Snow Palace

I haven’t been to the new location since they moved and I’m quite impressed with it. The place is spacious, clean and nicely decorated. For a chinese restaurant that’s quite impressive in my books. The service is a bit slow considering we were there on a Tuesday night and it wasn’t terribly busy. The food is just as good as I remember it. We had the beef brisket hot pot, gai lan with garlic, imperial chicken and the deep fried soft shell crab in egg yolk sauce (must order!). The complimentary taro and coconut dessert soup was good and actually hot, not lukewarm like the other restaurants. I would really like to return for dim sum.

I believe this restuarant is one of the most authentic Chinese Restuarants in Calgary. I was a bit surprised to see a lower than expected rating for Snow Palace. I recall good reviews at their original location in Crowfoot, and I think that there should deservingly be better reviews for this new location in Varsity adjacent to Crowchild Trail.
As most Chinese places do in Calgary, they cater to both Canadian and Chinese crowds, so obviously you’ll find your sweet and sour pork and the like, which I won’t comment on because I focused more on the Authentic Chinese culinary experience. (Which, outside of China, is actually somewhat difficult to find.)
The real secret to a Chinese restuarant like this is to order off the Chinese menu; here, fortunately, it comes with pictures of the dishes and a description in Chinese (unfortunately, no english). I suggest that you even get the waitress/​waiter to read and translate these dishes for you so you can pick some that you like. These dishes are the ones with authentic flavours and where Snow Palace really shines.
A combination of both Northern and Southern Chinese flavours, Snow Palace did a truly impressive job capturing the authenticity of homestyle traditional cooking in a way that was not too greasy nor bland.
We ordered a steamed fish on tofu dish that was incredibly flavourful and tender, in a way that even my grandmother admitted she couldn’t get at home. The Green bean & Mince Pork stir fry was also excellent — often it can be soggy and greasy, but these beans were crisp and fresh, the mince pork was tender, and the flavours were bright. We also got the beef brisket «hot pot» plate, which was a favourite of mine and I highly recommend. The beef was tender, with rich flavour and a rich, stewed, thick sauce. Portions where reasonably sized and priced — we were very satisfied.
Even the green tea was good tea, remarked my grandmother. We finished the meal with a sweet, tapioca based «dessert» soup that is traditional at Chinese restaurants after the meal (and is also complimentary). If you don’t speak the language, you may have to ask for it as they will probably assume you’d rather prefer a fortune cookie.
This is a chinese restaurant, which has culturally different service. Good service means that they are attentive in re-​filling the tea pot and bringing the dishes and serving the soup, but will otherwise leave you alone to enjoy your meal. I wouldn’t expect them to come around and ask how the meal is generally.
Their new space is newly renovated, spacious (which can be unusual for a Chinese restaurant), and quite tastefully deocrated. Unfortunately, it requires a flight of stairs and is not wheelchair accessible, which made it a bit of a challenge for my grandfather (We insist the exercise was good for him, though).
My favourite authentic Chinese restaurant in the city.

Love their silver noodles. They have a sate version and a XO version. I love the flavour of the XO sauce but it has dried shrimp bits that I don’t like. Have had dim sum here a couple of times already, its great to see a decent nw dim sum option is available.

This restaurant used to be located in Crowfoot but now it is in Varsity and it is downstairs in a seemingly renovated area.
It was my first visit to this location on a snowy Calgary afternoon. There was no wait for a table for two at noon. I first ordered the soup dumplings aka Shanghai xiao long baos. It’s difficult to get delicious ones in Calgary so I wanted to try them here. They were a disgrace: Oversteamed and the soup (the best part!) had completely escaped the dumpling. On to my noodles in soup… steaming hot, delicious and hit the spot. It was also a generous portion. Hubby got the beef curry on rice and he loved it. Solid place but don’t get the soup dumplings.