Seafood Palace — Restaurant in Temple City

It's been 6 years since I last came to this place. At first, it was rumored that the main chef had it out with the bosses of the place, then after several years of renovations and the pandemic, me and my group never came back. Now that I'm here, the food isn't bad. I feel that their batter for the 椒鹽蝦 (Salt & Pepper Shrimp) overpowers the shrimp a bit, but has a nice crisp to it. The 魚香茄子 wasn't bad. Nice glaze on the outside, and the sauce didn't take away from the egg plant itself. The 鹹蛋蒸肉餅 was interesting. I'm used to a MUCH more saltier version, which has to balanced out with copious amounts of rice. The flavor here is more tamed. Not bad. Subtle, and that's fine. BUT they did put some sugar in the soy sauce, and that disturbed my friend. I didn't have any issues with it, but you know, to each and of their own, tastes are a subjective matter. Keep in mind, when we were asked if we wanted 1 or 2 bowls of rice, my friend said, "They used to give us a deep pan of rice". I had to tell her, "lots of places are giving rice by the bowl now. Come on! Plus, it's been 6 years since we've been here. Everyone's dealing with inflation." The decor looks much more modern than before. Very nice. Still maintains that sort of golden interior, but with more modern art hanging on the walls, the lights, and the ceiling add a nice touch. Plus, with the space they have, they've added more private rooms for big occasions. PRO-TIP: If you're coming with about 18 people, that's the maximum a big table can fit (normally the max for a big table is 16 to sit comfortably). Any bigger than that, you'll have to divide it...

The deco is clean and modern, The food and service is quite good for a Chinese restaurant. The shrimp is large and fresh, and the taste is very succulent. This is a good option for a large crowd and gathering. There are no condiments on the table, you would need to ask for salt, pepper, hot sauce, etc. Parking is somewhat limited, there is some street parking available. Many regular patrons park at the bank parking spot during non business hours and walk over. The waiter at this restaurant speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and English as well. For their lunch special this restaurant charges $1.80 for a bowl of white rice. Many regular patrons would order fried rice instead as the portion is very generous. Many people order take out as well, there is a long table for take...

Amazing crab which is their famous most popular dish, and lobster yee noodles. I lived the live steamed fish, although we had to send it back because it wasn't fully cooked the first time. Shrimp in lettuce wraps was fun for the kids, but too little filling given. Service was really lacking though, had to get up to get their attention several times to get things like water, forks, even to order and get the check. They didn't change our plates until we were done (not useful).

Nice big banquet sized tables though, so we could fit 16 people on one table.

Pricey though, good for...