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| - We recently moved further north and discovered that Empire Palace is now our nearest Chinese restaurant. I couldn't be more pleased. So far we've eaten in once and gotten delivery once, and both experiences were great.
First, the atmosphere: We ate in the restaurant fairly early on a Sunday evening. They were surprisingly busy, but service was efficient and friendly (though I wouldn't have minded faster refills on my water). The interior is comfortable, and we felt relaxed and enjoyed our meal.
Delivery, when I ordered for weekday lunch, was astonishingly fast; 20 minutes, I think, and the food arrived fresh and hot. The woman who took my order on the phone was helpful and repeated my order to make sure it was correct (I always appreciate this), AND they sent plasticware, chopsticks, and sauces. It's a pet peeve of mine when restaurants don't send any accoutrements with your delivery order.
So, the food! On our first visit, we ordered a California Roll (look, my sushi allowances are limited these days), Amazing Chicken, and Bride & Groom, along with wonton soup. The soup's broth had a good depth of flavor and was accented by scallions, although the wontons were lackluster. The California roll was excellent, with not-cold rice, fresh avocado, and toasted nori.
Amazing Chicken turned out to be, well, amazing; lightly breaded and fried and served with plenty of garlicky, slightly spicy, sweet sauce. "Authentic," whatever that means anymore? Well, no. It did remind me of a Chinese home cooking recipe for honey garlic pork chops, though, and it was really excellent. Both my husband and I agreed we'd have this again. Made some really good leftovers, too.
The Bride & Groom was reasonably tasty, although I only tried a small piece of both the beef and the chicken. The beef had a musky, beefy flavor to it that doesn't appeal to me right now, but my husband enjoyed it.
For delivery, we ordered Lemon Chicken, General Tso's Shrimp, more wonton soup, and an eggroll.
The Lemon Chicken did not thrill either of us, being breaded with breadcrumbs (yuck) and with a sauce that tasted a bit like cough drops. Not a favorite.
The General Tso's Shrimp, though, was quite good, with plenty of large shrimp even in the lunch portion. I'd have liked it to have been a little spicier, but I will request that next time. It also featured mushrooms, peppers, and snow peas.
The eggroll was good, if not great. Oh, and in all cases, the steamed rice was perfect. Just sticky enough; not too soggy, and not crunchy. That's important.
Overall, I'm extremely happy having Empire Palace as "our" Chinese restaurant. I can't wait to try some of the dim sum, particularly the turnip cake, which has always been a favorite.
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