Legendary Palace

If you’re seated anytime after 10:30, you won’t have a great experience. (Generally the rule in dim sum places). Go to place in Oakland for dimsum but currently under renovation.

The service here is just mediocre, if you’re lucky enough to get seats, they will try to shove their premium dishes in your face about 15 times. The dim sum dishes are pretty standard. It is definitely cramped seatings here. Not sure why but ppl love to eat here.

This place was awful, good thing b it close down. the last time I came here was with my family and the service was fairly good, but the food was COLD. I left very disappointed and my money wasted. i shouldn’t be surprised as I ate during dim sum hours and they re heat the day before food.
GG

I have never seen such bad service, bad food and horrid waiters in my life. The waiters are rude and ignore you, the managers do not care except when they receive money for the bill, and really they do not know how to make food.
This dessert says it all: where you get it all oily because «sorry the dessert was next to the daily soup, that’s why it’s so oily».
If you want to sample Chinese food, please do not come here at all, not even for dim sum, unless you potentially want a bad stomachache, headache or possibly even a empty one.

What a disappointment! Now I know why I haven’t been back for dim sum in so many years! The food was mediocre at best. There was no refinement at all to the small bites. The dumpling wrappers were incredibly thick and gelatinous. Whoever their cook is, he has a very heavy hand. The worst thing we tried was a thin pancake that was flavorless, cold, limp and greasy. We were suckers for ordering it. And the lack of variety was shameful. The whole point of going to dim sum is getting to sample different dishes. It seemed as they were only wheeling around the same 10 items over and over again.
Moreover, the décor is outdated and the furniture is old. I practically fell off my chair when I first sat down because the chair was too low and the cushioning was so lumpy that it threw me off balance. And forget about using the restroom! For a space that seats hundreds of people (we were relegated to the second floor dining area) the restroom only had two stalls. Both times I made an attempt on it, the stalls were full and there were at least two or more people waiting so I gave up. It was really funny when this little girl said in Cantonese to her mom, «why is it taking so long?» Even then, it didn’t make the people in the stalls move any faster.
I won’t be coming back here again, especially given the fact that the food costs as much if not more than what I pay for better dim sum at other restaurants.

Part of my family and I were at this restaurant dining with other relatives. I haven’t dined here in about four years.
The food we had was okay — nothing to write home to mom. I enjoyed the honey walnut prawns, the steamed fish and the savory fried rice that had tiny pieces of dried salted fish. However, I had to pass up on the goose legs… ugh, it had a gamey taste. The taro pudding (dessert in soupy form) had a subtle aroma of taro; alas, it was very bland and lacked in flavor… underwhelming and a big disappointment.
As nice as the ambiance of this restaurant is with the fancy chandeliers, the quality of the food seem to have dipped slightly. The restaurant had lost some of its grandeur and it has become somewhat dull. In the past, I wanted so much to have dim sum lunch here on a weekend. Now I am not too sure as I am not feeling it. For me, the restaurant has become a hit or miss, which is unfortunate.

If you want to start your day off with a light healthy meal, do not come here.
If you crave salty fried deliciousness, like immediate gratification, and don’t mind interesting textures– you are in for a feast.
This place was the perfect start to my weird East Bay Saturday. My three friends and I sat upstairs in a room that appeared to be set up for a wedding and had almost as many waitstaff as it did patrons– and the place was packed. Tons of food options and carts coming by with freshly cooked noms constantly. We had to cut ourselves off eventually. We were amazed to see our check came out to $ 10 a person. I will be back.

A true push cart dim sum experience! On the weekends, head up, be seated, and get ready to customize your dim sum experience. Huge tables can accommodate large groups, super affordable, and cash if under $ 20.

Good fresh dim sum. Siu mai and har gao are fantastic here. Most of the fried stuff is pretty good too.
The pushcart ladies are super aggressive here compared to other dim sum places I’ve been at — sometimes I appreciate it, sometimes I don’t…especially if its like the 3^rd round. Definitely recommend that you bring someone who knows chinese here else you’re going to be confused on what to get.
It gets super packed here though by 11 am so I recommend doing brunch here at like 1030 if you can help it.

I am not sure what happened to this place, it looks like Management changed. Came here on New Year’s day and my review is not just based on today’s experience but a prior visit as well. If you sit on the 2^nd floor, there are no carts, the same cart with the Siu Mai kept coming to us and we already ordered from it. Over a span of 2 hours, only two carts passed by our table. They sat us in the back behind the columns and I don’t know what’s wrong with the employees, but the variety is HORRIBLE. Customer service is horrible, we keep asking the Waitress why there are only limited carts. So I observed and finally notice people at other tables are asking the Waitress to bring them the dim sum. So I guess if you speak Chinese/​Mandarin, you gotta ask what you want.
My second time here and only two carts passed by my table. I see why the wait is longer on the first floor. I would not COME BACK here. It’s awful. They need to have a system that each floor has a variety of carts going around.

One of my Chinese friends took me here for lunch as his daughter’s friends family owns the place. It has a very large (and packed full at lunch on a Friday) upstairs dining room and a smaller quieter one downstairs, which we chose as there was no wait for a table as opposed to up where there was a line. The décor is a more than a bit faded around the edges, and I was glad my friend was hosting as the menus we received were in Chinese. He was back and forth with the waitress in Chinese to select our dishes. There were dim sum carts aplenty so we had some of that as well as ordering off the menu.
I loved the ma po tofu — my friend was surprised that I was familiar with the dish and even more surprised when I also ordered the chicken feet, my first time, as he said he had never tried them as well. The tofu was very tasty with a generous amount of ground pork and just the right heat level from the chills. The chicken feet had very good flavor and I enjoyed them except that I didn’t care much for having to deal with the tiny bones. Our other friend with us did not partake.
We tried the pork and shrimp dumplings from the Dim Sum cart — yay on the shrimp nice flavor and filling with good texture. Pork less so — filling a bit coarse and no scallions. The ladies with the carts were a bit too eager to offload their wares — but no major issue.
Other dishes include braised greens with crab/​egg (OK), honey walnut shrimp (not my choice but a very good version), and a big bowl of mussels and clams with a tasty savory broth — excellent in fact I wish I had asked for the name of the dish.
All in all four stars for food two for ambiance for a net three stars.

Was out in Oakland for a wedding and decided to come have Dim Sum for breakfast. We arrived and was told to go upstairs to be seated, was greated and seated once we had walked up.
Waiting for tea and food pretty quick. Ladies with the carts came around but not much atuff that I liked, also the cart ladies were very aggressive on trying to sell you on stuff you already said no to. When I arrived atound 10am the selection was limited but around 1030am the selection was getting a lot better.
The food was so so compared to some of the nearby home places but would give them a try again at a later time to see what the larger selection has to offer.

THE BEST DIM SUM LIFE HAS TO OFFER. We arrived at 10am. Best time to go. no wait and everything is fresh especially the shrimp balls which were hot and crispy ^-^ my nephew loved them.
Service– 2 stars. There were waiters and waitresses walking around waiting to pick up dishes and to refill your water which is nice. But dont expect a smille. its not gonna happen.
Food– 5 stars. Everything is delicious and the portions are above average size at a decent price.
SERVICE during rush hour sucks! You have to constantly be looking around for help. They won’t bring you water unless you ask.

Food is average, comfortable seating and pleasant ambiance upstairs, enough selections.
Pig large intestines with sweet and sour preserved vegetables — super savory and best dim sum plate.
Sticky rice in lotus leaf — pretty good, seasoned well, but not enough filling.
Daikon radish cake — not good, stay away.
Pig blood with chives — a little bland for my taste but not bad.
Shrimp rice roll — not bad, texture is done right; it is soft and silky.
Sui Mai — not the best but not bad, needs more taste.

This place has lost its luster as one of Oakland Chinatowns fanciest Chinese restaurants. Instead, it is dull and lost its sparkle, just like the once gleaming crystal chandeliers that sadly hangs onto the ceilings of this restaurant. What happened to this place?! I guess the glory days are over.
Mom picked this restaurant for our Friday family dinner. First off, the service has turned country bumpkin. They didn’t care if we were squished into a table that was made for 10, instead of 12 people. Secondly, the waiters were completely non-​attentive and pretty much ignored our large table. Thirdly, the table was lopsided and the lazy Suzy was especially lazy that night! We had to use our mighty muscles to make the table spin correctly.
Aside from sad service and décor getting dusty with age, the food was pretty good. Plate after plate of steaming hot food came out. And with devouring eyes and empty stomachs, we tore the plates apart and stuffed everything away into our once emptied tummies.
We had the house soup, tender slices of BBQ pork, freshly poached chicken with scallion ginger sauce, sweet n’ sour pork, salt and pepper pork chops, honey walnut prawns, eggplant with chicken clay pot, flash fried string beans with minced pork and preserved veggies, and garlic snow peas. These were your typical Chinese dishes. But the specialties were quite odd to us… Deep fried tempura shrimp and yam covered with salty eggs was oddly sweet and not appealing. And the sizzling plate with egg omelet, cheese topped with fried tofu was an oddball combination in which we decided that the chef made this for his own hangover and decided to crown this as a chef special. At the end of this meal, we were given complimentary desserts of tapioca with yam sweet soup. It was just the right amount of sweetness and different from your typical red bean sweet soup from other Chinese restaurants.
I remember this place had awesome dim sum on the weekends but it’s been years since I’ve been back for that. But I do wonder if it tastes as glorious as before. Someday, I may be back…

Authentic Dim Sum with a sprinkle of hipsters who will brave the stoic staff and enter the battle to get Sui Mai (so popular it disappears right away). They staff are quite tolerant, so noted by the fact that despite looking Chinese, my cousin and I do not speak a single word. The amount of times we responded in English to Chinese without too many eye rolls was quite impressive.
My absolute favorite are their black bean clams. My cousin thought I was crazy because I kept dipping all of my dim sum in the amazing sauce. Overall, I find most of their items to be quite good. I’m not a fan of their egg custard buns though.
I love Dim Sum on carts. Way more fun. Best with a large group or a big appetite!

This is pretty much my family’s 2^nd kitchen, aside from the one at home… We literally come here at least once a week. Yes, I get sick a tired of it, but I’ll have to admit the food can be pretty good. This is not your typical Chinatown restaurant. The food will be a bit pricier and the portions can be a bit smaller. However, the quality is usually good. We don’t always order off the menu, instead we like to ask for different specials or new items they came up with.
Foods we like and recommend:
Wasabi pig stomach with Chicken (if you dare…)
Fried pumpkin with salty egg yolk
Deep Fried Pig’s feet? (There’s a proper name for it. but i forget…)
Any Steamed fish
We also come here for dim sum — it’s not bad, definitely cheaper during the weekdays, it’s your typical dim sum fare. Nothing extraordinary. If you come on the weekends, be prepared to wait and to be pushed around.
Definitely give this place a try — ask for the manager/​owner Benny as he is very good at recommending new dishes to try!
I will be back… because i know my family will drag me sometime this week again =]

I don’t know Chinese but the staff members were so nice in playing charades with me to figure out what I wanted
They were incredibly sweet.
The food was amazing. I love the rice noodle rolls with shrimp. Definitely better than the ones made on soCal. Almost at part with those in Hong Kong.
The har gow was hands down amazing.
The sesame balls with black sesame inside was to die for.

This place doesn’t deserve a ³⁄₅ stars! I came here for dinner this past week, and the food was very very good. We ordered some live steamed jumbo shrimp, yin yang chicken, mixed seafood served in a large clam shell (awesome dish), and some e-​mein.
Chicken was just okay, and the seafood was pretty good. The best part was the special mixed seafood with vermicelli served in a large clam like shell. It’s difficult to explain in english but in Cantonese, it’s called, «guai fay pong.» That dish was the bomb! Amazing seafood, and it wasn’t that pricey either.
Legendary is under new management. I used to come here a lot, but then we stopped because the dishes weren’t that good. Weekend nights don’t have that many people because Oakland Chinatown is now scary at night. Food is good for an early dinner though!
I really enjoyed the Chinese food here. Overall, a great restaurant with gourmet Chinese food. Parking is located a block from the restaurant.

Welcome to Guangdong Province, China circa the late Ch’ing Dyanasty. Once you pass through the gaudy façade of Legendary Palace (LP) you will be transported to a culinary experience from a different time and place. But beware, traveling through time to strange lands is not for everyone!
What LP is about is Hard-​Core, in your face dim sum. Locals and cheap jook-​sing like me come here instead of Peony. (Peony, the other Oakland spot for dim sum, is for tourists and BMW driving jook-​sing who want to show off — JK.) Weekends before noon is the best time to come since this is when they will have a full array of their dim sum offerings being wheeled around on serving carts. Congee, pastries, various types of meat, steamed veggies, dumplings, etc, all in small plates which 2 to 4 people can share. Pricing varies but wifey and I came here and were quite full after 5 dishes. Total tab was $ 20.
The dim sum experience is not for everyone. Those not accustomed to the noise and crowding should stay away not only from LP but from C-​town, period. If you have an open mind and have calmed your nerves before coming here than you will experience dim sum at its finest. Service at LP is good (by C-​Town standards). They actually refill water and tea and bring checks quickly. In addition to dim sum you can order regular Chinese dishes. Taste-​wise, it doesn’t get any better than LP.
I rate it 5-​stars because it is the best place for dim sum. It is not a place to take a date, it is not a good place for drinks, it is not a good place for peace and quiet. You come here for the food and relatively cheap pricing.
Park at Renaissance Center two blocks up on Franklin, it’s convenient and safe.

«Def Legendary Palace!!!» –Fu