Imperial Inn

Imperial Inn\r 146 N 10th St, \r Philadelphia, PA 19107\r \r 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. \r \r We parked across the street and saved a long ordeal looking for metered street parking. I think it was a flat $10.\r \r 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.\r \r 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.\r \r 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. \r \r 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.\r \r 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!\r \r 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. \r \r ***** 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.\r \r The Jasmine tea was good. A cheaper cut leaf variety with little fragrance, but it was, clean, crisp and hot, without being bitter.\r \r 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.\r \r 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.\r \r Maybe if you get there when they open, your experience will be better. \r \r 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.\r \r Next time, it will be:\r Joy Tsin Lau \r (215) 592-7228\r 1026 Race St\r Philadelphia, PA 19107\r \r 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.\r \r I hope this help others avoid thiese mistakes. If my son arrives soon, I'll try the above alternate place and post again. Pros: Fast _ Special orders OK _ Paid Parking Lot across street Cons: Poor Quality Food _ Tea Horrid _ Avoid Non fried items more

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! Pros: Love a good Dim Sum more

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. \r \r For the dinner menus, stick with meat and vegetable dishes (they're not known for their wonton soups).\r \r Pros: Seating, food, prices Cons: Service more

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. more

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 !!! Pros: phoenix roll and wonton soup Cons: waitstaff more

I'm shocked to see negative reviews about the Imperial Inn. I've been visiting this restaurant for dim sum and dinner since childhood and to date I've never had a bad meal. Dim sum has always been hot and the selection is usually very good, and dinner entries are usually very good as well. Although I would stick with dim sum and I recommend going to other places like Tai Lake for dinner. Granted the staff can be somewhat persnickety at times, but I think this is just a difference in culture as most Chinese are very time conscious, direct, and no-nonsense. Also in Chinese culture it is considered rude to interrupt diners while they are eating whereas in America we expect our servers to babysit us at the table. I'm part Chinese so I understand, but unfortunately most people take their behavior as rude. Keep in mind though that dim sum isn't about being waited on hand and foot. Just remember to keep an open mind! It's more about the food anyway! Pros: delicious dim sum with fast service more

Every year my family and I go to the Mummer's Parade and we always go some where for dinner afterwards. Well one day we wandered in to this place and ever since we've been coming back. It has i'd say 9 out of 10 service and the food is exceptional! You must go and try it out! It can get a little crowded, but who cares as long as the food was worth the wait! Pros: Food, Service Cons: Crowded more

If you prefer kind, attentive, UN-rude waitstaff, clean bathrooms and a Good food( other than dim sum) go elsewhere. I am shocked the board of health doesn't see these bathrooms. Its been like this all 3 times I have been there since Jan 2007. NO MORE.\r I thought I had seen it all before I was accosted by a waiter today as I got up from the table telling me that i better leave a tip, that is not included in the bill. Ours was $81 for lunch for 4 adults over 40 btw so we didn't need to be reminded about tipping etiquette or guidelines. He was in my face 3 times about this, The first time ,then once as I went to go get change for the tip he followed me to the cash register and then he followed me back to the table and actually put his hand out!!!!! 4 , fortysomething well dressed and well behaved diners and he pulls this act. I can tell you this: with this rude, obnoxious behavior, the usual 20-25 percent was cut down to 10 percent. I have seen some pretty bad reviews of this place . The owner better retrain his staff or no one will dine here. I know we won't ever again after today's incident.\r PS--- the place is so small and the owners are always about and know what goes on here. I didn't waste my breath on complaining. Pros: DIM SUM Cons: EVERYTHING ELSE YOU CAN IMAGINE more

I first came here years ago and had the best dim sum ever. Recently, our favorite place was closed for vacation and we decided to try the Imperial Inn for dinner. WHAT A MISTAKE! It was 5:30 pm on a week day and there were six other customers. SIX waitresses and it took ten minutes for one to come to our table. She did not seem happy to have to wait on anyone as the other wait staff were deep in conversation. The won tons in the soup were like paste and the broth thin in flavor. The spring rolls were pathetic. Tiny thick crusted like something you buy frozen from the supermarket. The insides were mushy threads of cabbage. I pointed this out to the manager who seemed to care less. I did not order anything else but my wife tried the lemon chicken. Two bites was enough. Seriously, it tasted and had an odor similar to kerosene. Do yourself and your friends a favor and stay out of this place I wish I could give this rating less than one star. Try any other place but here. Don't believe me? Well then, it's your night out! And yes, I did tell them to take the egg rolls off the bill. Pros: The exit. Cons: Seriously, everything. more

i have to say this place is a tourist attraction and you should only come here for dim sum. Everything is horrible. But the service was good. people are very nice. more

I only go here for dim sum. There is always a wait during the weekends but we never make reservations (I don't know why). The food are fantastic and come with a great deal of varieties. Service could be lacking especially when they are busy. Pros: Dim Sum Cons: Logn wait, service (at times) more

Went to Imperial Inn for the Chinese New Year. The place was packed: it was apparently THE place to go for dim sum that day. The food was delicious, the service was quick, and the servers did a good job of explaining what was in each item on their carts (knowing full well that we didn't look the type to want chicken feet). I thought I was going to die of happiness when I tried the pork sticky bun. We left completely full?and our party-of-five came out to $49 before tip! Definitely worth going, especially for newcomers to dim sum (which some of our party were). Pros: Accessible dim sum for those who are new to it; traditional dim sum for old pros Cons: Upstairs room was packed and very loud?no ambience more

I made the mistake of taking my wife to celebrate Chinese New Year's at probably the worst dine-in chinese restaurant I have ever visited in my life. I am embarrassed to have a chinese restaurant like this to represent my culture. The reason we even set foot in this restaurant was because Tai Lake (restaurant next door) had a long wait and we were hungry. The restaurant had a nice atmosphere to it. There were only 5 tables occupied (not one single asian person, should have been a clue) so it was definitely not busy. The tea had no taste and the crispy noodles were stale. I asked the waitress if the sweet and sour fish filet on the menu was flounder and she quickly answered yes. We then proceeded to order fried dumplings as an appetizer and beef chow fun for our entree along with the fish. Well we received our fried dumplings and they were deep-fried like no tomorrow which made them hard to eat. The waitress then tells us 5 minutes later that they do not have anymore chow fun because, ""we were busy earlier,"" and asked if lo mein would be okay so we said yes. When the fish entree was brought out I was in disbelief. The watress served us a separate bowl with sweet and sour sauce in it and 8 chicken nugget size fried fish. I have never in my ""chinaman"" life ever seen this entree served like this especially being a $12 dish. Then comes our supposed to be beef chow fun changed to lo mein but was served with mei fun, WTF?? I know I'm an American Born Chinese (ABC) so am I not supposed to know the difference? What even is more unbelieveable is that the table next to us is served a dish with lo mein, talking about rubbing salt into the wound. Needless to say I give this restaurant 2 thumbs down and a heavy NOT RECOMMENDED! Pros: sharp toothpicks Cons: do i have enough space to write here? more

The atmosphere was ok, but the food was not exceptional. I would rather go somewhere else where the servings are larger and better tasting. If you want to share your food, you can't here. Everyone in my party had typical Chinese orders, and no one was impressed with the thin sauces. I wouldn't go back. Pros: Nice building Cons: thin sauces, small portions, value more

Pros: Everything\r Cons: Nothing\r \r My son and I have lived in Philly for two years and have been to the Imperial Inn easily a dozen times. We have not had so much as a mediocre experience in this place, let alone the horrors we read about on this site. Atmosphere is unpretentious, prices are reasonable, and service is uniformly prompt and friendly. One waitress remembers our favorite selections, to the point where she knows enough to leave the scallions out of the wonton soup. The food has consistently been the best Chinese we ever had. The dim sum is the best, and we can't get enough of the steamed dumplings. Sure, we'll try a few other places in the neighborhood and treat ourselves to one of the ""big name"" Chinese places on the Main Line. But we'll always return to the Imperial Inn where we're treated like kings!\r more

This was an embarrassment. I took two out of town friends to what I remembered as a really good Chinese retaurant. Everything was overcooked and mushy or hard as rock. The place was almost empty but we were rushed by the waitress. She literally tossed the fortune cookies on the table at the end of the meal. more

The food was terrific back in the late 80s and early 90s. However, as of recent, it's not the same anymore. Some of the food are dried or tasteless (chicken feet, shrimp balls, etc.) However, i want to give them some props for their beef ball with worchester sauce. more

The editorial review is misleading/mistyped: you don't need a large group to enjoy dim sum.. just an appetite and a sense of adventure (if you're a vegetarian, this is not the place for you). Served every day from 10:30 till 2 or 3, this is among the best dim sum I've ever had (in NY, LA, SF, Boston, Chicago, DC, Seattle, Portland, ... you name it). Go now. you won't regret it. For those who disliked the tea - ask for Jasmine tea, which is great. The menu selections are pretty bad -- I've eaten dinner here only once, and that was enough. Pros: DIM SUM more

N.Y. day, 6 of us, 4 our out of town guests. I suggest China Town for dinner. Kinda remembered reading here that Imperial was suggested as a suitable restaurant. We head there. Seated right away, but had to flag down someone to take drink orders. The tea was most tasteless, noodles on the table with the s&s and mustard all tasted out of a can. Politely everyone tasted the eggroll and laid it back down. Shrimp rolls were slimy inside nicely fried crusts. It was downhill from there. My rating? ""F"" for total failure. A terrible ending to a GREAT day at the parade with good friends & Philadelphians. Pros: no pros. Cons: Too many to mention more

Having sampled nearly all the dim sum in the city, the dim sum here is truly very mediocre for Philly. The remainder of the menu, while better than the chinese food at the mall, is unremarkable for Chinatown. more