| Shun Lee Palace | |
|---|---|
 The restaurant's exterior in 2025 | |
 Interactive map of Shun Lee Palace | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1965 (1965) |
| Location | 155 East 55th Street, betweenLexington Avenue andThird Avenue inMidtown Manhattan, New York City, New York, 10022 |
Shun Lee Palace is aChinese restaurant located at 155 East 55th Street, betweenLexington Avenue andThird Avenue inMidtown Manhattan in New York City.[1] It claims to be the birthplace oforange beef. It opened in 1971. One year later, Shun Lee Palace's master chef T.T. Wang and partner Michael Tong opened Hunan Restaurant at 845 Second Avenue,[2][3][4] the firstHunan restaurant in the country, paving the road for others.
General Tso's chicken, crispsea bass Hunan style and crisp orange flavored beef are all attributed to chef Wang atHunan Restaurant.
In a 2003 interview, proprietor Michael Tong estimated that 70% of his clientele isJewish and that he goes out of his way to accommodate them – including being open onChristmas[5] and catering tokosher customers.
They have a second location on theUpper West Side, across fromLincoln Center. Shun Lee (opened in 1981) is located at 43 West 65th Street, betweenColumbus Avenue andCentral Park West. A smaller and less expensive annex to Shun Lee West is Shun Lee Café, specializing inDim Sum.
The original Shun Lee Dynasty opened at 900 Second Avenue at 48th Street in 1965. The chef was Wang Ching-Ting, who was discovered by a Chinese ambassador and later came to the US as a cook at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC. The restaurant interior was designed by mid-century designerRussel Wright, who designed every element of the restaurant including the china, which was produced by Sterling China Company as their Polynesian pattern.
40°45′33.8″N73°58′8.8″W / 40.759389°N 73.969111°W /40.759389; -73.969111
