Ming Palace — Restaurant in Tacoma

Short Review: Many other places from the Tacoma - Federal Way area serve much better dim sum with much better service towards non Chinese customers. These people do not care about their customers if they are not Chinese.

I have visited this place twice

Long Review: As a person that enjoys eating an infinite variety of foods and trying new places, I was excited to see what this place had. It was very underwhelming in terms of food and service for the wrong reason.

Food - 3/5 - Dim Sum tasted to something like the frozen ones you can get at Safeway or other grocery stores (I don't advise eating those in any way but was curious at some point). Rice was noticeably dry and I noticed that a quarter of the menu was crossed out. Was this location previously owned by a similar restaurant type? Vegeatable dishes were well prepared but should not be a reason to visit this place.

Service - 1/5 - This is a very controversial thing that many oriental restaurants have an issue of doing. The FIRST TIME I visited, I was with my Chinese girlfriend's family. The waiters continuously served us and the overall service would be a 5/5. They went out of their way to cater to everything we wanted/needed. But before leaving, I saw 2 different sets of customers that were Caucasian arguing with the manager that they were being charged for multiple dishes they did not buy. This made me curious so ONE WEEK LATER I came back with some friends of mine.

ON THE SECOND VISIT, I came with some friends who were craving dim sum (none of us visibly Chinese/fully asian) while also curious about how our service would be. Oh my god...did a total 180 occur. The waiters took about 20 minutes to get to us compared to the immediate response previously and my previous 30 minute lunch took about 2 hours to finish. After once again eating below average food, we went up to pay our bills...and wow... we calculated the cost since I offered to pay and the total should have been about $33. We were charged $68 which was insane and all of us asked the lady why we were charged so much. She shows us the markings on the order paper and indeed, there were about twice as many markings as the food we had received. I immediately brought up that this was not correct and the manager promptly came out to tell us that we were wrong and this is exactly what we ordered. Luckily (but not really) one of my friends took a picture of the food earlier and showed the lady how much we got. They accused us of not having enough money and that we were trying to pay less for the food we received. So we did what I'm sure many other customers did and payed for everything so we could just leave but no leave a tip. Before getting in the car, we were chased down by one of the ladies saying that we didn't tip and that we needed to tip for the service. At that point we just ignored her and drove away while she was yelling.

Overall rating - 2/5 - There should really be no reason to come to this place. If you are not Chinese, I recommend you to stay away. You will be scammed pretty hard. Would normally think it was a one time issue but I've seen multiple people complain both online...

If you live in Tacoma you know how hard it is to find good Chinese food. Most options are side menus in a Teriyaki style restaurant or the Safeway deli. These are not chinese food. LOL. Ming palace is the real deal, and the staff is just amazing. They genuinely care that you have a positive experience, and if you don't, please take a moment to contact or connect with them first, I bet they will do what they can. For example, today's order, I got their pot stickers, they are huge, but wasn't my favorite, but a co worker who couldn't help but snatch one (there was plenty to share) said it was amazing. So definitely a personal flavor thing. However, notice - 5 stars from me. Everything I have ordered here has been amazing. I don't eat out often, just not in my budget, but about once a month I will order something special for lunch at work, and get enough for a lunch or two. Well, I thought I was doing that today, and you know what? I have food for the week! The portions are classic chinese family style portions, and there is a plenty. Even offered co workers some, because pretty sure I won't get through all of it. So much food!! and delish. I have never dined in, but am looking forward to taking the fam there soon. I also would like to point out that this is not my first time ordering here. The last time was several months ago for the whole family, and it was that experience that brought me back today. I can see someone doing a search, and seeing the location. Please do not let this deter you. They have plenty of parking, cameras and big windows. I have never felt unsafe picking up there Also, if you are ordering to go, just give them a call. I ordered for pick up through the grubhub site, and the site was a little confusing, and based on looking at their menu, perhaps incomplete. So, there was a question with my order and they called me! THAT is customer service. The site muddled the order and so it was confusing, so they called to confirm my expectations and make sure I was getting what I thought i was getting. They have a huge building and are ready for your group event, they have tons of space and are eager to earn you business. I...

This was the worst Experience that I have had in a long time. 1st I am a very busy person and sometimes cannot take the time to eat in. I asked the staff if I could do take out and they immediately became rude and uninterested. Fast forward to the billing process and they combine both of our orders on one check (Usually ok) I ask them if we can have separate checks for our separate orders and they were hesitant to do so. b(also semi irritating, but not enough for me to complain about.) So I get back into my office and find that I have received none of the food that I paid for. (also not as bad because its usually a mistake.) I call them back to set things right and no one was willing to help me. The lady on the phone was genuinely uninterested in my issue and I could hear her laughing and joking in the background as they hand a CUSTOMER the phone to help me. By this time I am less than happy with this service and requested to have a refund instead of an exchange. This whole situation is very sad and disheartening since I use to LOVE going there when I started the Military. The staff was nice, accommodating, and welcoming. This staff today was rude, uninterested, and have shown no intention in helping me. Thanks for taking my RECIEPT so that it would be harder for me to ask for my money back. I hope that they just give it back to me and not have to deal with my service any longer. You have lost a potential loyal customer who genuinely use to love this place and would refer others to them. Not any more. I will tell everyone in the Military where not to go and all my friends and family will never have to deal with this unprofessional...