Maxine's Palace — Restaurant in Christchurch

10/10 and A++++ for food, service, and atmosphere!!

Someone recommended Maxine's Palace to us last month so we chose to come here for my partner's birthday, just the two of us. We arrived at 6pm on a Tuesday and there was plenty of parking in the carpark right outside. The service was the right amount of attentive throughout and very friendly, everything I hope for in hospitality. It made us feel welcomed as customers and happy to be there.

The food tasted absolutely incredible! So many GF options, too, including in the desserts section. We got a small rice each and shared the pickled jellyfish and satay chicken, and for dessert we shared the deep fried taro balls. Very decent portions without being overwhelming. Nice drinks selection, too. My partner had a beer and I had a cider. We finished and felt full, so as soon as we paid (less than $70 for everything) we booked to come back in a few days because we still want to try a hot pot and more! We'll be sure to find any excuse to bring friends there, too.

Great ambience for a couple's outing but also plenty of room for big group gatherings. The acoustics are good and keep you feeling cozy. Vaccine passes are required. Add in the good parking outside and flawless delivery of a fantastic time and I think this is one of the bright gems of Christchurch. Wholeheartedly...

Update: I had let the manager know about my dissatisfaction with part of the Cashew Chicken Dish. He was prompt about resolving the problem, and we had come to a positive resolution. Happy with the outcome.

Had a pregnancy craving for Chinese. Tried the Xiao Long Dumplings & the Cashew Chicken Dish ordered via Uber Eats on the 28th of August 2024. Order came on time. The downside is that my carrots inside the Cashew Chicken dish had a sour taste as if it was off and just chucked in to be cooked with the rest of the food in my dish. I decided not to continue eating the dish as that sour off taste disgusted me and the dangers of it affecting me because I am pregnant. When I eat takeaways such as Chinese, I am always fine, just not today. I am disappointed because I have eaten at Maxines Palace before with family earlier this year. My experience was far from negative - the food was cooked well and...

4 of us went on a Saturday evening. The place was moderately busy, still a few tables free.

The food was fantastic. Everyone loved everything that was brought out. We thought we had ordered way too much food; it was so nice that we ended up with only a little left over to take away (these were also delicious the next day).

The service was good, not too quick or intrusive.

There was a reasonable alcohol list (I didn't see any zero-alcohol beers, although I didn't ask).

-rant follows: We brought our own wine; the corkage fee was... interesting... definitely not expensive, and I fully agree with restaurants charging for the privilege of bringing your own, however considering that they brought out glasses but didn't actually touch the wine... -end of rant...

We all agreed that we wished we'd found the place sooner, and we would be very happy to...