Dong Hai Grill

The Scene

To compete in a market as competitive and dynamic as New York City’s, one’s resolve must be as sharp as kitchen knives and one’s food must be not merely a level, but a skyscraper better than the rest. Dong Hai Grill has not only survived New York’s culinary jungle, but has endured.

Not a stranger to the Asian restaurant business, Dong Hai Grill is Ken Leung’s second restaurant in New York City. The lessons he has learned from his experiences have led to a successful, unique and approachable dining experience. 

Located at 39^th, between 6^th and Broadway, Dong Hai Grill represents one of the premier Asian restaurants in New York City. Founded 15 years ago by Leung, Dong Hai combines traditional Chinese dining with the best of Japan and Thailand. But what separates Dong Hai from the rest is its effort to adapt and evolve by constantly pushing its staff to improve its food and service for the customer’s benefit.

The décor of Dong Hai Grill is upscale but welcoming. The decorations, like the food, are constantly updated and kept fresh. While the decorations and aesthetic rotate, the restaurant is consistently fresh and well-kept. The booths are comfortable and well padded with black and tan upholstery. The walls are tan with prominently featured modern Asian art, and the tables are covered in traditional red tablecloths coupled with modern black chairs. Foliage and a beautifully functional layout help complete the dining hall. The sushi bar is especially noveau-Asian, combining iconic statues perched by individual backlights and a seemingly tatami-inspired layout.

While the décor may change, the music is a rotation of several classical Chinese albums that feature love songs and classical ballads. Both welcoming and upscale at the same time, Dong Hai often features business lunches on one day and makes room for casual family dinners later that same day.

Dong Hai Grill offers take-out and delivery, in addition to catering and dine-in options. In order to fully experience the uniqueness of Dong Hai Grill though, one must drop by their spacious restaurant.

The restaurant has been recognized for its commitment to excellence. It has been acknowledged as one of the 2007 Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in USA by Chinese Restaurant News. The Iron Chef and the New York Post have also recognized the restaurant for its exquisite food, including the New York Post’s accolade that Dong Hai is “one of the top six Asian restaurants in New York City.”

Dong Hai comfortably seats over 100 people, which is especially spacious for New York City. The restaurant also features a party room that can sit more than 50 people, though larger parties can book the main dining room for private engagements.

The Food  

Dong Hai has both heart-conscious and health-focused dishes but the chefs are fully prepared to make anything patrons desire. Customers are welcome to specially design their own meal to their dietary specifications. One popular healthy dish is steamed vegetables with a variety of sauces on the side, thus allowing the customer to choose their own dining experience. Dong Hai also offers a variety of salads, soups and vegetarian dishes, including tofu- and soy-based entrees.

Dong Hai offers lunch special combinations that rotate the featured dish throughout the week. Additionally, the management offers special discount group rates and seasonal holiday specials.

Angela Ruan, assistant to Dong Hai Grill’s owner, believes that there is something rather simple but important that separates their restaurant from others: “We hire new chefs from China twice a year, they stay a month, and they coach [teach] a chef here.”

Essentially, this teaching program ensures that Dong Hai Grill both maintains its traditional Chinese influences and is constantly updated with new talent and skills. The chefs, already experts in their respective cuisines, are still taught new dishes and how to sharpen their skills. This ensures that the dining experience at Dong Hai is constantly changing, the menu is always expanding and the chefs update old favorites with new techniques.

In addition to offering a full sushi bar, Dong Hai boasts a full bar, complete with Japanese wine and beer, sake, hard liquor, and Chinese and American beers.

To complement the healthy dishes, Dong Hai exclusively offers green tea, which the owners have found is more popular with patrons and healthier than other types. Both Japanese and Chinese varieties are available, including oolong and jasmine teas.

The chefs of Dong Hai Grill have many years experience in their respective culinary specialties. The Schezwan chef hails from Sichuan, China and brings with him all of the tastes and spices of that region. The Cantonese chef, similarly, is from Canton and the Japanese chef is from Tokyo. The Thai chef spent 10 years in Thailand in order to perfect his craft. Therefore, whether it is dim sum, Pad Thai or sushi, the patrons of Dong Hai are in capable hands.

The Japanese cuisine is both traditional and daring. The full sushi bar reveals Dong Hai’s dedication to not overlooking any detail, no matter small, in their quest for the a full Asian dining experience. The sushi bar features many standard rolls such as the California, New York and Alaskan rolls. Fresh avocado, crabmeat and salmon are among the many fresh ingredients used to make the rolls.

But Dong Hai also offers unique and innovative rolls such as fruit sushi, sushi that is stuffed with fruits like mango to enhance the flavor. There are 10 kinds of vegetable or fruit sushi available to customers, beloved by more than just vegetarians. In addition, Dong Hai’s Japanese cuisine includes many tempura, katsu and teriyaki dishes. Ebi tempura (a deep-fried shrimp dish) and the beef negimaki (rolled sliced beef with scallion) are particularly popular.

The Thai food is also quite exceptional. Tom Yum Gai chicken vegetable shrimp soup is an especially popular dish. Among Dong Hai’s appetizer offerings, Satay Gai chicken sticks are a delicious and popular option as is the Toh Pialh Sod, a soft spring roll with crab cake, shrimp, pork, cucumber and bean sprouts with special tamarind. The chefs also prepare Pad Thai, Pad See Ew, and Thai fried rice routinely. Dong Hai offers a selection of Thai-inspired salads, including the Thai house salad served with lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, onion and dried bean curd in Thai dressing. Keeping with the spirit of innovation, the papaya salad is mixed with string beans, tomatoes, crushed peanuts and spicy lemon sauce. Finally, the Thai deep-fried prawns with special curry sauce are considered a specialty.

While many Asian restaurants feature dishes outside their specialty, Dong Hai puts them all to shame. While the chefs at Dong Hai put their knowledge of Japanese and Thai cuisine to good use, their true strength lies in the Chinese cuisine. Dong Hai specializes in Schezwan, Mandarin and Cantonese cuisines. This allows for a flexibility and diversity in the menu that customers love. They have the strong, heavy food of the Schezwan style, the light, steamed food of the Cantonese and everything in between. Dong Hai offers a full dim sum menu as well. Especially popular dim sum includes steamed little juicy bun with crab meat and pork, steamed dumplings, and a variety of scallion pancake dishes.

Their dim sum menu is full of some of their signature dishes, but the other specialty dishes speak to the variety and skill of the chefs. In the Schezwan style, the fish and beef are especially popular; in the Catonese style, crispy prawns sautéed in a fruity sauce is especially delicious. The Dong Hai Grill special short ribs with brown sauce are also extremely popular. Other popular dishes include the steamed sea bass, Schezwan noodles and the green jade vegetables prepared with white garlic sauce and snow peas.

At its core, Dong Hai Grill is more than just an American Chinese restaurant; it is a real traditional Chinese restaurant located in New York City. As Ruan puts it, at Dong Hai Grill people “can try real Chinese food without going to China.”

This means that in addition to Western-friendly dishes in all their cuisines, Dong Hai Grill also appeals to experienced palates that have a taste for Schezwan, Cantonese or Mandarin entrees. Ruan attributes the success of Dong Hai Grill to a simple formula. With winning service and management, a constantly changing dining experience and a devotion to fresh, clean ingredients, Dong Hai Grill has set the standard for New York City’s Asian restaurants. If you are in the mood for Pad Thai or dim sum, sushi or even something light and healthy, Dong Hai Grill is the place to be.

Name: Dong Hai Grill

Year of establishment: 1992

Dining Concept: Casual Dine In

Offers: Take out, delivery, catering,

Cuisine: Chinese, Japanese, Thai

Signature Dishes: Tom Yum Gai chicken vegetable shrimp soup

Location: 108 W. 39th St. New York, NY 10018

Phone: 212-221-7238

Message from Angela Ruan: “Customers can try real Chinese food without going to China.”