The wait time is usually long but I dodged a bullet and got in right away. The dim sum here is some of the best in Chinatown!

If you're looking for the most authentic cart service dim sum in Chinatown, this is the place. It's definitely an experience, and an experience for folks who aren't picky eaters and don't have food allergies. The staff barely speak English, so there may be ingredients in your dumplings that are a bit of a surprise (for example, the pork dumplings we requested also had shrimp). Service was fast, we never waited around for a cart and our table filled up quickly. The green tea was delicious and the custard buns were a fun way to end our meal.

Nice and spacious inside, I was hoping to find good dim sum in NYC's Chinatown (from SoCal) and this place did not disappoint. Pricier than most Dim Sum places I've been to though. Great selection of dishes and everything tasted fresh (we came at 10am). Service was fast and all the workers were kind. Would recommend

Really good food. Highly recommend the shrimp dumplings, or anything shrimp. Not the best place for vegetarians to eat. Everything came out fast, mainly because of the carts. There was a bit of a language problem, most of the employees were not speaking English. It is always good to have a translator, luckily my uncle was there. The place itself was very nice and beautiful, you really get the full Chinese atmosphere. They have pescatarian options for me. I'll be back!

My favorite din sum place in Chinatown and the ultimate classic go-to besides Nom Wah Tea Parlor (but they don't have carts). Golden Unicorn has alllllll the carts! Prices have unfortunately gone up a lot the past few years due to inflation but that doesn't stop the loyalists and tourists from coming. The quality is deserving of the price and attention. I love coming here with my Chinese friends as I can't speak a lick of anything beyond English, bad English, and toddler Spanish. Forgive me I don't know many of the correct names in Chinese but my favorites here include the spareribs, the pea shoots, the shrimp "lasagna" noodles, the siu mai, all the dumplings, and the beef broad noodles. The sweet character buns are also adorable, with little piggies and Minions as examples. This restaurant has been featured in many shows and movies so it's also a piece of movie cinema history as well. Service is quick if they have what you want already on the carts, otherwise a special order takes a while. You have been warned. Try and come early (11am or before) on a regular weekend to avoid the insanity in the lobby. On a Lunar New Year weekend, you better get there by 10am latest or you are totally screwed!

This place was bustling on a Saturday morning! There was a wait for my party of 3 but we only had to wait 10-15 minutes. Then you go upstairs where you're taken to a large banquet room filled with multiple tables and people pushing around the carts of dim sum. There were many options and people continuously came to our table with different options. For 3 people we ordered har gow, sticky rice with meat in the lotus leaf, shrimp rice rolls, tofu with shrimp, pineapple buns, fried shrimp balls, and shrimp in the peppers. My friend and I dont eat pork so as you can see there were still plenty of options for us to order from! Everything was delicious and I would deifnitely come again. For all of our dishes we ended up paying $58 total so not too bad.

Came here with my bf on a Sunday just past 11am, and we were seated immediately! I haven't had dim sum in the city since I was scarred at House of Joy (see my other review, tldr waited forever, had to stalk the push carts, and left hungry and frustrated) but my experience at Golden Unicorn was miles better. First of all, their dining room is very spacious, light-filled, and well-decorated. It reminds me of dim sum in suburban Asian hot spots, like the Bay Area or the suburbs of Toronto. We were seated at a table for 2 by the window, which was nice, as some other dim sum places in the city don't have two-seaters and require you to share a table with other families. The carts did not come too fast, but we were still able to get everything we wanted - har gao, shao mai, sticky rice, bean curd rolls - they were all delicious! Wanted to try some other items (turnip cake, custard bun), but we were way too full. It was not difficult to flag down a worker for napkins, ice water, etc. They were showing the Olympics on the big screen. Overall, great ambiance and MUCH less chaotic and enjoyable than other dim sum restaurants in Chinatown. It might be slightly more expensive, but I think it's worth it for the experience. Highly recommend for solid, dependable dim sum! I would bring my parents here.

I came here for dinner on a Friday night, after visiting the Chinatown night Market. There were too many lines and more of small bites than hearty food, so my friends and I figured we'd go to a restaurant. My review will be based on a dinner visit rather than the peak dim sum hours Golden Unicorn is known for, but it was a great visit nonetheless. Service was okay, rather minimal. We were given a water pitcher at the start of the meal, but never got a new pitcher even though we finished the first pitcher early on. Same with the tea, but it's okay, none of us needed more tea. Service did let us know when the kitchen was closing, so the server gave us a "last-call" warning. It's a large space, and it's a great spot for larger parties. We were a group of 7, so having the round table with a lazy susan was perfect. My group was not a fan of the lighting, (similar to fluorescent lighting), which was a bit too bright for 9pm. Now, for some notes on the food: XLB/soup dumplings (5 dumplings per order) - These were very good XLB. Great flavor and a good amount of soup. Would order again here! shu mai (4 shu mai per order) - These were also great. Very much packed with flavor and meat, and one of the bigger shu mai I've had in the city! Seafood pan fried noodles - These hit the spot for dinner, especially because of how hungry I was. However the seafood (squid etc.) didn't taste of the highest caliber, and wasn't super flavorful (maybe that's where adding the chili sauce comes in?) so I personally wouldn't recommend having it here, unless you're craving it. Salt Baked cod fish w onion + green pepper Salt baked squid - so we ordered both the salt baked cod and the salt baked squid which were essentially the same dishes just one with cod and squid, so I'd recommend only ordering the salt baked cod next time. The squid was too chewy for my taste. The flavoring of those dishes were good, but also it was dry and appetizer-y rather than a main dish. A small individual-sized rice portion is $2 here, so yeah things can be on the pricier-side but overall with sharing between a lot of people it's affordable. TL;DR I was a fan of the dimsum dishes, not as much on the larger plates. It was a good experience for dinner but would opt for different dishes next time.

They renovated and it looks very nice. We had reservations for 14 and they seated us at the 3rd floor at a really big round table. The service was pretty good, everyone was super friendly and accommodating even though we had so many people. I can't remember the last time I was here, but the inflation prices were definitely a sticker shock. Something like 7.99 for a small size dim sum. The family style dishes were more worth the price because the portions were pretty large. Food was tasty. They gave us free water chestnut desserts at the end. If you have allergies like nut allergy or gluten free best to stay away since they didn't really understand.