I'm always looking for older classics here - one of the few dim sum places where the menu still comes around in the form of human cart-pushers hollering out what their goods are on their trolley. It's outdated for sure, but eliminates the risk of not getting your food fresh. Century Palace has been around for a long time and they've survived because they're a huge venue that attracts a lot of forums and wedding dinners, and word on the street is the owners own the building meaning they don't have to pay rent. Over the years a lot of their dim sum choices disappeared due to lack of interest, but there's still some that I can only find here on a consistent basis.
Morning tea is a hit because all dim sum are the price of small dishes. This is pretty huge - nowadays, it's typical to find higher end dim sum places starting their menu off with medium dishes and ranking their dishes up to XXL and Specials all the time. If you're new to the dim sum game, here is where size matters - dim sum dishes are denoted in price by their size and the price difference between each size is about $1 from S to XL. However when you venture into extended sizing the prices start to exponentially increase, but the portion doesn't always stay linear in quality or quantity.
My visits always follow the same routine - secure a table, drop off coats and bags, and grab the stamp card to head off to the pan fry station. You won't miss it - it's right in the front and the lady is frying all kinds of goodies on multiple portable pans. Pan fried rice rolls, water chestnut cake, potstickers, stuffed green peppers, and their amazing soft and chewy thick crêpe with coconut and peanuts are all must-haves. If you're here during morning tea time, the battle has only just begun. The small-dish discount applies based on when you get the dishes stamped to your card, not when you arrive nor when you pay. The routine is to scan the place for all the food trolleys and gather all the goodies right at the start, then settle down and enjoy at your own pace. Rice in mini-casseroles with varieties of meat are great value for money, as are the fried noodles and anything previously mentioned from the pan-fry station.
My top dim sum choices here for the savoury side are their deep fried crispy taro balls, char siu buns, rice rolls, and soy sauce fried noodles. I'd skip the typical har gow (shrimp dumpling) and siu mai (steamed pork in a wonton wrapper) because they're generic and not much different from elsewhere.
For the sweet side: tofu fa, thick crêpe with coconut and peanuts, baked tapioca sago, brown sugar round pudding cakes, and water chestnut cake. Skip on jelly-like cakes and deep fried items - theirs subpar and I hear there's one that looks to be a sweet dish but is actually savoury.
All in all this place is old - so do not expect any fancy décor, any hotel-style service, any nice new additions, or anything of the sort. Everything is functional and their dishwashing does a fine job, but that's about it. I guess the atmosphere adds to the olden dim sum style as well? You'll have to decide.