Restaurants in Lancaster

Chen's taps diverse Chinese, Japanese, and Thai traditions to forge a slate of Eastern dishes and creative cocktails that have gleaned numerous accolades from Zagat. Executive chef and owner Bing Zhou plates elegant portions of lemon chicken, peking duck, and seafood gently seasoned with Chinese spices as maki rolls nestle raw morsels of salmon, lobster, and yellowtail in innovative combinations. Bartenders sling more than 25 martini styles beneath the soft lighting of recessed sconces as bamboo floors support terra-cotta statues of historic warriors. In the lounge, overstuffed chairs sidle up to a crackling fireplace to share stories of their ottoman ancestors beneath cream and persimmon hues.

The Buffalo News raves equally over this unique restaurant's fresh cuisine and its dual dining rooms: a hibachi room, whose tables each center on a grill where chefs’ deft knife work synchronizes with dancing flames, and a room of traditional seating. USDA choice steaks and South African lobsters, hibachi-grilled to perfection, sate hunger in both rooms. Expertly crafted custom sushi rolls are stuffed with ingredients sourced from across the globe, uniting international flavors as effectively as the food-only Olympic Games. Steaming bowls of udon noodles, fragrant teriyaki, and other Japanese fare diversifies the menu, and cocktails such as the popular Asian pear martini—as well as vintages from full bar’s eclectic wine menu—delight the palate.

A bubbling fish tank beckons diners in the doors of New Shanghai Buffet, where they kick off a culinary expedition with classic Chinese dishes that range from general tso's chicken and sweet-and-sour pork to littleneck clams and artfully crafted sushi. Covered buffet stations flaunt crab legs and barbecue spare ribs in their gleaming metal vessels, and an expansive takeout menu keeps diners from wheeling buffet tables home when the staff's back is turned. Amid a mélange of leafy plants, grand prints of Asian landscapes pair with traditional Chinese baubles to adorn the dining room's floral walls.

Since 1928, four generations of the Romanello family have been tweaking and swapping recipes at a trio of restaurants in Western New York. In the 1980s, Romanello's South took its place among the family's eateries. Reporters from AM Buffalo have visited to heap praise on the ballroom, whose honey-hued expanses of hardwood can accommodate parties of up to 300 people or 150 adolescent rhinoceroses. Chatter from groups drifts into smaller dining rooms, where fireplaces cast their liquid light across white tablecloths laden with calamari, pasta, and eggplant parmigiana. Some evenings, the restaurant resounds with the harmonies of local artists, which swell beneath the clink of toasting glasses and help clear minds of shrill toothpaste jingles.