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| - Wow - a lot of 5 star reviews on the Dragon Palace. I suspect many are giving heavy handed reviews as this is a "sentimental" favorite. I guess even my rating is slightly biased that way too. But 5 stars people? Meaning it cannot get any better than "woohoo, as good as it gets"? Ok, I'll end my rant and get to the review.
In short, this is your typical old school Mandarin/Szechuan style chinese restaurant. Decor is slightly tired, but who really cares about decor anyways for a neighborhood chinese restaurant?
Staff couldn't have been friendlier. It's family run (from what I gather) and take out service is quick and efficient. They include almond cookies, sauces, utensils, and fortune cookies in a nice packet with your to go order. Everything was packaged VERY well.
The menu is a diverse variety of your typical chinese items. Be aware that some dishes (like the Moo Goo Gai Pan) have alternate names (like "Snow White Chicken").
Still with me? Good...on to the food.
I ordered BBQ pork slices, Kung Pao Chicken, and a dish they called "Bo Bo Shrimp".
The BBQ pork slices were generally not too fatty as they can be other places, however some pieces were sliced too thin as they were dry. Also, the seasoning did not permeate the meat that much. There was also no "sauce" (which is good, because Char Siu should not have any sauce per se). Maybe I'm just spoiled with good BBQ pork, and I also realize it's just an appetizer, but could have been better and more flavorful.
The Kung Pao Chicken is very average. First I'm appreciative of chinese restaurants that use dark meat instead of white as it's not dry. But add to that a lot of peanuts that were a little overpowering (I felt like an elephant), lots of cubed green pepper and onion, and a lot of sauce made this the typical Kung Pao chicken. Was it bad? It wasn't bad, but not 5 stars great either. I don't know if I really understand why Phoenix area chinese places are compelled to throw a ton of vegetables in Kung Pao. It'd be nice for once to have a relatively vegetable-less "meat" dish and order vegetables separately (like how you order at better chinese places). Compared to other places in Phoenix, it was probably better than what I've had, but again, not 5 stars "amazing".
The Bo Bo shrimp was a breaded shrimp dish with a spicy brown sauce. On the positive, I tasted the ginger and garlic come out of the sauce, but the breading on the shrimp was so heavy it was falling off as I ate it. Perhaps it was because it was take out and it got soggy, so I'll reserve some judgement for when I dine in person, but I've had plenty of take out and the shrimp are not always like that. I would have preferred a lighter coating which can be achieved with a dusting of cornstarch.
I can see why this place has gotten the accolades because relatively speaking, there isn't a lot of good accessible chinese food here in Phoenix (well, unless you go to Cofco Plaza, Lee Lee Market, Great Wall, etc.). But again, there is much better around.
With that being said, if you've read my other reviews you'll see I am a big fan of locally run non-chain restaurants. So don't let my review scare you too much, I'm just picky and have high expectations. I certainly could have ordered items that are difficult to make poorly (Mushu pork, mongolian beef, etc.) but chose Kung Pao as it's difficult to pull off properly. So please try this place for yourself and form your own opinion. At least you have mine.
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