China Palace Restaurant — Restaurant in Walnut Creek

Great overall experience

TL;DR Premise: We want a place between Sacramento and San Jose along I680 for lunch. We want Chinese food but not necessarily serving regional specialties for a good ($$) value. A familiar brand/chain (e.g. Panda, PFC) of known quality and value was not necessary.

Given the aforementioned parameters, China Palace (CP) in Walnut Creek is the most highly rated Chinese restaurant based on its location (adjacent to I680) and online reviews (with at least a few hundred reviews to eschew initial soft-opening bias).

Food: We start with a couple dim sum items. Note that this place is not a “dim sum” restaurant and has a very limited selection. However, we are interested in standard fare: char siu bao (pork buns) and har gow.(shrimp dumplings). Surprisingly, as we order the buns, the server asks whether we want steamed or baked. Steamed but they offer both! The appetizers come out quickly and are hot, delicate and tasty as if they are just shuttled off a dim sum cart. As with most dim sum, these are more than likely prepared earlier (perhaps offsite and/or even frozen) but CP is able to sustain their delectability.

Following our family tradition (of fostering fairness ;-), each diner chooses a favorite dish: spicy eggplant, chow mein (Hong Kong style), mapo tofu, dry fried string beans, mongolian beef and sweet and sour pork, a mish mash of Cantonese, Szechuan, Mongolian (but probably originated in Taiwan) dishes and all somewhat Americanized for the domestic(ated) palate. The server is thoughtfully explicit with respect to the desired heat for the spicy dishes.

Just like the appetizers, the entrees are paraded out promptly. All the items taste fresh, uniquely flavorful and not drowning in thick generic sauce. The vegetable ingredients are cooked to the proper tenderness and not mushy. The fried noodles are hot and crispy but not oily. The mapo tofu, albeit milder than usual, does have a hint of obligatory szechuan peppercorn. Finally, the pork is batter fried yet not oily and does not bloat the generous protein inside.

Decor: The space is very typical for a restaurant residing in a strip mall. Clean and not overly ornate. They have tables for two up to banquet tables topped with lazy Susans (rotating dumbwaiters). The entire facility (including WCs) was navigable by the two disabled patrons in our party.

Service: Although reviewers complained about the service, we found the sole server to be responsive even when the restaurant is fully seated and take-out orders are flying out the door. Our water glasses are consistently filled. Perhaps, our group is more forgiving because we realize the staff is bilingual or that we have all worked in food services in the past.

Bottom line: We have sampled many of the Chinese restaurants in the bay area over the last four decades. This place is as delightful as any we have been including some of our local mainstays in the south bay and even SF. If we lived closer we would be frequenting...

Originally this restaurant was a place of choice for my partner and I. The food is absolutely good. The quality of food is good. The ambiance is standard for a "mom & pop" restaurant.

We delighted ourselves occasionally here to get lunch/dinner. Welp, that all changed on 6-2-24.

During my partner and I visit in April 2024, we told one of the owner's (the wife) that we'd be visiting with family on 6-2-24. I informed the owner that we wanted our family (13) ppl to experience the food. I also informed the owner that they'd be visiting from out of state. We decided to visit after the Walnut Creek Wine Festival earlier that day.

When we arrived, the owner's daughter who is ALWAYS RUDE greeted us with her TYPICAL nonchalant, dismissive demeanor. I asked for her mom (we're used to interacting with the mom).

Eventually the owner comes up to us, she looks at all of us as if we're fresh out of some "gang initiation" and condescendingly says "how may I help you"??

I explained to her that these were my guests that I told her about back in April. She then says harshly "You should've called me ahead of time"!!

I simply said "OKAY" and politely walked out.

Needless to say, as a retired effective business owner, I would have never required my clients to follow-up with me. I would've taken down their info, and followed up with the client prior to the date.

The owner had a racial undertone, the restaurant had customer's of another ethnicity there. The owner appeared to be more interested in pleasing them only, rather than accommodating ALL ethnicities.

"REAL situations EXPOSE fake people"!!

We will NEVER patronize this place EVER AGAIN!!

BTW Yardhouse in Concord, CA & in San Jose, CA were EXCELLENT...

I have never been to this place before this Sundays event, but through Yelp, Google and through friends I decided to give it a try and we were so glad we did.

We were celebrating our son's 7th birthday at Heather Farms, I ordered 3 trays: beef with Broccoli, chicken fried rice, and orange chicken. They were full trays and smelled amazing from the start.

The full family greeted my friend and I, we had a brief conversation about the occasion we were celebrating and how we found their restaurant.

Went to the party and our friends and family began to eat. My wife and I noticed that we were running out of food and I haven't even had a chance to get something to eat.

I decided to call them back up and order another 3 trays of exactly the same thing. Took them about 30 minutes and I got a call to tell me they're whew ready with their order.

I just want to say thank you to the owners Jason and Judy (I hope I got the names correct) they were able to accommodate our needs in such an amazingly fast time.

I finally able to grab a plate and confirmed the reason why so many of our guests where getting 2nd helping and the kids where devouring every last morsel of food.

My wife and I finally found a local Chinese restaurant that has fair pricing, great service and amazing food close to our...