King Lobster Palace

AVOID… Unless desperate and still then, only if there is no other option. The food is passable. Mind you, passable. If you can live with old dried out too lazy and cheap to serve fresh rice then passable. Nothing I ordered was horrible nor memorable, so passable.
SERVICE IS TERRIBLE. Not just my waiter is s bit slow in the head terrible, but terrible in the way where every item you order makes his scowl grow. Unfriendly, inattentive, lacks menu knowledge (or willingness to share it) down right rude. The mister said WORST DINING EXPERIENCE EVER.
I actually stood up in the middle of the restaurant trying to get our servers attention. I finally had to give a friendly yell across the room just to get to go boxes and the check, which took another 6 minutes for him to accomplish. Granted I did not complain when the manager finally poked his head out to see what the commotion was about. But a day late a dollar short.

I can’t remember the last time I had such a crappy dining experience. And all it cost me was $ 75 and an unhappy family.
The waiter was not exactly rude. Maybe I would elevate him to rude if he spent enough time at the table.
The rice came out first. I didn’t know stale rice was a thing. Apparently it is. With the rice cooling rapidly the main meals came out eventually. Turns out the rice was a highlight. Bland and unappealing main dishes but we are hungry so we eat.
Maybe a beer would have cheered me up but who knows, I never had the opportunity to ask for one.
In 7 years on Unilocal,this is my first review, because yes, it was that bad. Save yourself the money, time and effort — make yourself a PBJ at home, you will enjoy it more.
Disclaimer: I don’t even like PBJ’s.

PARKING: Came here around noon on Memorial Day and it was nice to be able to park right away without needing to search for a spot. Finding parking doesn’t seem to be necessary at all from what I can tell.
THE WAIT: LOL, what wait? I know, I know. Going for dim sum (especially later in the day on the weekend and holidays) usually comes with the anticipated long wait. You usually expect huge, noisy crowds of people waiting inside AND outside of the restaurant. However, we were pleasantly surprised to see that there was no wait at all. We walked in and were seated right away. The place was only about ¼−1/3 filled!
ATMOSPHERE: For a Chinese dim sum restaurant, it was spacious, comfortable, fairly clean, and not obnoxiously loud and noisy. Compared to other places, dining here was a calming and almost therapeutic experience. A huge factor is because the restaurant was not packed with hoards of people like most other dim sum places.
FOOD QUALITY: The food quality seemed standard compared to all other dim sum places I went to in Orange County. My taste buds and dim sum craving were satisfied. I don’t eat chicken feet, but my boyfriend said that would be the only thing that didn’t taste as good compared to other dim sum places. Overall though, he also thought everything tasted great.
SERVICE: Probably the best dim sum service I have ever had, and rightfully so. Since the restaurant wasn’t packed at all, the staff was able to be more attentive and accommodating to all their customers. We didn’t have to wait long for a cart of delicious, steaming food to be pushed over to our table. Unlike most dim sum places, the staff here was actually nice and didn’t seem pissed off, stressed out, and grumpy at all.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE: I really enjoyed my dim sum experience here. Although the food seemed standard compared to other places, what really made this experience better for me was the fact that I didn’t have to fight with other Asian people for parking, and my poor stomach didn’t have to wait to be filled.

I’ve only had dim sum and porridge here. Dim sum is okay, porridge on the other hand had no taste. Very disappointing.

Not bad for not going to Garden Grove to eat dim sum. I usually eat dim sum in garden grove, but we were in orange and wanted dim sum and this was the closest thing around the area. It’s a pretty typical dim sum restaurant can’t really complain. The only thing that really stood out to me was the banh cuon tom and footballs. Those were on point.

Second time trying this place because I’ve been craving dimsum but I didn’t want to go to the typical places like Irvine or Rowland heights! My first time was okay but the second time this time around was fantastic! The selection on weekends, the service was friendly and the food was exquisite!

Was in the area near 11AM and had a craving for dim sum. Unilocal lead me to this restaurant and I was quite satisfied with the experience. The restaurant is clean with plenty of seating.
The restaurant was fairly filled with lots of guests continuing to come in as others were leaving, Good for them!
The carts were very frequent and their service was very good. The dim sum was just okay but i was not complaining or leave any food left over B)

I actually really enjoy the dim sum here. They honestly get another star because they are polite and attentive which is very rare in a Chinese restaurant. I don’t have to chase down a cart or a waiter to get my food. I feel more people are starting to come to this restaurant more for dim sum than before. They are starting to get more items, which is good.
The dim sum itself is good, they have all the normal dishes, har gow, shu mai, turnip cake, etc. All are very good. I love I don’t have to drive to Garden Grove and deal with that whole mess.

If you like under cooked food this place is for you! We ordered salt and pepper chicken wings and bit into smaller pieces which were cooked. The bigger ones could have used 10 more minutes in the fryer. Plus everybody’s rude AF! I let the waiter know he said sorry yet still charged me. Whatever. I’ll let my friends know they have the worst customer service.

Great service and Dim Sum!
I especially loved how much they helped me choose entrees, even though I don’t speak Cantonese.
Shi shi

Visited the OC last month and for my first meal out, I dined at King Lobster Palace in Orange with my family. This was my first visit to a dim sum restaurant in the area so I didn’t know what to expect. I have had dim sum in LA, but not in the OC. Though my intuition told me that it wouldn’t be as good, since there aren’t many dim sum places.
King Lobster is located in a standalone building on North Tustin Street. In the back you will find parking, though the lot was pretty full on a Sunday afternoon. The restaurant décor was nicer than I was expecting. I came here with my newborn nephew, so we needed a table with space for a stroller. The staff was able to accommodate the request.
Not sure if this is a regular thing, but on the day that we dined here was a lion dance which livened up the dining room. Though perhaps not the best place to bring a newborn baby. Thankfully and surprisingly he didn’t make a fuss due to the large noise. Had we known about this, I think we would have went to another dim sum place.
As for the dim sum here, it turns out my intuition was correct. The dim sum was rather sub-​par. A mixed bag at best. The selection here is full of the usual standard dim sum dishes, so rather limited. The spinach and sticky rice dumplings were the best of the bunch. While the beef meatballs were the worst. The texture was way off. I would also wouldn’t recommend the tripe as the portion is small and not flavorful. The other items fell in the a-​okay category.
While the food was average at best, I thought the service was disappointing. The restaurant was rather busy, but the staff ignored a couple requests for hot water and seemed rather surly otherwise. Based on the mediocre dining experience I had, I left with the conclusion that OC dim sum isn’t very good if this is one of the better places.

Arrived here on Feb 13^th, Saturday morning at 10:30AM.
No wait. Plenty of parking.
Pros: Quick and friendly service. We were seated immediately and the carts were coming over nonstop. Lots of selection. Tea was immediately brought over and dipping sauces were as well.
The prices are very cheap, compared to the prices in Westminster.
The servers here all speak ENGLISH! It’s great!!!
Cons: The food was very bland.
I ordered the chicken feet. Looked delicious but tasted very bland. Lack of flavoring. I’d give it ³⁄₁₀ for the chicken feet.
The dumplings: ⁵⁄₁₀. Average. Nothing special. This goes for HA GOW and SIU MAI. Both would be rated ⁵⁄₁₀.
Tofu wrap: Eh average as well. I’ve had better. ³⁄₁₀. Didn’t even finish it because it wasn’t worth trying to devour.
Overall…I don’t think I’d come back unless I was in a hurry. Dim Sum to go in Westminster is probably better than this place.

Came to this place looking for seafood since it was my mom’s request on her birthday. Stumbled upon it from Unilocal from what looked like decent reviews and being open on Super Bowl Sunday/​Chinese New Year’s Eve. My family and I step into the large restaurant only to find a few tables being used. We were seated at a table for 6 since there were 6 of us but requested if we could possibly move to a larger table (8 with a lazy Susan) since we had planned on ordering lots of food and the table of six was adjacent to another table so it was a bit uncomfortable. The waitress says sorry we cannot we are holding them for reservations. We ask the entire restaurant? She says yes. Needless to say we ate and left with one party coming in the entire time we were there until we had left.
Food:
Fried fish filet: muddy and somewhat bland
House special crab: a bit on the sweet side
Honey walnut shrimp: really sweet
Chicken lettuce wraps: so so but kids liked the novelty of it
Steamed rice: $ 1/​person?! And we didn’t even ask for it lol
French style beef steak: really sweet but tender
Chicken chow mein: nice fried noodles and
Chicken
Service:
Aside from the ridiculous treatment from the get go, the waiters would constantly clear plates without excusing themselves and interrupt our dinner. It’s nice to have things cleared but there is a way to go about it without intruding on a table’s meal and dining experience.
Overall: not coming back nor would I recommend it.

Excellent. Authentic and high quality dim sum. Great convenient restaurant as an alternative to going all the way to Monterey Park and Rowland Heights. Coming from Fullerton, we made it here within 15 min!
The dishes were hot and fresh. Dim sum items were great textures, squishy and crispy. Delicious

Dim sum review only.
Came on new years day (not the Chinese one) and it was packed… But we were seated right away. The carts go by frequently. Those were the only good things.
Bad: There was only one plate setting and it took a good 10 mins before a waitress (who looked harassed) even came by (to a different table and I had to flag her down) to bring another table setting.
The food was mediocre. The chicken feet, har gow, shui mai, and ginger tripe, were flavorless. The turnip cakes were all flour. The lotus wrapped sweet rice was depressing — there was only pork and an egg yolk.
Overall, not worth it.
I haven’t been here for menu items (like their lobster), but I can honestly say that I will not be back for their dim sum.

Decent dim sum in Orange County! The service is very good — we had a reservation for 6 and were seated immediately. We ordered a noodle dish from the menu and had about a dozen dim sum dishes. The staff were friendly and expeditious. Parking is also very abundant both in front of the restaurant and on the side.
The food was good but not extraordinary. They have all of the traditional dim sum dishes like shu mai and sticky rice. The chili sauce here is especially good, and gives the somewhat bland food a much needed slow burn. They also give you jasmine tea, which was quite delicious. I will definitely come back when I’m in the area and don’t want to wait for hours for a table.

I love Dim sum for breakfast, &
this is where I always come,
Its always fresh & delicious,
& the staff is friendly.

Location: This dim sum restaurant is located on North Tustin Street in Orange very close to the outlets at Orange actually. Plenty of parking in the lot when we went — I think it extended back behind the restaurant too. I can see it getting a little crazy during crowded times though.
Service: We may have had a slightly skewed experience here due to the fact that we went with my aunt and uncle who are regulars here (as in all the staff knows them). We were seated as soon as we walked in, but there were several tables available too. Not like we cut the line or anything. Once we sat down (and this may be where the skewed experience comes in), we were immediately surrounded by dim sum carts with pretty much anything and everything you could ever want. At one point, waitresses were putting things on our table that we hadn’t even ordered yet because they know my uncle’s preferences for food so well. So maybe take this with a grain of salt, but hey, no complaints about the service on this visit.
Food: Dim sum was delicious. That is all. Haha, no but really they had all the usual suspects — shrimp long noodle, steamed char sui bao, siu mai, har gow, sticky rice, etc. If I listed all the food that came to our table this would be a VERY long review. Everything was great — fresh and no complaints about the quality of anything. You can also order regular food off the menu, but why would you do that when there are carts of dim sum deliciousness rolling by you every few minutes? Just kidding — we saw a few people indulge in some noodles, but overall the dim sum was definitely the popular winner. Only thing I didn’t see that we usually get at dim sum was the chinese broccoli, but who am I kidding, we would have been able to eat it anyway. I think for 4 of us we ended up with about a dozen foods on the table, not counting desserts.
Overall: It’s a little far from where we live and I’m sure its busier if you go at prime dim sum time, but if we are in the area and craving dim sum, we will definitely be back!

Okay, so recently I’ve moved to Orange/​Anaheim Hills Area and there’s not much dim sum around to be perfectly honest (let alone decent Asian food). I was thrilled, however, to see that there was THIS DIM SUM PLACE and was very hopeful to say the least. And then, the dim sum carts came by our tables and some dishes were delicious!
The turnip cake was standard and I was happy that it came out warm (some places fail to keep it warm… or worse… it’s too old to be served). The taro puffs also came out fine and had a yummy wrapping that was sweet and complemented the meat stuffing inside. Yet after those two dishes I stopped being amazed.
Rice rolls (usually with shrimp and sometimes beef) just didn’t do it for me. Some pieces were missing shrimp and each little piece is supposed to have some shrimp in it (it’s supposed to be a total of four)!
The shu mai and the har gow were definitely warm, but they tasted store-​bought. You can definitely tell the difference between dim sum places that serve these dishes store bought versus made in-​house. I was sorely disappointed as these are two staple dim sum dishes and they were on the «meh» side.
Unless I’m too lazy to drive to Monterey Park or Garden Grove, sure I’ll just waltz down here but I would definitely steer away from the har gow and shu mai.

NO MORE WAITING for dim sum on Sundays, yay!!! Even on Mother’s Day, we were ready for take out if the wait was too long but were instead seated right away.
Don’t get me wrong, this place does get packed but not like the ones in Irvine.
Dim sum is pretty decent ³⁄₅. Some dishes are a bit bland but overall they satisfy. Prices are $ 2.28÷3.28÷4.28 per plate depending on what you order and .75 per person for tea. The Jasmine one is very good.
The restaurant look and the service is better than the average Chinese restaurant. The dim sum servers were sweet, attentive and they smiled!
Easy to find parking too, I’m a fan!