It’s time for some Chinese food and China Palace advertises authentic Mandarin & Szechwan cuisine. This is all well and good, but the real question is: how does it eat?
I was taking this particular order to go ’cause I wanted to do a little Trader Joe shopping and then get home so I could submerge myself in my self-loathing.
China Palace – Ventura Victoria Blvd next to Trader Joes
I went into the Palace to get a couple of orders of this and an order of that. What I ended up doing was following the direction of a really nice lady who was very helpful. I’ve never bought Chinese food from someone this helpful. She explained every dish and set me up with a great combination to try the most possible without spending a lot. Even if the food sucked, at this point, I still take my hat off to the Palace.
I’m not sure what palaces look like in China but I sure hope it’s not like this. Not that there is anything wrong with it. It’s a good size and very clean. They have some great pieces of art hanging up too. However, if this is a palace then it must be the Emperor of tiny places that serve Chinese food.
The super lady hooked me up with what they call the Family Delight Imperial Style, which sounds more like a 70’s TV show than a meal. It is three meats: beef, chicken, and shrimp, cooked up imperial style with rice, egg roll, and hot-n-sour soup. I also got an order of the chicken chow mein, just to make sure I wasn’t hungry half an hour later.
I didn’t get any pictures because I did not want to steal the food’s soul.
Their chow mein was the best and the worst part of the meal. It’s actually a pretty decent chow mein with lots of chicken and a great quality noodle. The problem was that it was so oily that I looked like I just made out with Aunt Jemima when I was done eating it. It was very, very oily.
The beef, chicken, and shrimp were excellent. The shrimp was in a sweet glaze, the beef was thick and juicy, and the chicken was all white meat and there was a lot of it. It was a really good dinner.
Their egg rolls kinda suffer from the same oil issues, and there was a slight aftertaste I couldn’t figure out. The sweet-n-sour soup was ok. It was missing something. I couldn’t tell what it needed, but it just seemed a bit bland.
I would definitely hit up the Palace again. They know how to cook the meat dishes. They have a great handle on dinner, for sure. Plus, they are right next to Trader Joes where I can get my mini carrot cakes. Those friggin’ cakes are like crack to a fat man.
EatMeCalifornia 