Yip’s Oriental Express

MSG in EVERYTHING, fruit and vegetables are NOT fresh. Me and my coworkers both got diarrhea after eating their salad. And that attitude of the cashiers, OMG, rude does not even begin to describe it. You know how thick their accent is, after handing over what I thought was the amount, I wasn’t sure about how much I owed so I asked one of the cashiers to repeat it, and she just started yelling at me and said I still owed 2 cents. So I started to look for 2 cents in my wallet, and she yelled again and waved at me to go away, says she is «giving me a ‘discount’ on this one, but you owe me 2 cents». Like I couldn’t afford those 2 cents. Don’t know how to deal with these people, you cannot have a normal conversation with them. I’d give 0 star to this place if I could.
I don’t get why people still go to this place. You eat MSG and God knows what other chemicals, dirty fruits and unwashed vegetables, does the price really compensates for all that, plus being yelled at by uneducated Cantonese cashiers who can’t even speak English?

Being that there are very little recent reviews on here, it turns out this location was not listed and the one in midtown had closed. Well, no worries Unilocalers, yips is back on Unilocal…
Is this a good thing? Well, yes and no. Went here the other day for some lunch with a bunch of colleagues. We did the take out and eat in the office. Let’s put this this way: for the price, it’s worth it. Just don’t expect the best Chinese food ever made.
The line was quick moving and this place does get busy. I ordered the bbq chicken with rice and grilled veggies. And while it was good, I did get a headache and realized thanks to my lady later — the places uses msg. So if you can’t do the msg thing, don’t go here. If you can or don’t care either way, for the price the food is good.
So the verdict: 3 stars

Stopped by today and unfortunately it’s closed for renovations, not sure if it’s permanent.

Good options and everything is decent.
You get a meat, a veggie over rice or noodles for $ 7-​$ 8 depending on what option you get.
You never have to wait more than 3 minutes to get your food.
Service is very friendly.

solidly decent Chinese food joint in Midtown — a nice place to get some low price eats (low price being $ 8, it is midtown afterall). you get to choose two «items» (basically two entrees) and get to have it served over white rice, brown rice or vegetable lo mein (or none of these at all).
if you go in and the array of food looks bare, don’t worry, because the owner will make it fresh for you when you order.
i typically get the sesame chicken or the chicken teriyaki and have it served over brown rice. really filling, in my opinion

Not impressed with this place. The fried rice was under cooked and the meat was sub par. Despite this, The food was still somewhat edible; However, it was very filling and I couldn’t finish the whole thing. Good thing I read Unilocal reviews before I went there so I wasn’t really THAT dissapointed. Don’t think i’ll be going back.

Recently went here the first time. I think it’s a good find for a 5^th ave location.
The food is ok and the price def is decent for the portion. But be aware, it’s heavy stuff and although i enjoyed eating them, i had major food coma and food hangover going on!
Will go back and would like to try other things.

I’ve rarely in my lifetime had such a crappy lunch. I ordered the sesame chicken with string beans and fried rice. The fried rice was ‘ok’ at best, the string beans were all dried out from sitting mis en place for hours on end already and the sesame chicken tastes like blobs of meat soaked in something loaded with MSG. I’m currently contemplating if I’d feed this to my dog because I hate wasting food and I could only stomach to eat 10% of my dish. I would have been much happier with ¹⁄₃^rd of this dish cooked to perfection. I’m not a Mc Donald’s fan, but I’d pick that place over Yip’s any day of the week.
Disappointed. Will not return.

Another close by lunch spot around the job.
Been going to Yips for several years. Not necessarily the best «Asian» food in the world but it does its justice as far as a good portion of food and decent price for lunch. My regular is the garlic shrimps/​BBQ shrimps with fried rice. Rice taste kind of bland and I put a heavy amount of duck sauce on mine but regardless still a recommend if you work in the area.

If you enjoy the taste of pure garbage and enjoy the feeling of a food hangover because you stuffed yourself with a plate full of msg and grease then this is the place for you. I understand it’s cheap but it’s not worth the pain and suffering your stomach will endure. Stay away this place will make you feel like a dirty rat on yayo.

Simple, tasty, inexpensive.
A little different than most Chinese places. No faded plastic images of menu items posted by the menu above the counter that look like they were taken in the late 60’s.
A simple menu behind the counter, and whatever you want is all visible on the other side of the sneeze guard. No mystery. The pricing and items are all pretty straight forward. The place is clean, and airy, and we were able to find seating no problem.
Only been here once, but I plan on going back often.

Let’s keep it 100.
Yip’s is not going to be some grand revelation of Chinese cuisine
in midtown Manhattan that you want to bring up in gastronomic
pissing contests with people at parties. No, Yip’s is basically
good at three things most desired in this part of town: food
that is fast, cheap and is tasty.
When I used to work nearby and wanted to get a quick lunch
but didn’t want to break the bank until happy hour, Yip’s was
the move. Time has moved on, and so has Yip’s — steadily.
The place is Chinese buffet style. You’ve got a set number
of dishes available. Limited seating (I’ve never seen more
than 3 people seated in here at ANY time) and a cozy space
is what you get décor wise.
They must have taken heed to a couple of Unilocalers on here
because they now have a couple of HDTV’s up on the wall,
two for displaying menu items and one for TV. Pro tip: if you
aren’t sure of what you want, step back a bit. The lines can
get snarled easy. I usually go with the General Tso’s Chicken
and white rice. It’s savory, not too sweet with a hint of a kick.
The chicken and broccoli is okay as well, but the sauce can
be a nuisance. Opt to go without it. The food is fresh and
hot to order. And I did say cheap… most dishes run about
5 bucks or so, unless you do a combo dish. If you’re looking
for something quick, easy in the middle of a hectic area,
Yip’s isn’t a bad option to have.

This place is MSG central! For that reason the food tastes AMAZING! When you walk in you are greeted by the sweet sweet aroma of all that sugar they use on their chicken dishes.
I’ve been here a half-​dozen times and its never failed to disappoint. If you want a satisfying tasty meal on the cheap — this is your place.
Ill end with the cons:
— too much MSG cant be good for you
— if you ask for shrimp they will give you FOUR — not three and not five — but FOUR
— «if you ask for brown rice but meant fried rice — you will get brown rice» from an actual sign hanging behind the counter
— i think they use a random number generator between $ 6 and $ 9 to charge you for your meal. I dont think i’ve ever paid the same thing twice — and i get pretty much the same thing there every time!

Tasty and filling.
Generous lunch portions at a reasonable price. The service is efficient and friendly. Not your typical bland Chinese food joint.
Definitely worth a try if you work in midtown and you’re looking to get something different for lunch.

Buffet chinese food. If you are going to get chinese food from here, go with whatever just came out of the kitchen.
The garlic chicken and shrimp are tasty but REALLY salty.
For all of those people complaining of the chicken and brocolli (they are right), just ask them to make your brocc with no sauce. They will make it to order for you and it will take about 5 minutes… just like in your neighborhood chinese fast food spot.
The most disturbing thing is not the «Grade Pending» in the window FOR THE LAST 3 MONTHS but the amount of sweat that the servers seem to drip. Yes… over the food. Yes… while they are serving you. Yes… all the time.
Overall, you can do better… and not much worse.

The food here is disgusting. Nothing is made to order. 20 or so chafing dishes of the most unappetizing food you have ever seen. (think vegas vacation buffet scene). I was hungry so I did wind up getting the chicken and broccoli. Tossed it out after one bite which i couldn’t swallow. Texture, taste, temperature all bad bad bad! The other items looked very greasy. Like the fryer was being used to much it could not stay hot enough and the oil soaked into the food.
Ive never had chines food that was cheap and amazing.

Writing a terrible review for Kar Won (closed) reminded me of Yips. I went during lunch a while back and got their seasame chicken and fried rice combo. Not a good meal. The sesame chicken was swimming in sauce, at first I thought I might be okay with that, but very quickly it started to taste like water-​enriched chemicals.
This is buffet quality Chinese, which for some people is the perfect Chinese, but know what you’re getting. It’s not take out quality, or savory. If one is looking to weigh down their stomach and taste is not terribly important, come on down…

I was thinking that even the most common Chinese hole in the wall cooks their food fresh. I called here for a takeout order and was surprised when I saw a steam table full of precooked food. I ordered a chicken and broccoli and it was pretty tasteless.
I guess it’s all about expectations.

What a disappointment. I followed my nose to this Yip’s restaurant for lunch but soon found out that the food smelled WAAYYYYYYYY better than it tastes, but for $ 6.75 in midtown I guess there is a trade off, but I will not venture here again just for the fact that the food is not memorable. Location definitely gives this place the crowd, but if it were located somewhere local they would not stand a chance.
The food was so not memorable that I can’t remember what I got, based on my personal preference sesame chicken, sweet and sour chicken, general tso’s chicken and beef fried rice, or chicken lo mein would have been a part of my selection. So the fact that the impression of any of these were below pare is a fare indication that this place is a No No.

Meh whenever I’ve had lunch from here its been just ok. Haven’t been here in quite awhile since last time I went their chicken was questionable and grossed me out.
If you must go, definitely take it to go. Its filthy and disgusting inside and smells horrible.
They serve you quick but they are rude and rush you.