La Dinastia
“If you like fried chicken then you'll love the fried chicken crackling (on the bone) served at Dinastia.”
“I don't eat Chinese food too often as my taste buds don't have a liking for this cuisine.”
“You can get the standard rice and beans here but they also do a pretty good Lomo Salteado here.”
La Dinastia
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I love old diners. I consider them a NY institution and whenever I find one remaining in the city it instantly grabs my curiosity. Little did I know when I picked La Dinastia for a weekend dinner one night that this Chinese-Latin Fusion restaurant would be situated in an old diner-like space. Walk inside and you're instantly greeted with a bar lined with round stools, the kind you barely see much of nowadays but where once ubiquitous. My girlfriend and I were greeted by a pleasant host and we were quickly seated at a comfortable booth (big enough to seat 4).
The decor is more Chinese than Latin, and the entire staff appeared to be comprised of Cantonese speaking Chinese. Once we looked at the menu it became obvious La Dinastia heavily favors the Chinese part of its Chinese-Latin fusion. Most of the dishes on the menu were Chinese (a bit of traditional Chinatown style mixed with take out) while the Latin side was represented by dishes like Serrucho Ajillo and Lomo Salteado.
We were quite hungry so we skipped appetizers and went straight to two entrees:
PORK CHOPS (with rice and plantains)
While La Dinastia does offer fried pork chops, I opted for the broiled ones as I like how they come out better. The pork chops were cooked to perfection. Most, juicy but with a beautiful char on some of the edges and the bone. The sides were tasty and helped absorb some of the saltiness of the pork chops themselves. These were not thin, tiny pork chops. I actually only finished one! These were good sized, butcher shop style pork chops.
BROILED SEAFOOD PLATTER (A combination of shrimp, scallop, calamari & filet of sole, served with salad & fried plantains)
This was an unexpected delight! The seafood was all broiled on a hot platter and came out sizzling a bit. The parts that were a tad charred actually added a nice, smokey flavor to the dishes and once again, there was so much food that we wound up taking the dish to go.
Service was okay, I'd say one level above "Chinatown style". It took a couple minutes to get the attention of someone to get me more water when I needed it, but that's a mild complaint.
Side note: as we were eating, plate after plate of their fried chicken kept coming out of the kitchen so it seems that's a favorite that I must try on my next visit!
Here's the thing, La Dinastia is part of a fading facet of the fusion food scene. They don't have the fancy tables and chairs, it actually feels like a cozy diner from yesteryear. They aren't staffed by the usual 20 somethings trying to make it in the business. Instead the staff feels family ran or at least friends of the family. They don't plate in the post modern fashion of asymmetrical sauce splash with perfect cubes of food. Instead they focus on presenting you with something familiar, something comforting. Finally, you don't come here for some far out flavor profile that's pushing the boundaries of your taste buds. You come here because you just want some damn good Chinese and Cuban cuisine and don't feel like going to two separate restaurants.
We ordered the Cuban beef stew, crackling chicken and one other dish I can't seem to recall at the moment. Regardless, they were all fantastic! The beef was cooked well, it was soft and juicy and it tasted sweet and savory thanks to the magnificent sauce. The crackling chicken definitely lived up to its name; think KFC but instead of the taste of processed batter, you get a delicious flavor profile of fresh herbs and seasoning.
We're so glad we finally took the time to stop by and we will most definitely be back.
Lunch special Crackling Chicken or L14! and get hot sauce.. wowza!
I don't eat Chinese food too often as my taste buds don't have a liking for this cuisine. But, wait, before you call me an Asian hater, I can explain. I am not one of those Chinese Americans that's too snobby for my own people's food, that's hardly the case. It's more like I am a health nut, and well, Chinese food is basically heart attack on a platter.
But after an extremely grueling Bikram class right upstairs, me and my homegirls needed desperately to restart our engines. Bikram yoga will kill you, but you will appreciate it later.
So all the glowing reviews for this place is for the Cracklin chicken and well if you eat birds of the fowl family, you have got to get this dish. It comes with about 5 to 6 pieces of LARGE chicken pieces fried to perfection. The pieces are seriously as big as a small bird. On top of that, it comes with fried rice, soup of your choice and salad. And all this food is for $16.
Since I don't eat meat, I got the Tofu Szechuan style, served with a side of fried rice, an order of plantains and soup of your choice. And all this for $16.
My other friend got the General Tso Shrimp, with side of yellow rice. This was $17.
I'll have to tell you, when the waiters brought out a dish of egg noodle chips with a side of duck sauce, I just couldn't stop smiling. It just brought back so many good memories of when I was a child and going out to eat with my family. Those were some of my happiest moments.
We ladies enjoyed our meals, chatted about life, catching up and enjoying our adventure into a time warp. The restaurant looks like it's right out of the 80s, with a diner top in the front of the restaurant with the coolest stools (that's right, Hipster is in), and they have a few tables with booth seating, and of course, very tacky wall art. That is a quintessential Chinese restaurant ambiance, which I took in with fondness.
The waiters were very nice, smiling all the time, and speaking three different languages while working quickly to serve everyone. We came in at 10pm and despite them closing at 11pm, they allowed us to enjoy a most relaxing meal and the waiters never rushed us and let us take our time.
I will definitely come back again for other Tofu dishes served with plantains. This is my go-to now after a crazy-ass Bikram class. Never mind that I also thought the waiters were exceptionally cute and adorable, wink wink.
This place feels like a neighborhood secret successfully delivering big quantities of comfort food, if comfort is Chinese – Cuban fusion.
Stick with the dishes everyone recommends or with classic greasy Chinese guilty pleasures. The boneless crackling chicken is delicious and seemingly double or triple fried yet still juicy. Fried green plantains with a sprinkle of salt are solid as are the yellow rice and black beans. The beef stew (ropa vieja) was also delicious, tender and flavorful especially over rice and beans.
Portions are crazy big! Come with an appetite and be prepared to leave with a doggy bag. Service is brisk but they are responsive if you need anything. Atmosphere feels like someone grandma's house. I'll come back when I'm craving large amounts of fried or comfortingly greasy food.
BLAH!!!!! MGS overload! This place says it serves spanish food too but I had the dominican style rice and chicken and it was awful! The waiter was also rude and the vibe was uninviting. It's like they were annoyed to have customers at the place. Well, excuse me! I won't be taking up any more of your time, ever! Also, for chinese/spanish food, it's expensive. I took one for the yelp team, now you know to avoid it.
Alright! Alright!
Man, this place knows the inner fatty in everyone.
This place tickles every comfort food inkling you may have. Fried chicken… check! Fried rice… check! Chicken and Rice… check! What an amazing concept of chinese and latin food. And, they be doin it well here!
Friendly, Chinese staff… sounds like an oxymoron, but we saw smiles on our servers faces to boot.
The cracklin chicken is where its at! You have to come hungry too because they give football player sized portions, and with the decent prices… order away, but leftovers are a coming.
Seriously, if you are in the area, or are craving chinese or dominican or cuban and cannot decide, its conveniently located near the 1 train.
Totally get your grub on here and roll home happy!
If you're looking for Chinese food in the area and are VERY hungry then this is the spot! They have many different options and are accommodating. I ordered the shrimp with lobster sauce combination platter. The wonton egg drop soup was flavorful. They gave about eight jumbo shrimp in the main dish. They were cooked right and the sauce was tasty. Their fried rice has pork, shrimp and chicken in it. I really liked the fried rice. Also, open till about 11 on a Monday!