Crystal Palace Restaurant

Food is definitely authentic. If you’re craving dimsum in waterloo and not wanting to pay the ridiculous price at Cameron, then this is your next best bet. The waitresses do speak english so there shouldn’t be a language barrier. The dimsum came out hot and at a decent rate. Theres not too much selection vs the ones in Toronto or Markham, but what can you expect from a smaller city? Dimsum is by order and not rolled out on carts (the place is probably too small for it anyways). We also ordered the beef ho fun which was surprisingly better than I expected (much better than the stuff you get from UW Plaza). The prices are very reasonable as well. I would recommend and would come back again. For four of us, it came up to be $ 60, after we ordered some dimsum and a plate of beef ho fun, not too shabby.

NEVER go here. Food is awful, service is even worse. Waited 20 minutes for a clearly old egg roll followed by something that could be described as a pure mess. Chicken balls were nothing but re-​heated deep-​fried dough with no chicken. Rice was old. Friday night and nobody there. You have been warned.

I grew up in Markham so I know about the art of eating dim-​sim:
Tea (⁵⁄₅) — «Too legit»
Teapot (⁵⁄₅) — «Looks like the one I pour in my dreams»
Tea Cup (⁵⁄₅) — «Ceramic like all the dinnerware, It even had a small chip in it»
Table (⁵⁄₅) — «Environmentally unfriendly layers of disposable plastic covers»
Chopsticks (⁵⁄₅) — «The light yellow ones»
Crystal Skin Shrimp Dumplings (⁴⁄₅) — «Oddly legit»
Rice Noodle Roll (3.5÷5) — «Almost legit»
Rice Noodle Fried Dough (³⁄₅) — «Very bland; no seasonings or sauce»
Egg Tart (2.5÷5) — «At least it was the puff pastry kind»
Curry Octopus (²⁄₅) — «Unsatisfying»
Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce (²⁄₅) — «Rather off-​putting»
Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce (¹⁄₅) -«Completely off-​putting»
Deepfried tentacles?! (⁰⁄₅) — «What the &$#! is this»
It was also not cheap! So try not to order everything that comes to mind. There is authenticity to this place, the owners are Cantonese and some dishes do hit the right spots. If you’re feeling homesick it will definitely help but don’t expect anything to blow you away.

In moving to the city from the country, my wife and I have taken advantage of the joys of delivery. Crystal Palace was our first Chinese delivery and we were pleasantly surprised. We ordered a variety of items, and in typical Canadian Chinese tradition, they were pretty much as we have experienced elsewhere. The noodles were a bit soggy, and the vegetables were somewhat over done, but all in all it was a fast hit to the stomach and that was what we were looking for. The General Tao chicken was above average, a little hot but good. We were given extra egg rolls, don’t know if that was a promotion or a mistake, but it was appreciated.

Been here for the weekend dimsum quite a few times. Most of the menu items are decent but not outstanding. Probably as good as it gets value-​wise for dimsum in the KW-​region.
IMO — stay away from the siu mai.

Decent dim sum. Good value. Service was very good. The pan fried dumplings were not the best. All other items were very good. Do not hesitate to go.

Two, weekday buffet.
Since most of the asian restaurants in the area we were hoping to eat at (Watami, Hot Wheels Café) are closed Mondays, we ended up at Crystal Palace for its weekday lunch buffet.
For $ 7.95 lunch buffet, you can’t go wrong. It’s priced similarly to ordering a combo in the plaza near the University of Waterloo, yet buffet-​style giving a choice in what and how much to eat. The hot tables were filled with all the usual: sesame chicken, fried rice, fried noodle, onion rings, chicken balls w/​sweet and sour sauce, chicken wings, various veggie dishes, etc. A cold area had tiramisu, jello, mussels, shrimp (not deshelled) and ice cream (that was frozen solid and hard to get out).
The quality of the food wasn’t great, but for Westernized Chinese food in Waterloo (unless you drive to the far end of Kitchener), there aren’t that many choices, and probably none other that have a buffet. Good deal for the price. Will have to return again to try the dimsum.

Good Chinese food, generous portions. They serve dim sum steamed to order all the time. They also offer a lunch buffet. I will be back!

worst ever! the lady messed up my order and when i came to her for refund because i coldnt wait anymore she started shaking and barely gave me my $ back and accused me of eating it, as she gave me $ back she said you are not welcome here anymore’ i was speechless so unprofessional! do not go here, even when they dont receive good tip they dont even thank you, money hugry! god forgive them!

An honest Chinese restaurant serving probably the most authentic Chinese food in the KW area. Saturday and Sunday mornings are very busy with dim sum patrons, which is a great time to go and try various delicacies as the hustle and bustle and loud conversation is all part of the fun.
We’ve been going here for years and it’s definitely one of my family’s go-​to places. I highly suggest Crystal Palace for your Chinese food cravings!

This area doesn’t have a plethora of great Chinese options but this is one of the better places even if its ambiance hasn’t been great in the past. They’ve recently made a very conscious effort to significantly improve the look of the place.
Contrary to the view of another reviewer, the food is pretty authentic (you can judge by seeing the number of Chinese families eating there on Saturday mornings for dim sum) though I suppose it depends on what you order. While I was born in the area, I travel to China often Dim sum is decent (I wouldn’t say it’s stellar by any stretch but again, relative to the other options in the area this is probably the best place for dimsum relative to value).

Not very authentic. Or maybe because I’m not Chinese that I didn’t get the real stuff, but it’s typical Americanized Chinese takeout. And not very good at that. I ordered the house special with chicken and it didn’t come with rice. Tasted like fried chicken in BBQ sauce.