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Shun Lee West is just as palatial and “haute-bourgeois” as its East Side counterpart, Shun Lee Palace, and maintains the same time-honored excellence since 1981 that has kept Michael Tong among the reigning dynasties in Gotham’s golden age of Chinese cuisines.

The classic yet innovative regional dishes from Shanghai, Hunan, Szechuan, and Canton provinces will "wok" your world. The menu includes standout favorites, such as honey spare ribs and steamed vegetable dumplings, for those not adventurous enough for the ragout of oxtail and pig knuckles. A “spa menu” is also available for the health-conscious, as well as sixty different dim sum offerings, served on rolling carts in the Shun Lee Café.

Like its counterpart, the quality of Shun Lee West leaves customers too spoiled to go back to regular old Chinese takeout.

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Michael Tong, Chef and Owner

Michael Tong was born in 1944 on Mainland China in the village of Anihar. In 1960, Michael went to high school in Hong Kong. In 1963 he came to America to attend college, first studying at the University of Southern California and then at Oklahoma State where, in 1966, he graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering.

Throughout college, Michael earned extra money by cooking at various Chinese restaurants, including one at the 1964 World’s Fair. It was during this hiatus from college that Michael Tong met the chef who would become his mentor, chef Ting Tung Wang. Wang was then chef to Taiwan’s’ ambassador and would later be recognized by culinary cognoscenti, especially Craig Claiborne, as the first master Chinese chef to successfully introduce the American public to Szechuan cooking.

In 1967, Michael Tong joined Chef Wang in opening Shun Lee Dynasty, in Manhattan, the first Chinese restaurant in America to popularize Szechuan and Shanghai cuisine. Shun Lee Dynasty became an instant success and was praised by food critics across the country for its authenticity, innovation and its impact on the American restaurant culture.

As a result of Shun Lee Dynasty’s success, Michael Tong realized that the public was definitely interested in a more authentic and exciting Chinese cooking in a luxurious and sophisticated environment. In 1971, he opened Shun Lee Palace on East 55th Street in Manhattan, and established himself as one of the premier Chinese restaurateurs in the country.

In 1972, Tong opened Hunan, the first restaurant in the US to present a Hunanese menu and the first Chinese restaurant to receive four stars from The New York Times. Finally, in 1981, Michael Tong opened Shun Lee West, opposite Manhattan’s Lincoln Center. Once again, Tong offered New Yorkers fresh ideas in Chinese dining with the including many unfamiliar regional dishes and the introduction of an enormous Dim Sum menu, which is served at Shun Lee West’s Café.

For the past thirty five years, over ten million diners have experienced the many dishes that Michael Tong pioneered, most of which have now standard fare on the menus of the more than ten thousand Hunan restaurants across the country. Tong has created thousand of jobs in America for Chinese immigrants. His influence, both here and abroad, on the past two generation of chefs and restaurateurs is immeasurable.

On June 13, 2001, at its 75th Anniversary Gala Benefit at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, the China Institute in America honored Michael Tong – along with director Ang Lee, composer Tan Dun, philanthropists Houghton and Doreen Freeman, actress Michelle Yeoh, playwright David Henry Hwang, author Amy Tan, and Chinese historian Jonathan Spence – for his contribution in introducing China and Chinese culture into the mainstream of American life.

In September 2001, Michael Tong was invited, along with fourteen other Americans who are most prominent in the business, scientific and cultural community – “ambassadors” in their fields – to spend a week in Beijing as guests of the Chinese government.

In May 2006, Michael Tong was awarded the 2006 Ellis Island Medal of Honor, presented annually to American citizens of diverse origins for their outstanding contributions to their own ethnic groups, their ancestral countries, and to the United States.

Michael Tong’s book, The Shun Lee Cookbook, will be published by HarperCollins in 2007. He is currently working on plans to open a cooking school that will offer training to newly arrived Chinese immigrants, as well as assistance in helping them to adjust to the social and economic challenges of their new environment.

Michael Tong enjoys collecting rare Chinese recipes and cookbooks. He is the Vice Chairman of the China AIDS Fund and is active in New York’s Citymeals on Wheels. He has two daughters and two grandchildren, and lives in Manhattan.

Minced Chicken Soong with lettuce leaves

Beijing Duck—A young seasoned duckling is slowly grilled until crispy and golden, the delicate skin is sliced, then the meat is carved separately; served with homemade crepes, spring onion brushes, and Hoisin sauce

Crispy Sea Bass, Hunan Style—Sea bass, fried until crispy, cooked with Hunan sauce

Sweetbreads with Black Mushrooms—Chunks of fresh sweetbreads stir-fried with scallions, black mushrooms and water chestnuts in a hot peppery Szechuan sauce

Steamed Chilean Sea Bass with ginger, scallions and soy

Leg of Lamb with Leeks—Choice spring lamb with leeks and hot pepper sauce

For more information on reservations or our cookbook please visit our homepage.

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