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| - Spotted photos of this place from a fellow whose Instagram I follow and decided that the best way to celebrate some good news was to venture in this past Saturday to get some dim sum with my best friend.
As a long-time patron on Li Wah's dim sum hours, my expectations for Emperor's Palace were moderately high. Given that it was rather full when we arrived, I was quite excited. We had a choice of tables, one right next to the door or one in the side room that was much quieter. Opting for the quieter room, we sat for a good 10 minutes before anyone inquired about drinks or food.
I'm used to the little roaming carts filled with delicious bites, but I also liked the idea of asking for items right off the menu at Emperor's Palace. I generally get the same items and then will try one or two things new when I'm at Li Wah's, so being able to tell them exactly what I wanted without waiting for that particular cart to roll around was great, but I also didn't get to see much new either. There was also no particular order in which items came out.
For the most part, everything was mediocre at best. We go the char siu bao, shao mai, shrimp in rice crepes, 1/2 roasted duck, har gau, and the sticky rice in lotus leaves. Everything in some kind of rice-wrapper was mushy, the duck wasn't crispy but it was flavorful (and most of the fat that I'm used to being rendered off was still there, contributing to the soggy skin), and the char siu bao had this strange acetone-like taste if you inhaled as you bit into the bao (did not finish these).
The only thing that was really good was the sticky rice in lotus leaves. The rest was really disappointing and the service was slow and inattentive. I don't expect world-class service, but I do expect at least a basic level of service. It felt like they did not really want us there at all.
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