Imperial Palace — Restaurant in Maungakiekie-Tāmaki

I am writing this review almost 2 years late as it’s taken me that long to get over the appalling behaviour by the manager.

My sister had her wedding reception here in February 2023.

Now before I begin my bad review I will start with the good things. Firstly, the food came out in a timely manner. Secondly, one of the workers - Yu Lin was very accomodating and kind (more about Yu Lin to come).

So my sister started the planning process when Terence was the manager, and by the third meeting there was a new manager: Tim.

My sister, dad and myself were meticulous with the planning. We had a checklist of everything that we needed to discuss to ensure that we didn’t forget. And between the 3 of us, there was nothing missing on that list. Tim seemed to be very accomodating, and nothing was an issue for him. They would provide the sound system for us, and a DJ as well who would know how to use the equipment, and this would come at an additional cost which we were happy to pay. All my sister had to do was bring a USB with her music on it and instruct the DJ on the day regarding what she wanted to play and when etc. We thought this new guy Tim was fantastic, he seemed to be a ‘yes’ man. We then had a fourth meeting 4 weeks before the wedding to finalise everything and reiterated all the important points. Tim was busy so deferred to one of the other staff- Yu Lin.

On the day of the reception we arrive early to set up. My sister brings out her USB as she was instructed to, and prepares to discuss it with the DJ. Except there isn’t one. And when she approaches Tim about this, I see from across the room him towering over my 5 foot tall sister in her wedding dress, and hear him yelling ‘NO YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO ORGANISE THE DJ’.

She then mentions that she had discussed this with him before, but also with Yu Lin who he had deferred the last meeting to, to which he replies ‘WHO IS YULIN????’

Not a great start!

Tim also advised that we had to leave by 10pm. We have been to many wedding receptions at Imperial, and they do not finish by 10pm.

The cake (additional square cakes were bought to serve guests as discussed) was not served. And when my dad raised this with Tim, he said ‘that’s not our job’. We were left wondering if it was our job and if we had permission to enter the kitchen to slice it up and bring it around to all of our guests.

Furthermore, the fish was steamed when it was supposed to be fried. This was not a huge issue as it’s still food- however, no one apologised for this blunder.

All in all, an infuriating experience. The only redeeming thing was that Yu Lin was nice and sorted out the DJ at the last minute. He, along with the rest of the staff seemed on edge. And after witnessing the way Tim spoke to my sister, I can only imagine the way he speaks to his staff behind closed doors. They must all be working anxiously in trepidation of his tyranny.

I would give this place 0 stars if I could. Also, Terence- the previous manager was lovely. He has since moved to Lobster Palace. You should go there instead.

Go to Imperial if you want to deal with Tim, a person who makes promises and doesn’t just NOT deliver, but will gaslight you and deny ever making said promises.

Ps. I also just want to add that we don’t expect service to go above and beyond, especially at a Chinese restaurant! We just expect some human decency, which I don’t think is...

one word, DISGUSTING ! we never walked out from any restaurants in NZ before, but this one did it for us ! we had planned to celebrate a birthday with overseas guests (my auntie and her daughter from OZ) in this place n were ready to spend $200-$300 in here for the special occasion. we were going try their crabs "special deal" and others, and one of them was their classic chinese crispy skin chicken (we are a big fan of this dish and had ordered from many different restaurants, so we know what they supposed to look like and taste). the beef came out first, n we waited for 30 mins for the rice just to be told that they have no more rice left - still cooking. we couldn't believe a big chinese rest had run out of something basic like rice at the peak time of dinner service (7-7.30pm). then the chicken came out. it was 'purposely' covered by the crackers to hide the dreadful chicken. the chicken looks so brown and the meat was so tough and dry and smelt funky (instead of being fresh and juicy and tender). it seem that the chicken had been precooked/fried way before the order time (dunno for how many times) and they just they just microwaved it before serving them (the inside still cold) and this unfortunately had put off my auntie right away. we refused the chicken and just decided right there and then to just leave and go somewhere else. for a place that charge foods at premium prices, this is completely UNACCEPTABLE ! if you have planned to come here, DONT ! take your money somewhere else and save yourself from getting ripped off ! if you're still keen, at least do yourself a favour, do NOT order their crispy...

worst experience on mother's day, felt bad and embarrassed to my parents. what happen to this place? it used to be my favorite but very disappointing on recent few visits. I booked at 1.30pm for 8 ( I was told only 1.30 is available when i booked). came in and there were more than 40 people waiting to be seated and like 8 table still needed to be cleaned and it was a chaos. no tables ready and so many walk in and all other booked at the same time as me..people leaving and people came before me got seated first. booked at 1.30pm got there 1.15pm and i got our seat at 2.10pm got our food around 2.45pm and only half came out and waited 30min after our first serve and nothing came out, still had 7 dishes to come out and also ordered more while we waited. still no food and asked about 3 times when it was coming out. we saw same dishes we ordered going out on take away and 3 times we asked no one came and explained to us or apologize, some dishes was canceled without giving any reason why it was canceled and we had to ask. 40min has past and still no food and we said we will cancle everything and then only one dish came out. first time we came out of yum cha without eating shu mai.. very bad management. shouldn't take bookings if you...