Imperial Palace

Great authentic Chinese food! The menu is HUGE and a bit overwhelming, they have divided it into regions from where dishes are from.
We were tired and overwhelmed with the menu so ended up getting the set menu with a few substitutions … And while it was delicious I think we got the «white Scottish «Chinese food options haha because everything was fried! Like I said all delicious but I don’t think very authentic… Haha I walked passed a bunch of other tables with lovely looking fresh dishes that I think I will try next time!
Despite our food all being fried we really enjoyed it all and are planing on going back, just ordering more of the fresh non-​fried options! ;)
Very formal seating, good prices and very friendly !

The dimsums were to die for — big and tasty!
Service was a little slow but most of the staff were friendly and patient.
We took a set menu because we were a little rushed. The lemon chicken was very tasty.
Unfortunately the vegetable dish, while fresh, was a bit bland, as was the beef in black bean sauce. However, I’m not giving up! I saw Asians (more Asians than European customers last night) ordering mustard greens and other more authentic dishes so next time we’ll take more care ordering.

Great meal, Great Service, I will be telling the world about this place.
«I will be back»

I’ll be honest, it wasn’t the best place I’ve ever been! I found the décor inside and out a bit garish, the food a bit bland and the staff a bit miserable, the highlight of my experience was the huge fish in the fish tank!
I don’t think I’ll be returning any time soon, Sorry for the negative comment but it was a big disappointment for me.

«Fantastic Dim Sum»
Reviewed 9 March 2014 via mobile
We went for dim sum today (Sunday) and it didn’t disappoint! It was hoachin’ with Chinese and Scots having family time, creating a fantastic atmosphere.
we opted for a selection of 6 dim sum (between 2), washed down with Chinese tea. All great value at £3.50 to £4 each. And I’m telling you I’m stuffed!!! We have dim sum a couple of times a month and it competes with the best in Glasgow, Manchester, London and will give you a feel for authentic Hong Kong Dim Sum.
The service wasn’t too shabby either with polite prompt service even though they were extremely busy.
We’ll be back through from Glasgow soon :)
Visited March 2014
4 of 5 stars Value
5 of 5 stars Atmosphere
4 of 5 stars Service
4 of 5 stars Food

Best Chinese (Cantonese) in Edinburgh by a long shot. Dim sum is freshly prepared, unlike nearly every other place.
You need to know what to order though. Dim Sum stops serving at 5 (yes this is normal, it is a lunch time thing!). There are 3 different menus. European, Dim Sum and Chinese (with seafood).
If you look clueless they will just give you the Euro menu but everyone here is super approachable. Ask about the food! A lot of people come here for the set lunch menu (sweet and sour etc.) so how do they know you want to order the real deal? All the menus use a numbering system so you don’t have to worry about trying to pronounce anything.
So settle in and here is my mega rambling guide of things to order (with the english names)
Dim Sum
— gelatinous meat parcel, super close to soup dumplings just a little smaller (SO GOOD)
— roast pork bun (either steamed or baked, both are good)
— prawn and breadstick cheung fun (rolled rice flour with filling), it is crazy good and the textures are out of sight!
— deep fried octopus cakes
— chicken feet (if you like chicken skin you will like these, just spit out the bones)
— prawn and pak choi dumpling
— har kow (pork and crab dumpling)
— steamed egg cake
Noodle/​rice dishes
— The ho fun is made fresh (I don’t think the egg noodles are sadly) so get the Quick fried beef ho fun
— Can’t go wrong with the any of the mixed meats on rice, particularly the pork belly.
Other things to order
— Kai lan malaysian style, always good to get some green vegetables.
— sometimes they have razor clams which are also called spoots in Scotland. steamed in garlic they are delicious.
— monkfish hotpot
— something with tofu as a token gesture to vegetarianism.

This somewhat out of the way restaurant is well worth at least one weekend afternoon visit, even if you’re on bus from town. I see there has been some disappointment registered regarding the evening. I can’t comment as I’ve only done the afternoon — several times. But I would, I will, go again. Booking at the weekend is advised.
Imperial Palace is definitely one of the best Dim Sum places in Edinburgh. It’s best experienced in as large a group (of dedicated Dim Sum fans ;-) as you can muster.
While a point is lost for occasional stodginess — it’s a large, busy place with a penchant for steaming! — you can go all out here with your sweet and savoury baus, lemon tarts, siu mai, har gau, chicken’s feet (if you dare), and great duck and char siu — the works. Matthew’s Chinese supermarket, beside, is also fantastic.
If you consider yourself a fan of Chinese food, this is an Edinburgh MUST. Even if you end up thinking it’s not worth the journey (30 – 40 minutes on bus from town), you’ve got to go and try it. Go fill your bags with Chinese groceries and reward the work with a Dim Sum feast.

this place is good! pretty high quality chinese food! and cool tables with a bit in the middle that spins around!!! the only bad thing was that it was so busy that we had to wait ages to order and ages for our good but the food was great and they were friendly!

So Imperial Palace was a big fail for me. I wanted dim sum, but I forgot it is a primarily afternoon feast, rather than evening. So, we opted to stay, but go with the standard menu instead. The restaurant itself is large, had a few diners at the time we visited, but nothing too overwhelming. The waiter took our order, then we settled down.
We only reached the first course. I ordered vegetable spring rolls, the boy, spare ribs. Unfortunately, I got a mix of vegetable and duck spring rolls, which made me rather unhappy.
More awkwardly, after alerting the waiter, he kindly cleared my plate, and then the SR and I decided that we would dine elsewhere that evening. Unfortunately, the waiter misheard, and still started to prepare the SR’s dinner. Umm… oops.
Never mind, after a second effort to clarify the situation (that we wanted to leave), we paid for our drinks and left. One star for the apologies the waiter made (which were plenty), but I won’t be back.

It was more luck than judgement that I ended up eating at the Imperial Palace yesterday evening.
Having not yet seen the latest Bond, Skyfall, I discovered that the only cinema still showing it (just) less than 45 mins drive was the Odeon in Wester Hailes (a first visit for me).
Arriving early for the showing, we had an hour to grab a bite to eat. Taking advice from a Juniper Green local, we arrived here.
If you’ve ever been to one of the excellent Chinese restaurants you often find above a large Chinese cash n’ carry supermarket, the look and feel of this establishment is very similar.
There were a good few patrons in considering it was only 18:30 on a Wednesday evening and what with most people returning to work after the Christmas break the very next day.
As we were seated, I loved the fact that there were as many families of Oriental descendancy enjoying eating here as there were Caucasian as I’ve found that often to be a good indicator of quality when trying a new restaurant.
With time sadly limited, we ordered food to share. I had to keep the spice factor less than I normally go for as I was with my Mum, who prefers the mild end of the scale.
With that in mind, we ordered, Chicken Noodle Soup, Spare Ribs in BBQ sauce, Shredded Crispy Beef in Ginger & Spring Onion and some Soft Noodles (vermicelli style) along with a couple of Tsingtao Beers.
My Mum errs toward starters and the soup was for her with everything else shared.
The sauce for the ribs was gorgeous with a subtle sticky sweetness. The shredded beef was crispy (when so many places serve soggy). I felt there could be a little more emphasis on the ginger, although it was still lovely. The noodles were some of the best I’ve had. Not limp, nor too greasy & with the light taste of soy.
The amount of food presented was easily enough to satisfy two people.
Having decimated these good sized portions in record time, we found we had a brief moment to relax with a pot of Chinese Tea.
Service was exemplary, despite the hurried nature of our visit and the whole bill came to a very reasonable £28.
I suspect I will return under more relaxing circumstances & perhaps have some fun with the dim sum menu.

Great traditional Chinese food! Beef chow main is awesome. Pork dim sum very good. Peking style pork was great too. A little out of the center of town if you are a tourist. But food is well worth it.

Imperial Palace is my favourite place to go for a sit in Chinese meal. The dim sum is excellent, and there is a wide variety of dishes to choose from– both from a traditional Chinese perspective but also the fare you’d expect from any Scottish Chinese restaurant, except usually with a few interesting variations. The price tag is pretty good too and the portion sizes are brilliant. I would go as far as to say Imperial Palace is better than the much praised Chop Chop.
My only niggle would be that the staff are slightly racist; the last time I went I was shown the menu for white people at the back without any explanation that there was a Chinese style menu I could order off if I so wished, and my dining partner and I were brought a knife and fork instead of chopsticks. But it didn’t bother me that much because the food was AMAZI