Asian Palace Photo Recap and Review

Having lived in Asia for a couple of years when I was younger, I have a true love affair with all foods Asian. If I were to recommend a travel spot for someone heading to Asia for the first time, I would probably choose Hong Kong. As everyone speaks English, is an easy visit. The food there is absolutely amazing. I probably ate my weight in dim sum and egg cakes when I was there. There is something to be said for the instant gratification of the dim sum carts.

After eating at Asian Palace several times before, I was extremely excited about sharing this authentic Chinese experience with my American friends. I have eaten at Chinese restaurants in San Francisco’s, Chicago’s, and New York’s Chinatowns. I can proudly say that Memphis’ Asian Palace holds its own with the best of them.

We had a really good crowd turn out, 27, for the gathering at Asian Palace. Mike the owner, greeted us before dinner. He introduced Simon Chow - the chef, Lisa Lei - the dim sum chef, and our two wonderful servers, Danny Pan and the ever smiling- Joyce Chan. Everyone seemed excited to learn about the history of the restaurant. Once Mike had finished, the feast ensued. When I write feast, I mean FEAST! Restaurants often provide a large menu for the invite and then a smaller version once we are there. So I really wasn’t expecting to receive each of the 20 items on our menu. Asian Palace definitely delivered! I think we even got more than what was on the original menu. Scroll down for our full tasting menu.

Foodie Memphis Tasting Menu
Appetizers or Dim-Sum
1. shrimp ha ow
2. various shrimp & pork dumplings
3. chicken sil myl
4. shrimp spring roll
5. bean curd shrimp roll
6. stuffed egg plant

Entree
7. walnut shrimp
8. squid w/ spice salt
9. roast duck
10. singapore rice noodle
11. pork w/ spice salt
12. frangang egg plant
13. vegetarian tofu
14. asparagus w/ three kinds mushrooms

Desserts
15. egg tart
16. mango pudding
17. coconut bun
18. egg cake
19. sesame seed ball
20. water chestnut cake

The Exit Survey Result Highlights

What dish(s) did you like?
“EVERYTHING!”
“Shark fin dumpling”
“All the dumplings”
“shrimp”
“Shrimp!”
“All of it”
“WOW…All”
“There were so many, if I could remember, I couldn’t decide”
“the duck, or the eggplant”
“I really liked the 6 desserts”

What did you like best about the gathering?
“meeting the restaurant owner and staff”
“fellowship”
“meeting old friends
“the people, conversation, and the food”
“the variety of food and variety of people”
“getting to try so many different dishes”
Talking about my passion, food”
“The subtle jokes from the servers. Hilarious!”
“did I mention the shrimp?”

What can we do to improve the event?
“N/A - so yummy“
“It was a great evening!”

This month’s Group Favorite Award was very close. Three items on the menu were within 1 vote. The Shanghai Noodles and the Dumplings were very strong contenders, but came up just one vote short and tied for second place.

Our group has a tradition of voting for a vegetable as the Group Favorite Award. Did we do it again?

Yes we did.

The frangang eggplant (which I hear was mighty tasty) won by a single vote. When I told Sophorn that the eggplant won, she said “They got it right! It was REALLY GOOD.” I have no idea how, but that one slipped right past me with out even a taste. I now have to back out there to try that amazing eggplant.

I hope you can make it out there soon. The food is wonderful and the staff is really a lot of fun. They are really nice people. It is one of our “go to” Asian restaurants in Memphis. When you stop by, please remember to tell them hello for us.

The Dim Sum Cart Service is only on the weekends.

The Asian Palace
5266 Summer Ave
901.766.0831