Pacificana Reviews

Forget about it if you want to eat there on weekends. There will be at least a 2-hour waiting time. The food there for dinner ain't that good either. People go there because there's no other places to go.

We were working in Brooklyn not too far away and my co-worker was surfing the net looking for a place to have lunch and landed on this establishment. We walked in between noon and 1pm on a Monday and the place was packed with a considerable waiting list. The clientele were predominantly Asian which is a good sign when you are in that type of restaurant. The waiting list moved fast and we were seated promptly. The servers came one after the other with their dim sum carts and we shared seven or eight dishes of different types of dumplings, noodles, ribs and seafood. Nothing disappointed us. Credit Cards accepted as well as cash. There is street parking and a local parking lot. Parking can be a challenge. We thought we heard that they validated at the parking lot, but we were not certain. A very nice experience and I will be sure to return when in the area.

We were meeting friends of ours from Long Island and we were staying in Staten Island. we decided to meet here, we have never tried it so we did not know what to expect. first of all there is parking attached to the restaurant.. great since this is a crowded area. we were greeted and shown to our table. we then started chatting with the staff and found they were quite friendly, the Manager Jimmy Ching came by and we spent time with him as well. we decided on a few different dished to share. Pan Fried Seafood Noodles, Moo shoo pork, Gen. chows chicken and Peppersteak.. a great variety, so much food and all tasting simply delicious. Mr. Ching brought to our table a plate of fruit that was mouthwatering... I would recommend Pacificana.

Brooklyn probably one of the best places to get good dimsum thanks to the booming new China town and Pacificana definetely stands above its competitors. We tried their eggplants, beef balls, chicken feet as well as well prepared "choy" vegetables. Everything was delicious. Service was prompt and restaurant is very clean.

I moved to Texas in my 20's when the Norwegian day parade was held on 8th Avenue. It is now pretty much a Chinese neighborhood. 2 of my sisters live on 60th Street and we went here for DimSum. It was inexpensive and tasty. great place for groups and sometimes you sit with strangers but we had a table for four and had a good meal.

We celebrated "The Year of The Goat" last night with a large party in a festive Chinese Restaurant, we had three tables for family and close friends. The food was excellent, perfectly cooked and flavored and the service was impeccable, nobody rushed us, we dined for several hours, everyone was pleased from very young to 106 years old. My Chinese daughter-in-law said it was by far her favorite Chinese Restaurant in New York/Brooklyn. I have to agree, even though I have always favored the Peking Duck House in Chinatown.

My family loves to eat at Pacificana. Dim sum, late lunch/early dinner and dinner. Dim sum can be very crowded and everyone sits together. They specialize in seafood as well as authentic types of Chinese food. You know a restaurant is good when the locals who are Asian eat there as well. I suggest reservations after 5pm.

Wide selection of classic dim sum on carts, backed by a solid Cantonese menu. Quality varied between superb and ho-hum, but very everything was palatable. Plenty of staff keeping the large dining hall running, but staff were seen frequently shouting at guests rudely.

The worst Chinese food I've had in all of NYC's boroughs. On top of that, the service was horrible. Our waiter impatiently took our order, turned around to leave the table, and farted loudly next to my face before walking away. After barely eating our disgusting food, we paid our check using two credit cards, both cards were charged double what we owed, and the next day, our credit card information had been compromised and used to purchase airline tickets. Never go here.

This is perhaps the best dim sum I've had in New York City. On a weekend definitely go early in the day on a weekend. The dim sum carts are well paced and choices are fantastic. Some servers do not speak English, so might not be best place for a "first timer". There is no rush, no matter how many are waiting for tables. Small groups (1-4 people) often get seated at large round tables with others - very common for dim sum houses. Outing yesterday - brunch for 4 people was $50 TOTAL! I don't understand complaints about ordering food - been here a bunch of times and have never even seen a menu! If you are driving there is a cheap but small garage on 55th Street, in basement of building. $4 parking - if you can get a space!

best dimsum restaurant in Brooklyn they have their own parking..too long waiting time if going on weekend,unless go early before 11am.

I love dim sum at Pacificana in Brooklyn...The selection is huge from different types of shrimp, vegetables, pork, beef and traditional Asian deserts. You can go alone and have a few dishes.Each plate has about 4 pieces...Or, go with many people and try many things... Dim sum is served from early morning until about 3pm. You know a restaurant is good when Asian people also eat there.

In addition to changing the name to Pacific Palace, the dim sum has also changed. There was little variety on the carts ( weekends might be better). Soup dumplings had thicker dough than I like. The chive dumplings (actually dough balls) were rubbery and tough. We should have supplemented the dim sum offerings with dishes from the menu; most people did that. I remember when Pacificana was my favorite dim sum place. You can’t go home again.

This is a large authentic Chinese restaurant. We had a party of eight that was easily seated for a late lunch on a Saturday. We ordered a whole Peking Duck which was sliced and served table-side. We then ordered an assortment of dishes that were beautifully plated and very well executed. We all ate more than we should have and left happy! We could have had dim sum but opted to order from the main menu given our company. We have enjoyed dim sum there as well on other visits.

Have been to Pacificana 3 times, taken there by some people I work with, who were born and raised in China. Food was incredibly good, unique menu options, noisy but fun place for groups of three or more. Clean and tastefully decorated, good service, even if you don't speak Chinese you will get what you ordered as the wait staff does the best they can for Americans. I loved my meals there and prefer it to NYC Chinatown restaurants. To me, the prices were a bargain for what you get, highly recommend!

Overrated dimsum in Brooklyn's Chinatown. There are way better options like East Harbor on 65th street. Pass over this restaurant if you want more than mediocre food. The interior is quite nice however, but that doesn't make up for bland cuisine.

great dim sum!

Located on second floor (handicap accessible) with windows facing 8th as well as 55th Street this behemoth keeps up with the other three massive sprawling ground floor dim sum restaurants in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The food is great. The menu is pretty much the same among all the major dim sum houses with slight variations, and degrees of which may be better. One thing I did like about my experience is when I asked for white tea they always toss a handful of chrysanthemum flowers into it.. and I keep forgetting to tell them not to. An example of differences among the houses is this one doesn't add little bits of ginger to their beef noodle, which I enjoy without the little chunks. As every one of the houses your wait could be very long if you arrive between 11:00am and 1:00pm. There is a pay garage underneath, as well as scarce street parking. There is an elevator to get upstairs. This restaurant used to be on two floors but much smaller blueprint. It is full owned so the sons and mom you'll see there and you know they keep things moving and usually friendly if you meet them as this business is their livelihood. As all the houses they also serve dinner which does pretty well prices are competitive. If you enjoy dim sum you really need to explore and see which house you prefer the food best, because they mostly serve the same stuff (including dinner), and which service you prefer. Once the staff gets to know you over a few interactions you are greeted and treated better.. not that they won't the first time, but with Chinese the relationship is built on the proverbial three cups of tea. Non Appetite!

This gem is located in Brooklyn Chinatown and serves a large community of Chinese people as well as non-Asians. The main courses are not quite as good as Manhattan Chinatown at the dim sum is at least as good as anywhere you will find The service is impeccable something almost nonexistent elsewhere with table cloths and waiters and uniforms which makes for very pleasant experience. The dining room is elegant but you have to get there early on certain days in order to be served without waiting very long

My party of six diners nearly fainted after having to wait over 90 minutes for our food to arrive. Although we had reservations, we were seated at an undesirable drafty table near the door. Ordered 6 fried dumplings but only 4 arrived and they were cold. No apology from server and we never received the other 2. Very noisy environment. Ignored by server until it was time for us to pay. Charged for an appetizer we ordered but never received. Did not get even a single refill in our water glasses during the 3 hour period. Bathrooms smelly and not adequately cleaned. Very difficult to park and neighborhood congested. Will not return here.

I recently attended a fund raiser at Pacificana that celebrated Chinese New Year. We were a large group, but no one was neglected. Course after delicious course was served, from appetizers, soup, through 8 or 9 entrees, all delicious. Service was good. The owner explained many Chinese customs connected to the holiday & the roving dragon delighted children & adults alike. A great night.

Great tasting food, huge portions & prompt service! At left overs for days! The meat was tender & juicy.

It is best to go with a larger group of people who have at least some similar tastes, because then you can order and taste more selections at lower cost. I went with only one person. I love seafood, she does not. So we spent more getting some items for each of us as well as shared ones. But it was fine for us because we brought home leftovers for later. They randomly bring carts with various trays and also individual trays of things more special - often the pricier items - and most of the waiters do not speak English, so we got one dumpling that clearly was stuffed with shrimp that we thought was only greens - but I loved it. So many gelatinous yummies of various kinds. We had one that had crispy dough inside the soft gelatinous rice noodle like outside. I had a plate of baby clams in the shell with a delicious brown sauce. We had both steamed and baked pork buns - cooked to perfection. I had a bowl of congee that was delicious - and large for one person. Only one dumpling was basically flavorless, but the texture was so interesting I enjoyed it anyway. We got a plate of Chinese greens that I felt was more tasty in the sauce for my clams. But it was cooked perfectly. The only negative was some beef my daughter ordered - she said it was flavorful but some gristle and fat reduced the pleasure. I was too full to taste it myself. We also had green dough balls with black sesame seed paste inside with a slightly crisp sweet outside - delicious! A big pot of tea on the table when we arrived, and I feel I left out something... We did not watch what we were spending at all, and came out spending about $30 each, so not bad for the quantity of food, but it could have been less easily with care or more mouths to eat! As for how to navigate the place. I use a walker or a cane, and did not know what I'd be facing as some places are so crowded, I came with my cane only. Next time I visit, will bring the walker but it was manageable for me. Because it is relatively close to her home, my daughter drove her small car, dropped me off, and parked 3 long blocks away. I saw at least 2 people with wheelchairs. The place does not say Pacificana clearly on it. It says Pacific Palace, and once inside there is an elevator or staircase. Getting off the elevator, people were milling about outside, but I found out you have to go inside and get a number. Then I learned from another patron the numbers are not called in order. They mark down the number in your party and write an E on it if you spoke English. They call the numbers in Chinese otherwise... there were probably 98% Chinese in the place when we were there, with a few other ethnicities mixed into the 2%.While there is room to sit on the windowsill or to stand outside in the 2nd floor lobby, you can not hear numbers called there. So one member of the party needs to go inside and check. There are many large tables, but we were seated at a table set for three that could have seated 4... guess they were confused or this one came up without a small party waiting. I've read a review that sounded as if they sometimes seat people at larger tables, but don't know. The place is super clean, elegant looking, shiny floors and walls, light spacious with very high ceilings. It is a bit loud there, and they have a huge advertising screen on one end. Other than that, I highly recommend everything about it. Waiters were all friendly. Beware, they come by fast and could be seen as aggressive with showing the wares. We were literally still sitting down as two carts came over. It's good to get your tea in the cup and take a look. It seemed like everything came around more than once. There were many things we did not try, even though we had a table filled with food. It is definitely a place I'll go back to.

It's been a long time since I've had Peking Duck and we decided to find a restaurant that served it. We wound up here. A group of nine people went. The duck was delicious, served at the table appetizer-style. We had a laundry list of standards - chicken with cashews (bland), chicken with broccoli (same), sesame chicken and General Tso's chicken (tasty, but hard to tell the difference between them), mu shu pork (tasty), and vegetable fried rice (a big hit with the kids). Appetizers were fried dumplings (very good), roast pork (very good), wonton soup (I've never had a "clear" soup taste so heavy, it was obvious they left the organ meat in when they made the soup, three out of four kids rejected it), and fried wontons (not the best I've had). The service was extremely attentive, we had four or five people making sure tea was filled, plates were cleared, and water glasses were topped off. I'm from out of town but the others said they'd probably make this their "out to eat" Chinese place in the future. If they do when I come back I'll give some of their more exotic things a try.

Five of us came on a Sunday at 11:30am for dim sum. Although there were 30 parties ahead of us, we were seated in 30 min. Their large facility allows for rapid seating. Items came by quickly, and the dim sum was very good - not the best I've had but close. All five of us ate for $55 plus tip - not bad at all. Street parking in this area is a pain, however. It is a great place for dim sum that I will return to.

My family and I have enjoyed the dim sum here in this Borough Park staple a number of times over the past three years, and although it isn't spectacular, the food is certainly pretty good, especially considering that we live about a ten-minute drive away. Weekend dim sum at Pacificana is always an experience, with extremely long waits after 11am on Saturday and Sundays. This past weekend, my wife, son and I patiently stood around for 45 minutes for a shared table together with perhaps 40 others. All things considered, 45 minutes wasn't so bad, although we did get in at about 1:30pm. Once seated at an eight top (which we shared with four other diners), we got right down to ordering - starting with our favorites - har gow (shrimp dumpling), siu mai, chicken feet and their shrimp cakes. We ordered some steamed rice on the side (which arrived at our table very quickly) as well as some sticky rice from one of the carts. We also got a special dish from the cart (which normally costs 2-3 times more than a small dim sum plate) - some crispy pork on a bed of pickled jicama (I think) and jellyfish. The pork was really good, with crispy skin, and went well with the sticky rice. We finished things off with an order of freshly steamed char siu bao, which was very good - eat it while still warm! Other favorites which we didn't order during our latest visit include their steamed spare ribs (the dim sum plate) and their congee. Some tips - either come early (before 11am) or right before dim sum service ends (before 3pm) on weekends. Parking is always a problem in Brooklyn's Chinatown, but if you come on a Sunday at least street parking will be free if you can find a spot. There's paid basement parking in the building of Pacificana on 55th street and 8th avenue (if you're driving north on 8th, turn right on 54th, then right on 9th avenue, then right again on 55th - Pacificana will be at the end of 55th at the corner of 8th). Or you can take the Coney Island-bound N train and get off at the 8th avenue station (which is at 58th and 8th). Oh, and finally - be prepared for the crowds on weekends, be open to sharing a table, and don't take it personal if the hostess raises her voice at you - she's just trying to be heard above the chaos!

We found the location to be much more than we expected. We were a bit taken aback by the size. Seating was immediate and very comfortable. Food came by very quickly and there was a tremendous selection. We were incredibly pleased with the food and with the atmosphere. We are looking forward to returning very soon.

This restaurant is very busy on the weekend, be prepared to wait for the best dim sum in brooklyn! I've been going to pacificana since i was a little kid, the staff is amazing!

My wife is from Guangzhou, pretty much the Capitol of dim sum outside Hong Kong. Her family takes us to the best places in China. I travel the US, and have eaten dim sum in every major Chinatown in the states, Pacificana is hands down the best dim sum I've had in the states, never mind just NYC. Also, the best prices. We just had 2 shrimp noodle rolls, chicken feet, pork ribs, shrimp dumplings, sesame balls, total was 22 bucks. East harbor is good, but this place is better. Try both you'll see the difference. How do you say bon appetite in Chinese? Enjoy.

This is some of the best asian cusine I've ever had! The plates are large and inexpensive, and tasty! Also, they put together some GREAT crispy meat that is so great, that it was like heaven.

This was an amazing dim sum experience. The food was great, restaurant was nice, and the staff were very friendly. We did have a bit of a communication problem as most of the staff do not speak any English, but there was a manager that did speak English and he kept coming over to help us with our selections. The food was so delicious and the prices were great! The restaurant was very clean and beautiful. I can see why this was Zaggot rated. We can't wait to return!

We dropped by for dim sum after a morning visit to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden with our grandkids. It was our first visit to this restaurant, which had been given a Zagat rating of 24 for food. The valet parking ($4 on weekday, more on weekend) was definitely a plus. However, we were not too impressed with the dim sums that we ordered, with the char siu pastries being the only outstanding item. The Snow White buns are usually our grandkid's favourite, but this time he took a few bites of one and left half of it. The egg custard tarts had good pastry but the filling was of an unnatural orange colour. The glutinous rice of the Pearl Chicken was too soggy. The Taro Goh was hard and did not have enough taste of Taro. It greatly puzzled us that some reviewers thought they served the best dim sums in New York city! It is all right if you happen to be in the area and wish for a dim sum lunch, but I would not recommend that you go out of your way to seek this one out.

Owner did a recent renovation to this place and it is beautiful, and the banquet menu is crazy good. Ten pound lobster prepared three ways, roast suckling pig and king crab prepared two ways, rich chicken soup served in individual coconuts are some of the stars. Service is outstanding and some of the private rooms have their own bathrooms. Top quality Cantonese cuisine.

Unless you live nearby most folks don't happen upon the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. With a car its a GPS snap, but with the subway its a journey of sorts. There is no preamble or prologue here. You walk up the steps, enter, pick a seat that work for you rather than the robotic maitre de' and you're rock'n and rollin'. Now you're in a large dining room with steaming food carts rolling by and peering over their rails to see what they got. I have never been to a large Dim Sum joint where the folks rolling the carts speak English, perhaps this is a prerequisite for the job, So if you're a novice ask for help and they'll come runnin'. Otherwise buckle up for safety and indulge as the dumplings and assorted treats roll by. This is a good place with a full menu so if you don't see what you want ask. Also they'll bring you anything from traditional dishes to Peking Duck. The locals are here with their kids and that's only part of the bustle. Pacificana, with its proximity not far from the Brooklyn docks, is as close to a Hong Kong experience as you're gonna get.

My favorite dim sum place on 8th avenue. If you go around noon-1pm, the wait time is long, but that is to be expected for the restaurants around here.

This family Chinese seafood restaurant in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, is known for its Dim Sum. We were there for dinner, and the food was reasonably tasty but prepared with a noticeable amount of MSG. It would be a good idea to request no additional MSG (some would already be in the marinate) during cooking if you are sensitive to it. The cuisine is Cantonese in style but they do offer dishes such as "Peking duck," which they serve fried in oil and not how Peking duck should be prepared. Stick with the Cantonese dishes and the food is mostly of average, acceptable quality.

I love this place. It's in the "new China town" in Brooklyn. It's very crowded but with locals, not tourists. The dimsum is authentic and not watered down for picky tourists. It's also CHEAPER than all of those touristy dimsum places in Manhattan's China town. I recommend going here for dimsum brunch on a weekday. The service is curt and the restaurant is loud... but so what? This is the best dimsum in NYC. Warning: There's no dimsum after 3pm.

Had two dinners here in a matter of 2 different weeks, quality of food was average, and expensive. Used to be better. One good thing is the place is still kept relatively clean, and service is good. Also easy parking as valet parking ($2 with restaurant validation) is located immediately below the restaurant.