88 Palace Restaurant

What can I say, it’s just a good Chinese Dim Sum place. The vibe, décor, and food just seemed more genuine than other dim sum places in the area.
We had the typical Hong Kong breakfast: Pan Fried Noodles, Green Beans, Zhaliang, and tea. Most were good — certainly not the best in the area — but the Saturday morning vibe makes up for it. Zhaliang was the weakest dish — the dough wasn’t as crispy as we’d like. The place is a good deal though: $ 15 feeds two.

If I could this place a negative I could. I went here on Mother’s Day and it was past the dim sum rush so we had nothing to pick/​eat. One of the cart ladies told my mom that they were $ 2 a plate and we ended up buying a lot of dishes. Turns out she lied or there was a miscommunication. When I brought it up to one of the managers, she called us all liars. Yup, that’s right, liars and the employees then jumped on and called my mom a liar.
I’ve never been disrespected in my life.

88 Palace! I remember coming here a lot when I was a kid for weddings and dim sum with families. I’ve seen many bad reviews about this place for bad service. I guess I don’t notice it since they are run by fujianese people
This is also a meet up place for new immigrants flying in from China and 88 palace is well known to conduct your business and the downstairs 88 palace mall has everything an asian immigrant would need.
The wedding banquet dishes are always good, fresh and flavorful. The place is big and can host about 1000+ diners.
This is one of the few that serves one of my favorite dim sum dish which is the duck tongue with taro and it is done right but sadly my other favorite which is the honey comb tripe they seem to do it differently with a white sauce and instead of a darker sauce in most dim sum places.

i am by no means a dim sum connoisseur, but i have been to few different spots around chinatown and i have to say this was my least favorite. the overall quality of food was lacking along with variety. the carts that were being pushed around seemed to have the same mix of food on them. my chinese friend ended up having to just order/​request the couple of dishes that we were looking for but couldnt find. we also got an order of beef chow mein, while a generous portion it was lacking in overall flavor and tasted a bit burnt.
to further echo my fellow Unilocalers, service here could use some improvement. i get it, usually people don’t drink ice water at dim sum. but it doesnt mean you should stare right through me when im waving my empty water glass at you.
this is a large space, so it was easy to get a table, but i’d rather wait in line at jing fong than come back here. there was a general feeling of dirtiness.

So I was here yesterday for a fundraiser.
This building is like a mini mall so if it’s your first time here and you are looking for something specific it might take you a while. Thankfully these days most people have cell phones so I called on of the organizers who directed me how to find it.
This is a huge space and looks like a good space for a big party or special event. We were told there would be 12 courses and there sure were.
Every table was given a family style platter of whatever was being served except dessert. Dessert was served on individual plates. At my table the server helped distribute to everyone when she brought the platter. When it was near the time for the next course she would come over and distribute what was left on the platter on the table to us. She was very professional and answered questions about the dishes the people at my table had questions about.
It was a planned menu and everything seemed to flow well. We used audio-​visual equipment during the dinner and had a DJ for the party afterwards but there were no issues. The bathrooms were made into gender neutral bathrooms with posted signs.

The only thing to consider for this story is that we arrived when it opened (9 Am on the dot). At that time, only one food cart was out. It took roughly 15 to 20 minutes for the next food cart to roll out.
The staff was just chilling in the mean time. Waitresses were trying on each other’s jackets. I even saw one dim sum girl giving another dim sum girl a deep tissue massage. Very slow service despite the fact that there were less than 20 customers in the restaurant.
When we were about to leave, there was an (what I believe was) accountant sitting at the cashiers desk who got upset at me for assuming he was a cashier. He called over some Waitresses who had no clue what was going on and what to do. I ultimately just gave them the exact amount owed and left.
Food isn’t bad, service is horrible. If you have plenty of time to waste, this is the place to go.

Authentic canto dim sum place. Not as greasy as some places I’ve been to but I wish they would roll around more carts and keep them stocked with the more popular dishes.

I come here all the time with my family, and I’m not sure why they prefer this place over Golden Unicorn, but I’m going to guess it’s because it’s a little cheaper here and there’s usually no wait. Typical mediocre dimsum fare here, nothing spectacular or particularly amazing here. If you don’t want to wait for your dimsum fix, and don’t care for the ambiance, (table cloth are pretty dirty) then come here. If you want better dimsum, I suggest Golden Unicorn down the block, however there will most likely be a long wait there. The service here is not the best, and the last time I came it took forever to get chicken feet. We were sitting there for at least an hour, asking every cart that came by if they had chicken feet. Come on, what dimsum place doesn’t have chicken feet circulating at all times?!? –1 star for that and –1 star for mediocre food.

Holy shit this was the worst, shadiest, and rudest Chinese restaurant I have been to. The service was not just bad, but it was like walking into a hostile car dealership where they try to force higher priced items down your throat. We got dirty dishes and a glass cup that had a crack in it. Seriously?
Also the food was not that great and expensive. The waitress literally gave us attitude every time we asked for water or a spoon, just small stuff. Absolutely one of the worst experiences — such a shame

Price? Very good. Food? Not bad. Again, it’s pretty hard to order at these dim sum places if you don’t speak a little Chinese and the people working here always seem to be in a hurry. I came here with three of my friends for lunch on a Sunday afternoon and the place was pretty busy but wasn’t overwhelming. They still push carts around here! I found it surprising how hard it was to find the standard Shrimp Dumpling or Shumai so we decided to just ask a waitress to find it for us, which is probably the smarter idea. I really recommend the fried red bean pastry if you can find it (豆沙角) because it’s lightly fried and so tasty! The ribs are good too. Overall, it isn’t the best dim sum place I’ve been to in the city nor is it the worst. Great for those who are on a budget though because we ate so much seafood items and it still came out to be ~$ 15 per person.

Rude staff and extremely crowded.
The staff seem like they don’t care and they seem bothered when you ask them for stuff. In fact, they almost look annoyed. It is also very crowded with the way they arrange the tables. People might literally be sitting on top of each other, which is annoying. One of the cart ladies even complained about the seating because she couldn’t get through! She even asked for one of the guys to move the table, but he was just like sit more tightly or whatnot… The carts also skip through the rows. one second I see the cart I want in the next aisle, coming to mine after, but all of a sudden she just skips through and I’m like… really? My dad had to loudly call her back to bring the dish.
If it were not for family, I would not be coming here again. It’s packed and the staff don’t care.

THE RUDEST SERVICE EVER!!!
I’ve been going to Palace 88 with my family for years now. It was our go-​to dim sum restaurant, but after today, we won’t be going ever again.
First, the food wasn’t even circulating around the dim sum carts because the second they left the kitchen people would be grabbing them before they even hit the carts. We were left waiting for lukewarm food.
On top of that, a waitress approached my family and accused my mother of «not tipping her last time.» We were stunned by her groundless accusation. My mother insisted it wasn’t her as we always tip regardless of the service and the last time we had been there was Christmas with a large group sitting by the stage area (the waitress claimed my mother had been sitting at the area by the TV). My mother diplomatically repeated that she must’ve been mistaken her for somebody else, and instead of apologizing, the waitress haughtily sneered and said, «It was you, but I’ll let you off this time.»
We were shocked and outraged by her rudeness and completely lost our appetites. Then the waitress went around to the other wait staff and pointed at our table and was obviously talking. The other waitresses indiscreetly eyed us and kept talking. My mother brought this up with the manager, who said «sorry» and nothing else, and it came off as incredibly insincere. Then the same waitress then came by to the manager and my mother and said «sorry» in a sarcastic tone and turned to resume her gossiping.
I’m used to subpar service in Chinatown, but this was outright unacceptable and unprofessional behavior. Take your money elsewhere and enjoy your food at one of the many other dim sum establishments.

If I could give this place no stars, I would. I came for a banquet event with my family. As we were walking into the restaurant, my grandmother in her walker was asking where she should sit, meanwhile the two waitresses were chatting away and completely ignored her until I tapped them on the shoulder.
Food was so terrible. We had 10 rounds of dishes. Everything was coated in corn starch. Sauce for all the dishes was so thick it appeared almost snotty. Appetizers included a portion of seaweed which tasted bland like strips of cardboard in an unnatural green. Fried frog very salty. Batter on the fish was thick to the point where I had to grind my teeth a little in order to get to the fish. Lobster meat dry n shriveled. Noodles had no taste watsoever.
I think the last straw for my meal was when my glass of water came with two lip marks on it. I was so grossed out, I really couldnt eat anymore. Service was the worst I’ve ever had, even in chinatown. Our plates werent changed once. The waitress acted like she saw right through me as I was waving for her attention. She spilled a bowl of soup in front of my dad. Our table was a hot mess by the end of the meal.
Bad service. Bad food. Extremely unhygienic.

This was the 2^nd time I visited 88 Palace. The first time I was here for dim sum. It was alright. The price was inexpensive and you could get a table fairly quickly. The 2^nd time I was here for a banquet dinner and it did not really amaze me given the price of the banquet.
We were served 8 dishes and there were 2 outstanding dishes among all. One of them was the walnut shrimp. They gave you a lot of shrimp and it was done right. The other dish I enjoyed was the stir fry beef. The rest of the dishes were mediocre. For example, the fried rice was worse than the one I can make. It was so plain it tasted almost as bland as white rice. The peking duck bun was also lacking the dipping sauce and duck was somewhat dry. The banquet table was also very small and they don’t have a lazy Susan to help serve better.
On an interesting note though, this place could turn into an after party spot because it is spacious and you can have DJ spin all night. Unfortunately, the sound system here is poor so you would have to be literally right in front of the DJ to really hear the music.

Came here for a banquet/​dinner. The whole experience was disappointing to say the least but I will just stick to the dining experience.
— Egg white fish maw soup — Tasteless
— Jumbo shrimp in mayonnaise sauce with walnuts — This is usually one of my favorite dishes at a Chinese restaurant. Sadly, the shrimp tasted like it came straight from a frozen bag…
— Peking duck — Apart from each of us only getting a small piece — the duck tasted great. The skin was crispy and the meat was tender.
— Sea scallops in gold and silver style — Half was stir friend and the other half was deep fried.
— Crystal fried rice — The rice was cold…
Other dishes we had:
— Cantonese style lobster
— Imperial crown chicken
— Beef with snow peas
— Braised noodles with crab meat

If you want dim sum that doesn’t disappoint then eat here. This used to be the place to go to for lunch with family and is now lost amongst the numerous other dim sum restaurants. However, this establishment has held true to their name for delicious dim sum and accommodating many many people. This is still the place to go for dim sum. The food is not too greasy and is always seasoned just right. It’s hard to find food prepared this well anymore. Definitely try the fried dough wrapped in noodle and the sticky rice wrapped in a leaf.

The fact is, whenever my family visits me from out of town they insist on coming here for dim sum. The prices are decent, the clientele is 99% Chinese (authentic), and the food generally tastes good.
Concerns about the environment are misplaced. Sure, the floor isn’t that clean, but you’re not required to eat off of it. I’ve been here multiple times and have yet to fall ill.
As for recommendations, avoid the roast pork buns (the yellow bun, not the white, baked ones) — worst I’ve had anywhere. Otherwise you can’t go wrong with any of the selections.

88 is located on the second floor of an Fujianese mall. It’s main clientele is the middle aged FJ crowd, so it does get kind of noisy. And service is very rude. If you are not native FJ, don’t expect special treatment.
Food is very greasy and not fresh. Below average for Chinatown dim sum. I question what the NYC Dept. of Health has to say… How did they pass with all the obvious health, food and hygiene violations?
Try Jing Fong for a more authentic dim sum experience.
Weird fun fact – 88 Palace becomes a (hipster or hip hop) club/​party scene during the night! Would never have expected it…

Came in on a nice Sunday morning to meet up with Goof Ball’s parents for dimsum.
Everything we got I must say wasn’t as good as my usual dimsum spot but it was definitely good enough to fill this fatty’s hungry belly. As long as they have my usual shrimp rice roll and that minced pork ball thingy, I’m good to go.
Place is good enough if you live a few blocks away and just want to get your dimsum craving or your hunger satiated.

My first dim sum on a weekend in a looong while. This place was packed. I thought my mom and I would have to wait a while for a table seeing that there were already people waiting by the entrance. We didnt have to wait long but we were seated at a table with 4 other people… it’s common so no problem.
I guess I haven’t been to dim sum in a while, they had new dishes that I’ve never seen before. We ordered the siu mai, chicken feet, some clear-​ish type of dough dumpling, fish ball on top of some veggie melon, turnip cake that’s cut up and stir fried and the last dish was fried taro and ribs in some type of sweet/​tart-​ish garlic sauce. I enjoyed everything but the fishball, I ate the melon and told my mom to eat the ball… There were other items rolling around but didnt know what it was. I wanted the typical beef or shrimp rice roll but the cart that rolled by us was out. We were both full from these 6 dishes anyways.
When we left the place, there was a line of people waiting to get in.