Hong Kong Palace — Restaurant in Hackettstown

Walked in tonight and was completely taken aback by the remodeling. It then caused me to ask the not so friendly hostess if the place was under new ownership, and she said yes. I was leery about ordering but decided to try it since I came quite a distance from Sussex County. I was about to place my order and circle items on the paper menu, when I realized they were reusing menus. I told the hostess I wanted a fresh menu since I didn't want to have any confusion for the chefs. A few menus below the one I wrote on, also had been used and items circled.... Very bizarre. My family and I wouldn't make the drive often, but when we did, we knew we could depend on Hong Kong Palace. That was the Hong Kong Palace of Old. I compared an old menu to a new menu and I did not see that the prices increased except for a few items and the "special family dinner" choices. But the food clearly did not taste the same. We ordered spring rolls that seemed excessively greasy, and we ordered moo goo gai pan which was not prepared exactly as the old Hong Kong Palace had, but even that was okay except they were exceptionally light on any vegetables in the dish. We also ordered diced cut roast pork with almonds and the pork was not diced, it was full size pieces that we needed to cut with knives. And the last dish we ordered was beef lo mein, and again our biggest complaint was the lack of vegetables. Clearly the most noticeable thing to my husband and I was that the rice was not fresh. The white rice had a crunch to it indicating that it was a day old. It was not the soft, fluffy rice that we were used to. To say we were disappointed would be an understatement. When we would be jonzing for Chinese food, we knew we could depend on Hong Kong Palace but not anymore. 😰 For those prices, it's just...

As of the first week of June, 2022, there have been considerable changes in this restaurant. The interior has been changed and redone. Overhead lighting is now more subdued. Carpeting is gone and replaced by composite wood flooring imprinted with "Hawaii" and "Merry Christmas". Seating arrangements now include booths by the fron windows. All seating is new. Staff changes are obvious. The accomodating young lady who answered the phone is gone. A waiter there for over 20 years who had recalled my favorite foods from serving me at a different restaurant, after not seeing me for several years, has not been present for weeks. Food choices have increased in number. A new menu is available as well as the old. The texture, composition, and flavor of the old, however, is noticeably different. Although the old menu is available, the listed items seem to be made using different recipes. Serving dishes are no longer utilized. Food is served directly on the diner's individual plates. Table cloths during dinner hour asre no longer used. Food delivery is now available. The tendency toward a warm, homelike atmosphere has been replaced by a more business-like modern style, a style punctuated by large pictures of food in the windows. Preferences for all of the above are of course personal. Many people will enjoy the "new" Hong Kong Palace. Personally, however, I miss the "old" Hong Kong Palace that was my favorite local restaurant. Fortunately , I am left with heart-warming memories of dining-in on many occasions over a period of twenty years as well as having had two delightful birthday parties that staff made...

It saddens me to write this review but I've been going to Hong Kong Palace for 25 years and no matter where I was in the country I would always compare every Chinese place to Hong Kong Palace. It was the gold standard for Chinese food until it was sold 2 years ago and now has new owners. I spent $70 yesterday on take out as I've been telling my girlfriend about this place for a while.....

Well I definitely wasted my money as the food was terrible and the containers were only just over half way full!!!

The egg rolls are laughable at best. They used to be the best egg rolls you could buy and they were big. Now they are the tiny pre frozen ones from Walmart. The wonton soup is the only thing that still tastes even remotely like the old place.

The spare ribs had no flavor. This used to be my #1 favorite thing bit the new place does not know how to make good ribs.

I have bragged about how good this place was for the past 25 years and now it's no better than a backwoods takeout place. It was honestly a slap in the face when I opened my beef with scallions and it was...