Sunday dinner for six—my aunt and uncle are coming in from Flushing, my cousin is strict vegetarian (eggs ok, no fish sauce), and my brother won't touch shellfish. My parents want Chinatown but they don't do loud rooms or the big upstairs wedding-hall setup. I usually just grab dumplings or late-night eats, so I'm blanking on a sit-down spot with a real table and a lazy susan. Doesn't need to be fancy, but not a tourist hall. Any go-to for that mix?

Green Bo's my usual for out-of-towners but it gets loud and the veg options are basically scallion pancake, rice, and regret. If your cousin is strict and your brother is shellfish-free, you're probably better at a vegetarian place or at least a bigger kitchen where they won't stir-fry the veg in shrimp paste. Buddha Bodai on Mott is the safe one. Is your family ok with mock meat, or do they want real chicken/pork on the table?

I'd skip the big Mott Street dining rooms for this. They do volume, which means noise and servers pushing set menus full of pork and shrimp. Three options:

Buddha Bodai (Mott St) is fully vegetarian kosher-style Cantonese. It solves both the vegetarian and shellfish problems by simply having no shellfish. The mock goose and roast 'pork' are better than they sound, and the room is dated but quiet enough for older parents.

Congee Village (Allen St) gives you a real round table and lazy susan. Not vegetarian, but they're used to modifications. Tell them no oyster sauce, no dried shrimp, no chicken broth in the veg dishes. Go early—5:30 or 6:00—because it picks up later.

Ping's on Mott is a more polished family option if your brother's allergy is mild and your cousin's vegetarianism is flexible, but it's seafood-heavy. I'd cross it off if the shellfish allergy is serious.

Caveat: many old-school Cantonese kitchens treat fish sauce and oyster sauce as vegetarian unless you say otherwise. Have your cousin spell it out: no meat, no fish, no oyster sauce, eggs ok. For six, call ahead and repeat it to the server.

Second Congee Village early. I did a family table for seven there and nobody had to shout. Snow pea leaves with garlic are a solid veg dish. But yeah, it's not pure veg—kitchen will use chicken broth if you don't specifically ask. If the cousin is strict, Buddha Bodai is safest, but the meat eaters might be underwhelmed.

oldyork_otis covered it. I'll add: if you pick Congee Village, request the back room at 5:30 and say it's a family dinner. After 7:30 it goes from conversation-level to birthday-party loud. For the shellfish allergy, don't just tell the server—write it on an index card or your phone: no shellfish, no oyster sauce, no dried shrimp, no same-wok contact. Hand it to the person actually running your table, not whoever dropped the tea.

Separately, if you're transporting cake/gifts with older folks, this is less heavy than a sofa but still worth the caution from Fifth-floor walk-up in Washington Heights: stair-climbing dolly or just pay the movers? about not being the hero carrying everything in one trip.

Plus one for Buddha Bodai if you don't want to negotiate every dish. My partner is vegetarian and she genuinely likes it there. The 'chicken' with black bean sauce and pan-fried noodles are decent. Don't expect Flushing dim sum variety, but your aunt/uncle won't need to scream across the table.

Most of this is right. I'd only push back gently on Ping's—it's better for seafood-focused family dinners, not a no-shellfish table. The safe move is the vegetarian place or a large kitchen with a manager on duty. My one addition: at Congee Village, ask for the back dining room and keep the vegetarian dishes on the opposite side of the lazy susan from anything with fish or shrimp. Cross-contact in a busy wok station is not theoretical, especially for a severe allergy.

For a genuinely quiet table, I'd also look at a small Cantonese spot on Division or East Broadway? Maybe not for six. Sunday early is the workaround. Call a day before and tell them 'strict vegetarian, shellfish allergy.' If they hesitate, that's useful information.

And don't assume 'vegetable dumplings' are shellfish-free; they can have dried shrimp in the filling. If in doubt, order steamed veggies with garlic and plain rice.

Appreciate the specifics, all. Cousin says strict veg but ok eggs, brother's shellfish thing isn't anaphylactic but he really won't eat it. We're doing Congee Village at 5:45 and I'll call ahead. Oldyork_otis, the fish sauce point is exactly what I needed to pass along. If it's rough, Buddha Bodai is the backup. Will update.

Good call. Repeat 'no chicken broth' twice, not once. And if they have the taro sago dessert? Get it. Let us know if early Sunday seating holds up.