View MenuRestaurant InfoAt Crystal Palace; located directly between Kitchener and Waterloo; it's always your choice, whether that means your placing an order for take out, pick up, delivery or you're dining at the restaurant. We are proud to have the largest selection of Cantonese and Szechuan food available in Waterloo. We offer a comfortable, relaxing atmosphere and are fully licensed by the L.L.B.O so it's no wonder reservations are recommended on the weekends. Or if you're too busy to come in yourself we offer fast city wide delivery for a small fee. We have some great deals available so come in during the week and check out our all you can eat lunch buffet for just $6.95 a person or try one of our many combination plates for one, all available for under $10.00. Go ahead and try us today we'll quickly become your go to restaurant for delicious Chinese food in the Waterloo area! 10 King Street South, Waterloo, OntarioHoursmore...See more text
I love the dim sum. The lunch buffet is ok. Haven't been there in a while but they are friendly and they would speak Cantonese to me and ask how my day is going. A nice place for lunch if you want some quiet time during the week!
The food was decent for the price but the biggest problem I had was just placing my pickup order. I called and clearly ordered 2 dishes (describing them by number and name). They said their PC was slow, then once that was fixed I had to repeat 2 more times and was told i am talking too fast (but I am not a fast talker and was trying to be clear). Then the lady put another person on the phone who took my order no problem at all.
Their chicken balls are better than other similar restaurants but fried rice and chow mein, egg roles are a little bland. At least the food does not seem too greesy.
One very strange thing we noticed because my wife is Chinese, she can read the mandarin on the menu stating that soup comes with the combo plates but it is not written in english. Since I ordered and picked up, I got no soup so it appears that you have to be asian to get that soup. I guess next time I will get my wife to order. The staff speaks mandarin so probably best to get her to order next time : )
Our party of 8 was looking for an enjoyable New Years Eve supper and it turned out to be the worst dining experience any of us have ever encountered. The take out orders were given priority over those who chose to eat in so we waited for over an hour for our first dish to arrive. The next 2 dishes arrived 30 minutes later and 20 minutes after that. Of our friends, 2 couples never did get all of their food. One soup did not arrive, another took over an hour to be served. The spring rolls arrived when they were finished eating and one dish never showed at all. At no point was there ever a word of apology from the server. When asked about when food was coming by the table next to us, she replied, yeah, yeah, it's coming. Then after all 4 couples paid at the front counter, the lady at the till accused us of only paying for 3 couples. One paid cash, one by credit card and 2 by debit. How hard is that to figure out. By far the absolute dining experience ever. Thank God for good company to pass the time! The food we did get was not as good as we have had at other Chinese restaurants, and one of our dishes was not even cooked thoroughly and had virtually no vegetables in it.
I went in just before noon, to which I was the only customer, which made for a relaxed dining experience. Now I think larger, more sumptuous smorgasbords like Mandarin may spoil one's view of an average buffet, but this is a smaller-than-average one for sure. I don't even think they have a dinner buffet. Two carts for hot food here, and one for dessert(Jello, Neapolitan Ice Cream, some mysterious white-and-pink cake, and some pineapples?) I found the chicken balls and wanton/sweet & sour adequate. The Sesame chicken seemed dry, as was the other lookalike chicken(no dishes were labelled). The ribs had tasty meat, but bones were present, and one could swallow one if not careful.. The fried chicken was tolerable.. Both the chicken and the "beef" in the dishes with the mixed vegetables seemed almost under-cooked. The ice cream tasted as Neapolitan should. Hostess/waitress(same woman) seemed friendly enough. I'd say then can get $7.95 for an all-you-can-eat Chinese Buffet...probably even a dollar more...but don't expect luxurious dining. If you like Manchu Wok-like food, come here(and since a typical three item combo at Manchu Wok costs what this does) that may be a good idea.
$2.00 for a can of Nestea may seem obscene, but I've gathered over the years that buffets bilk you on drinks(makes sense).
For a while I used to eat my lunch there regularly but not anymore. It wasn't long before I realized that they have absolutely zero appreciation for your business. It takes them forever to replenish food in the buffet trays, sometimes with half of the trays empty. If you want to eat their buffet lunch you might want to come before 11:30am or you may end up with a selection of leftovers. The restaurant owners are incredibly profit-minded. There was one time when I was in the middle of my meal the male owner abruptly took my plates to a table at the back and asked me to seat there beside another customer. He then quickly cleared my table and seated two more customers. When I was eating there, I always give them about 15% in tips (as a courtesy), rounded to the nearest dollar. Lately the lady owner seemed to have figured out this pattern and had since been voluntarily deducting the tips for me as if this is something she was entitled to. I have since been eating my lunch in the Chinese restaurant nearby and I will not come back again.
