noted additions of Shaoxing wine, garlic, and ground Sichuan pepper. Better received was the Double Cooked Pork (回锅肉) which was cooked to just the right texture (chewy with a crisp exterior), and accompanied with generous amounts of green pepper and onions. The Braised Beef Filets (水煮牛肉) was coated in a thicker, more coagulated sauce than I’m used to [1], but the beef was tender and juicy, and the accompanying sauce was packed with flavor and generous amount of peppercorns. My favorite part of the dish, however, are the napa slices which soak up all the flavors and pair perfectly with white rice.
Perhaps I’m a bit too critical of Sichuan restaurants, but given the higher-​than-​average prices and the variation in quality across the dishes, I think Wu Liang Ye is at a solid three stars. It’s a worthy option for those in the area, but if traveling a little further is an option, there’s certainly better (and spicier) options to be found.
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[1] Directly translated, the name of the dish is «Water Cooked Beef», so most iterations have the dish presented in a generous amount of chili oil broth.

Wu Liang Ye happens to be a favorite eatery for TWO of my bosses. The restaurant is old-​school-​upscale-​Chinese. It has proper cutlery, linens, and lighting. But it also has a tattered carpet, not intentional dim lighting, and way too many tables squeezed into this tiny second floor space. The clientele runs more Midtown office guys, with a decent mix of actual Chinese people represented. They’re not really here for the romantic ambiance.
The menu is half American Chinese food, with the overly sweet and sour tendencies. The other half is legitimate Sichuan/​Szechuan in its wonderful oily, spicy, numbing glory. The menu is huge — it should have enough on it to satisfy most people, vegetarians and non-​spice fanatics alike. And the ingredient quality is quite good.
Boss J was a fan of the chili oil dumplings and the kung pao chicken. Boss 2 comes here specifically for the dandan noodles.
Service is decent — its still a short-​order Chinese restaurant which will come off as brusque, but the wait staff get it done with minimal fuss. All staff seem to speak English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.
Prices are great when you consider the portion sizes (I do suggest eating family style here, as the platters could feed 2 – 3 people each). However, the prices are still more expensive than downtown Chinatown, so manage those expectations.