Hutaoli Music Restaurant & Bar isn’t just about delicious food. The restaurant integrates live music and entertainment while guests are a delight in its Sichuan cuisine restaurant and wine bar.
Located on 42 W 33rd St, New York NY 10001, which is close to Koreatown, you’ll see a well-decorated entrance with the restaurant name in both English and Chinese.
As soon as you walk in, you notice the enormous vertical space – a rarity in New York City. The high ceilings are emphasized by the modern lights and green foliage hanging from above. The wall space is adorned with tasteful decorations. Combined with the thoughtful lighting, Hutaoli offers a trendy and chic dining atmosphere.
The first space you encounter is the wine bar, towered by an illuminating wall of floating shelves full of wine bottles. The bartender was busy making a variety of concoctions.
The host greeted us and checked for COVID vaccination cards. We then proceeded into the main dining room where a sea of tables and chairs assemble in front of a stage with a large screen. There are also private dining rooms in the back, which seat large parties. You can’t reserve them but if you request, they’ll try their best to accommodate.
Between 6-11:30 pm, live music comes on. There is usually a male and female singer, who sings a combination of English and Chinese songs. At times, someone on the drums and guitar also comes on stage. I’ve been here quite a few times already and there was a different set of artists each time. Every time, however, they were absolutely delightful!
For appetizers, we have ordered the Dan Dan Noodles, which are traditional Sichuan spicy noodles. These were quite delicious.
The scallion pancakes were great, with a great crunch when you sink your teeth in.
As another appetizer, we enjoyed Kao fu, a marinated gluten with mushroom in sweet soy sauce. This is a traditional Shanghainese dish that I am very familiar with. The taste reflects the classic combination of soy sauce, sugar, and rice wine infused with mushroom aroma. The Kao fu is spongy, contrasting the slipperiness of the mushrooms.
Woodear Mushroom Salad was another refreshing addition to our table to start our dinner. It is a popular Chinese side cold dish. The slipperiness of the mushroom and the lightness of the sauce made this dish one of the star appetizers.
Griddle Fresh Cabbage, which is stir-fried cabbage with garlic, has a spicy level of 2. You can definitely feel the heat as you chow down on the crunchy texture of the leaves. It is well seasoned and flavored. We order this dish everytime we go.
The spicy sole fish fillet was a flavorful and heat-packed medley of boiled sole fish fillet in sour soup with fresh green peppercorn and chilli.
One of my favorite dishes is the boneless trotter, a special stewed pork trotter in spicy soy sauce with spice level 1. The sauce is thick and delicious. The beat is so tender you barely need to chew it!
The salted Egg yolk lobster, which includes a stir-lobster with salted egg yolk, was a bit of a disappointment. While the salted egg yolk was quite delicious, it was very difficult to eat the lobster through the shell.
Hutaoli chicken – a regular dish at the dinner table when we visit – arrives in a marvelous bamboo bird case. The server then removes the cage and pounds the sesame seeds. Aromatic and juicy, this roast chicken pleases everyone at the table.
The spicy hot dry pot consists of stir-fried beef, beef tripes, ham, potato, and lotus root. It has a spice level of two – however, only a few people at the table were able to handle the spice level. Beware of this one!
Spicy pot potato (spice level 1) seemed to offer endless potatoes! Slices thin and super soft, this was a delicious dish.
My favorite dish is the salted egg yolk pumpkin. This was also the favorite amongst everyone at the table (we had a large crowd too)! Bite through a thick layer of delicious salted egg yolk to reach a sweet pumpkin filling that fills your tongue. It’s certainly an unexpected medley of flavors, but they complement each other wonderfully. You’ll be reaching for another one in a heartbeat.
Overall thoughts:
I really loved the dining experience here. Most of the dishes were great and all of them are authentic. As someone who can’t handle too much spice, there were a number of dishes I couldn’t eat but enough that I could enjoy alongside my braver dining partners. The highlight was the salted egg yolk pumpkin, boneless trotter, and the woodear salad.
For the dining atmosphere, I think it’s a fun place to have a date or hang out with friends. It’s a very lively place that is chic and modern. The space itself is very beautiful and feels large. The live entertainment and music are also a great addition to the overall dining experience.
