Want Dim Sum in Philadelphia _ Don't go here !.
Imperial Inn
146 N 10th St,
Philadelphia, PA 19107
I took my son and a friend of his for Dim Sum, because this place had the best reviews and I LOVE dim sum and introducing others to it. His friend had never had it before.
We parked across the street and saved a long ordeal looking for metered street parking. I think it was a flat $10.
They had 2 floors open that day. We sat on the ground floor on the left of the door. It was a Saturday and the place was packed.
For a total cost of over $50.00 (before tip) we got lots of so-so food, a few vile, inedible dishes (that they refused to remove from our bill) and NO great dishes. There was 1 wonderful sauce that made everything edible.
1st ORDER TEA, don't accept the crap pot they plunk down on the table. It's vile. The place was packed, yet they were serving tea that tasted, like it had been made in a huge bathtub poored into a non scrubbed tea pot, and tested for heat by having dirty fingers put in it. Yes, it's really is that bad. It took 2 hours to eat, as service is SLOW to SLOWER.
I should mention that I have over 40 kinds of tea at home, in addition to my spices. Several purchased in my trip to Hong Kong. Wow, they have great tea! Americans usually drink Lipton and LIKE IT! If your a Lipton lover, maybe the tea will be OK for you.
They tried their best to ignore my requests for fresh tea. I finally stood up and yelled, "Can I please get some fresh Jasmine Tea over here?" Hey, I got the tea ASAP. Imagine that!
I thought that the fried food was best. So did my son and his friend. The fried dumplings stuffed with Chinese medicinal greens was acceptable, but we only got 2 and there were 3 of us.
***** The sauce for the fried meat dumplings (which came by only 1 time in almost 2 hours) was fantastic. If they had put it it on their tables, they would sell more and people would rave over their place. It was a vinegar, soy, etc. Hong Kong style sauce.
The Jasmine tea was good. A cheaper cut leaf variety with little fragrance, but it was, clean, crisp and hot, without being bitter.
Do NOT get the squid anything. Vile, Avoid. Avoid the mushrooms that looked stuffed. They were soggy, tastless and the filling, I could never identify.
I had been told to order the Phoenix roll, but it never materialized and I didn't want to engage in another, yell out loud solution.
Maybe if you get there when they open, your experience will be better.
On the whole, it was a sad trip for me. I had expected much better. On the good side, his friend did say he liked it. Maybe he was just being polite.
Next time, it will be:
Joy Tsin Lau
(215) 592-7228
1026 Race St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
The decor is old, but very elaborate, the tables very close together. Sit near where the carts come out of the kitchen or the best items will be snapped up before you see them.
I hope this help others avoid thiese mistakes. If my son arrives soon, I'll try the above alternate place and post again.…
Dim Sum. I only go here for Dim Sum. My advice is to get there around 11:30 am on a saturday. The food is more fresh because they just made it. And some much food rolls out. Authentic Asian foods. I felt like i was in china with some of the dishes. For the amount of food, you will be surprise how much your bill is. Its not expensive. I love it!…
The epitome of Chinatown's awesomeness.
The Imperial Inn has been a leader in Chinatown for the longest time. I've been coming here since childhood and the food has always been fresh, classic and delicious. The service can be unreliable,
but the portions, atmosphere and seating are worth it.
For the dinner menus, stick with meat and vegetable dishes (they're not known for their wonton soups).…
highly recommended!. i went there many times, the food was great and the waiters were nice to me. The atmosphere was beautiful as well, the price was a reasonable price and overall this is the best chinese restaurant i've ever been to.…
Try this restaurant if you want Bad food ,high price, and bad manner waitstaff !!. My girlfriend and i went there on friday after shopping at the gallery , we sat ,we ordered the food took long to come out we noticed that the tables around us were being serviced before us even though they came in after us. the food finally came i ordered the egg foo young which was hard and the sauce was very thick. the phoenix roll was quite good, my friend ordered shrimp and broccili they gave her 5 shrimps and her plate cost 15.50 you would think they would give more for the price. The waitress was nice and attentive until it came time for the bill she gave us the bill and it was 49$ we paid in cash and we didnt have enough cash for the usual 15% so we gave her what we had she proceded to put the tip back on the table and said something about 15% we thought she said it was already added to t bill so we started to get our things together and she stood their and said it wasnt added so we gave her the same tip we gave her earlier she told us that we had to give her 15% and she has to report it to the irs we where shocked that the tip we gave her she put back on the table it wasnt like we gave her a dollar we gave her 5 dollars which was all the cash we had on us for her to put it back and tell us how much we are supposed to give her was wrong everyones living in a recession not just her!! the waitress also told us that she would not serve us anymore which is fine because we dont want to go there again it was not wont the time or the price their are many other chinese restaurants in china town that is better lee how foo for insteads better food and service i do not recommend this restaurant to anyone !!!…
