China Palace Restaurant — Restaurant in Eagle

China Palace seems to be the Chinese moral equivalent of Denny's... Not bad. but nothing to get excited about either.

On the "meh" side of things, the potstickers were more wrapper than filling, just not a delicate dumpling... The chicken chow mein had very little chicken, and even less of an Asian flavor profile. And. I struggled with the Mongolian beef as it was loaded with yellow onions and green bell peppers, with a mediocre sauce.

Slightly better was the General Tsao's chicken, which had a nice sweet flavor, but quite different from the savory garlic flavors one normally associates with that dish. The sweet and sour pork was OK, but the breading was thick, kinda like the outside of a corn dog. Also, no produce in that dish. The shrimp in lobster sauce was the best dish of the bunch as the shrimp were large and cooked tender, with snow peas, water chestnuts. palm hearts, celery, and bok choy.

Overall, China Palace is passable for Chinese in a pinch, but is very much a 3 star Chinese resturant. I'm not sure if they've altered their flavors to meet expectations of Idahoans, but the flavors are not from China (Been to PRC 20 times on business), nor even on par with most decent Chinese resturants I've eaten at in New York, Oregon, or California over the years.

On the plus side, I did find the management and staff to be friendly and helpful.

ps. We have now eaten at 5 or 6 Chinese resturants in the Boise area, and not a single one of them makes me want to come back for more... That's a shame as I really love great...

Let me start by saying this is not a reflection of our waitresses, they were great. They stayed calm, professional, and kind throughout.

We came here to celebrate my son’s birthday. He loves chow mein, so we ordered a bunch of dishes thinking the portions would be similar to every other Chinese restaurant, family-style or at least sharable. What we got was shockingly small for what we paid. The chow mein plate alone was $16 and barely enough to feed one person.

When we asked about the portion size, the waitress (again, doing her best) took it to the kitchen. She came back and told us the cook refused to make more or fix the dish because he was overwhelmed. Seriously? We’re paying $16–$20 per plate, and the response is “too bad”? At first, they only offered $5 off the chow mein, which felt like a slap in the face, but eventually, they did take it off the bill entirely. Which we appreciated.

We ordered five entrees and two appetizers for two adults and three kids, and it was barely enough food. We left frustrated, and honestly a little embarrassed because we were trying to celebrate a special occasion.

Again, the service was the only thing that saved this from being a one-star review. But unless something changes with the kitchen and portion sizes, we won’t be back. It’s just not worth the price.

FYI - The photo is the untouched Chow Mein plate...

I give this place a 3 out of 5, because, I believe, the food is very good. What kept this restaurant from getting a 4, or a 5, is the apparent attitude of the hired hands. I had ordered some food for my mother and myself over the phone, picked it up, payed for it, and proceeded to take it to the car. Upon getting ready to drive off, I noticed that a container of chicken curry had tipped over, and had spilled all over the car seat. After informing the cashier about this, and complaining that whoever boxed this failed to close the container adequately, the clerk claimed that all containers are always closed. I said that apparently, this one had not been properly closed. The asian women that carries the food from the kitchen to the cashier seemed indifferent to this. I feel I should be given a rain check for 2 free meals as a result of this (the order that didn't soil my vehicle seat was essentially cold by the time I had gone back and forth to get paper towels from the restroom to halfway clean the seat, and I had to wait a futher 10 minutes or so to get a replacement on the one that did spill). Now my car smells like stale curry chicken everytime I get into it. My previous experiences there...