Golden Diner

If you plan on dining here, understand you will lose a few hours of your day. You will need to first wait in line to leave your name for a table and then we had to come back two hours later for that table. I noticed larger groups being seated faster, hope that helps!The area is walkable and the food was worth the wait.

Golden Diner is an Asian American diner in Manhattan Chinatown, owned by chef Sam Woo. While the chef has a fine dining background (Torrisi, Carbone, Momofuku), he is now famous for his pancakes. The Honey Butter Pancakes deserve every bit of hype they've received, and are possibly the best pancakes I have ever had. They have a remarkable height to them, are fluffy and soft, with lots of lemon zest, which cuts through the sweetness of the honey. I have seen people waiting hours in line outside in the cold to eat these pancakes, and I do not understand why, considering they accept reservations. We arrived on time for our 12pm reservation, and were seated minutes later. While the pancakes were indeed life changing, everything else fell flat. I loved the soft, squishy scallion milk bun on the Chinatown Egg Sando, but the eggs were overcooked, and the hash brown patty was very overcooked, with a stale oil aftertaste. My husband got the Golden Cheeseburger, which he remarked was dry, and had a strangely sweet gochujang sauce. Skip dessert. The Green Tea Coffee Cake was bone dry, gritty, and flavorless, and the Thai Tea Tres Leches was not a tres leches at all; just a spongy cake overpowered by the toasted coconut on top. They only have drip coffee. Stick to the pancakes.

Decided to make a reservation on a Monday night because we tried to come at opening on a weekend morning and it was INSANE!I can say that this place 100% lives up to the hype that you hear.These currently go down as my favorite pancakes in NYC so far. The pancakes themself were fluffy and not overcooked, not dry. But the syrup was the star of the show. It was a perfect light syrup with a citrusy note, lemon or orange, and the combo off it all was quite literally perfect.The Chicken Katsu Club sandwich goes down as one of my favorite sandwiches in NYC as well so far. Every element of the sandiwch sung together, the chicken was moist and crispy, the bread was soft, the cabbage was a perfectly shredded thing with a katsu sauce that was heavenly.The burger was great! I really appreciate how well seasoned the burger meat was, a lot of places seem to under season it for me and they didn't skimp here. The bun was soft, the sauce was tangy and pungent, and the lettuce gave it a nice crispy texture.The burger was awesome and I'd get it again, but I would be coming back for the pancakes and the Katsu Club sandwich. Feels like an actual diner with a lot of character! Really fun place!

Absolutely worth the wait!!!!!!!! We showed up 30 min before opening on a Saturday and unfortunately didn't make the first wave of people being seated. We had to wait an hour, so we were starving. The inside is pretty tiny, but was very cutesy diner-y. We got the pancakes for the table, and we each ordered a dish and shared everything which was perfect! The tuna melt was pretty good, but the katsu sando!!!! This was the star of the meal. The chicken was juicy and crunchy and the sandwich was triple layered. The egg and cheese sando was good too, but too heavy to eat alone. Glad we shared because we got to try a bit of each without being tired of any flavors. The pancakes were divine, but you probably already knew that. Definitely not for a single person, but for the table is perfect. Order the pancakes!!!!!

The best pancakes I've had in NYC! The texture is incredible, insanely fluffy and great honey + fruit compote. Definitely the highlight of the meal.Latkes were off the menu specials - loved the pineapple jam. Katsu sandwich and wings were alright, nothing special. Extremely quick service - you can finish within 30 minutes here. Pretty small space and a little cramped for seating.

This place was so cool! Keep in mind though that you will have to place a reservation to even have a chance of sitting in the store. The store has less than 20-25 seats TOTAL. So it is limited, but so worth it.The vibe is nice and cozy and it's in a beautiful, aesthetic pocket of New York (I believe it's near Chinatown?) - idk I'm not from NY.The only food I had was the pancake stack which was delicious. I got it without the lemon zest just because I don't like lemon. What's cool is the pancake stack comes out VERY HOT and stays hot the entire time you eat. It is pre-loaded with syrup and it's just a nice amount that pools at the bottom. Definitely a cool experience eating this. My negatives aren't huge or even that bad, but 1: I didn't love the side of bacon that I got, it was just average. 2: the pancakes are good, but I wish there was a smaller serving size or half-order you could get because it's entirely TOO much. And I just know it won't be good heated up later (I almost never reheat breakfast food).All in all, this spot is dope and I can't wait to try it again and try some other stuff on the menu. Late night this would hit as good if not better than Waffle House and things like that.

I made a reservation here after seeing them all over social media and my friend really wanted to try out the viral honey pancakes.The day finally came - Friday 12/6/2024 at 3pm. There was surprisingly no line of people waiting to get in and we were seated once we checked in. Once seated, water was brought out as we looked over the menu. We ordered:1 Chicken Katsu Club - chicken cutlet, bacon, red cabbage slaw, katsu sauce, lettuce, tomato / $19 (mine)1 Golden Cheeseburger - 6oz. charred happy valley beef patty, mushroom gochujang sauce, pickle guys b&b pickles/ $181 Matzoh Ball Soup - fluffy matzoh ball, vegetables, homemade chicken broth / $12 Side of french fries / $9Food didn't take too long and it was dropped off all together. My chicken katsu sandwich was interesting to say the least. It was very hard to eat as its super big and has multiple layers. It was very messy, got soggy fast, and I didn't like the taste. I ended up eating 1/4 pieces as I did not like it at all. My friend said he enjoyed his cheeseburger as it was flavorful and well cooked. My other friend disliked her soup as it had NOOOOO flavor. The broth tasted like plain warm water. We could no longer eat anymore so unfortunately we decided to not order the honey pancakes :( Service was great though and we were checked on throughout our meal. All workers were friendly. The inside is small, cute, and felt very welcoming. I wouldnt necesarily come back. Bathroom was clean.

The best pancakes I've ever had. Did not need any compote. They were such citrusy and fluffy, but also chewy and bouncy.. and buttery.... Just... mind blowing. The katsu sando was good but honestly the pancakes stole the whole show. I will be returning .. staff was very friendly and the food came out so fast. Went on a weekday around 4:30 and there was no wait. Highly highly recommend. It's a bit small inside so definitely would recommend going early to snag a table.

The legends were true, had the best Pancakes of my life here! Perfect crisp on the edges, fluffy midway, and a nice chewy middle. Perfection squared! The lemon zest throughout the stack mixed with the maple syrup butter that coats every inch of the pancakes just makes every bite outrages! They are magnificent by themselves but when you add the blueberry compote it just adds to the flavor profile that transcends you to a food utopia you never want to return from

Best egg sandwich I've had in a long time! It's simple, and flavorful at the same time. The bread is something memorable! And those pancakes? After a few bites you realize you're in heaven. Very long waits if you don't have a table already so be prepared. Once you're inside the service is speedy and decent. Overall great meal.