Shanghai Palace Restaurant

This has been my favourite place for Chinese food for as long as I have known,
They have been open for 20+ years and they have made fantastic food for all those years and hopefully for many more to come
The place looks unfortunately very dismal from outside however once you walk inside, you are treated to a classic interior, large tables, huge fish tank, and great service
The food itself is always good, high quality meat and sauces, I’ve tried most of the menu and I haven’t found anything I haven’t enjoyed
I can recommend the honey chicken (always a favourite), BBQ honey pork and their special fried rice is very tasty
Even the desserts are great, not exactly dessert bar quality, my favourite is the deep fried ice cream, and it’s a must try
And to finish it all off, you get a steaming lemon scented hand towel to freshen up as an added extra after the meal

This restaurant has been around for more than 20 years, with loyal diners returning again and again, according to my companions. However, as a new diner I was extremely disappointed. The food is reminiscent of Chinese fare in the 1970’s, with overly sweet and brightly coloured sauces and bland flavours. For some people, this is exactly what they like. For me, it was bland and the way that Beef with Cashews tasted exactly the same as Chicken with Mixed Vegetables was disturbing. The sweet and sour duck was a battered and fried arrangement with fluoro orange sauce that tasted like Fanta. They clearly use a few base sauces and cook everything to death. Despite the lazy susan on the table, sharing was not encouraged by the servings without individual plates for everyone. A request for a split was met with sighs of irritation and an announcement of how difficult that would be, rather than just a simple «sorry, no». A truly awful restaurant, terrible service, terrible food and gloomy atmosphere. Their few loyal customers will keep them going for a few more years.