Gourmet Palace China Bistro — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I think I've had enough Chinese food in my life but my wife and I thought the food was average at best, but perhaps your experience may vary depending on the dish. I ordered a take out on Christmas day from a recommendation by my friend who really loves this place. Perhaps because it was on Christmas, they were very busy and food wasn't ready for pickup and I waited about 20 min longer, which was fine.

While waiting, I've seen many people go in and out and there was a DoorDash driver who came to pickup food, but the restaurant workers kept saying they closed orders from DoorDash so they don't have any orders. But the delivery lady kept showing on her phone and they were all clueless and helpless. One suggestion is to only open one food fulfillment service at a time. Because they do multiple such as ChowNow, GrubHub, etc and they close orders based on busyness, it makes customers try multiple options and can go through issues like that one customer's delivery order. But according to the restaurant staff, apparently people order for days in advance!

About the food, the fried noodle dish I got had a lot of hope from me, but the noodle wasn't tasty compared to many others I've had. Dim sum dishes tasted overpowered by the soy sauce flavor and my wife longed for ones from Hong Kong. The rice dish was good. In all, we spent a little under $50 for three dishes from lunch menu, close to an hour spent on driving and waiting, etc. Perhaps I should've tried some of the common dishes like orange chicken or kung pao chicken or something, but it's great that they serve so many kinds of dishes for all to enjoy. YMMV, I'll just have to try...

This review is for the behavior of the employees here. We came into the restaurant at 9:30. They have a 10:00pm closing time. Before we physically walked into the restaurant, the woman at the counter/register (older lady) looks at her watch and starts shaking her head “NO” while looking out at us, still OUTSIDE the restaurant. She gestures to another employee, who checks the time on his phone and comes over to tell us we can’t sit to eat.

We were never going to sit. We were there for take out!!!! They cared a heck of a lot more about getting rid of us than why we were there. I was so put off by the experience having just barely walked though the door that I no longer wanted their food.

We left without even speaking to them and the man standing at the counter who wanted to get rid of us shrugged when we left and smiled, excited that we walked out because they didn’t want to bother serving us.

Not going back. This place isn’t worth it. I’d like to support businesses...

I tried the vegetable chow fun and really enjoyed it. The noodles weren’t the wide, flat style I was expecting — they were more like fettuccine in size — but the flavor was excellent and the vegetables tasted fresh. Portions are large and generous, so you definitely leave satisfied. The service was fast and friendly; my server, who I think might be one of the owners, was very professional and welcoming.

What stood out to me is how much the restaurant feels like a true family-run spot. I saw several Chinese families dining in, as well as plenty of local families hanging out and enjoying their meals together. That’s always a great sign that the food is authentic and the atmosphere is comfortable. Overall, the chow fun was delicious, the service was outstanding, and it’s the kind of place I’ll be coming...