Crystal Palace Restaurant in Waterloo

Fantastic. Food, service, vibes. Get the Soup and dim sum!

The cans of pop are flat the portions are small for the price, better off going to a malls food court.

Ive become a little obsessed with this place as my Chinese takeaway. Food is great. The service is really good and very efficient!

Amazing soup dumplings!

I have been going here for 14 years, the food is always amazing and by far the best in the tri-cities imo! Prices are superb also, especially for the quality of the dishes.

I ordered from skip the dishes on April 25th chicken General Taos chicken on rice I got completely different dish And mo beef are absolutely disgusting Food

great price, decent food, really deserves better reviews

Everything tasted good

I love this place

Good price and wide variety of dishes.

We enjoy this restaurant and the staff (Jess and Britney) are awesome and welcoming!! Love the food and service, good portions and able to accommodate

Since my first time trying their food I have no been disappointed. Every time it is delicious and the price is very reasonable. I found my favorite go to for my Chinese food cravings. I recommend it.

Try fried rice it s one of a kind

Ordered food to be delivered and was so disappointed with the amount of food I got for 50 dollars

GREAT SERVICE GREAT FOOD GREAT TIME GREAT PEOPLE COME HERE BEST CHINESE FOOD IN ALL OF KITCHENER best chicken wings #toocoolforschool Food

good food i like good service

Nice food, but I got an extra 4$ on my bill just because I decided to eat there.

Excellent food and at a great price!

This restaurant has always been a to go with family! The staff are super sweet and food is amazing!!!

I love the fried rice and the staff are very friendly.

A hidden gem with five stars for food and service, but could really use some TLC for the interior environment. All of the food was fresh, delicious, and served hot cooked properly. These guys have a huge menu and one of the biggest Ive seen. All day dim sum service was nice to find and everything we had was delicious. The sweet sesame balls were a favorite. Prices were really good as well. The service was attentive and helpful. The girl was running around taking care of the entire front of the house which was impressive in itself, but she was so nice and did it so well. Lots of people were getting takeout too. The location is great being downtown but parking is just a short walk and sometimes free. The tables and washrooms were clean but again it really needed some repairs and updating. Probably not a first date location but definitely somewhere you would want to come on a regular basis later. Well definitely be back!

Its difficult to find authentic Chinese food as of late in the KW area. And try to find one that still has the option of dinning in. I hadnt been to Crystal Palace in decades. Im glad we gave them a try today. I had been craving a Moo Shi pork and it was very good and served with authentic pancakes and not tortillas shells Ive seen other restaurants use. Their home made chili sauce is excellent as was their dim sum items and won ton soup. Well be back.

Food was amazing

Plz give me more

2.5 stars. Tried a few dishes and was not impressed. The BBQ duck half, which was mediocre at best, was oilier than expected and extremely salty in some places and flavourless in others. The steamed pork buns were overwhelmingly just steamed dough: very, very little filling. The beef thick noodle was ok, but nothing special. Quite a disappointing first experience and will probably not give another try.

Have been going here for years. Love the dim sum.

Amazing food and great staff! Highly recommend.

The food came out hot and fast. The staff were friendly and attentive.

Our group of five had dinner on a recent Sunday night. The service was prompt and courteous. Our food selections were hot and flavourful. Some dishes were willingly modified to suit our vegan tastes. Based on our experience, we would recommend this restaurant.

Just not the same without the lunch buffet. Its nice to have the dim sum option on weekdays, though.

Menu only now. Food not as good value as the small lunch buffet was. More costly and less selection. Dont think I will go again.

Always so good!

I recently visited Crystal Palace Restaurant with a friend to try their Chinese cuisine. As an Indian, I was a bit apprehensive about the taste, but to my surprise, the food was delicious. We ordered egg rolls and vegetable rolls, but were a bit embarrassed as we were not expecting only one portion size. Nevertheless, the taste was amazing, and we enjoyed the food thoroughly. The ambience of the restaurant is really nice, and it is a great place to have a relaxing conversation. The noise level was just perfect, not too loud, which helped us to enjoy our meal in a calm and composed atmosphere. We noticed a lot of orders coming in through Uber and DoorDash, which is a testament to the quality of the food and popularity of the restaurant. The restaurant is located in the heart of the town, making it easily accessible. The prices are reasonable, and you can also enjoy a beer while you dine. Overall, if you want to enjoy authentic Chinese cuisine, I would definitely recommend visiting Crystal Palace Restaurant.

I have to admit after living in KW for decades Id never gone here and Im glad we did. The food was good, service was great and quick and prices good too. It is mostly Canadian-Chinese and they did have some Dim Sum too ( real Chinese food). Well be going back. Has what I like, good food, good service so good value.

A favourite of ours. Order from here often. Great portions, fast and tasty.

Food is so fresh and tasty. Just the perfect Chinese food place. Won Ton soup satisfying, chicken Chop Suey and chicken balls with sauce spot on. Food is very fresh. Love it. My go to for sure...

Vegetarian options: Vegetarian fried rice

Shrimp Fried Rice, BBQ Pork Chop Suey, Beef with Broccoli, Mixed Vegetables. Magnifico!

The food is amazing! I didn t want to stop eating it! They have over 200 options on the menu and the staff is very kind. I d recommend the Singapore noodles and any type of fried rice.

Best dim sum we have had inthe KW area. Great selection of both dim sum and Chinese. Very friendly staff and very clean. Cant wait to go back when we are back in the area.

HOW IS THIS PLACE NOT MORE POPULAR?! An extremely underrated Chinese restaurant in uptown Waterloo that is definitely worth the visit, no matter if you re part of the culture or looking to try something new. Their food is extremely well done with many good tasting dishes prepared fresh after your order. Staff are very friendly and willing to help with your needs. The dine-in experience is extremely underrated too, with VERY good environment and interior design making for a nice and intimate dinner setting. The price is also super affordable!! It s just over $10-15 per person which is amazing. Me and a friend got their combo for 2 dish, which was very good and worth it in my opinion. The food was definitely enough, and just for around $30 (for 2 people!)

Amazing dumplings - my favourite are the Shanghai soup dumplings. The staff is very friendly , and their chilli oil is a must try !!

Absolutely delicious black pepper beef with rice. Easy online ordering and it was hot and fresh when I picked it up

It s just okay. The wings, chop suey and fried rice were acceptable. But the black pepper beef was awful 1/5 never again. It tastes like they just dumped a bunch of black pepper onto some beef and called it a day. Nasty.

The food here is good. I really like your black beans sauce and your fried rice. I have tried many Chinese food places and this one hits the spot.

Ive given them 3 tries - worst Chinese food Ive had in KW.

Mid at best

Got the dim sum menu. The food was great and arrived in a reasonable time. The service was very professional, and the prices were quite reasonable. I look forward to coming back.

The best Chinese food I have had in a long time. Hot and sour soup was phenomenal!!!! Highly recommend

Being going there since the time of grade school lunches, in the late 70s. Always smells yummy, and tastes great. Where I learnt to use chopsticks.

Mediocre when you are used to chinese food in the Netherlands

It was a little busy for take out but it was also New Years Eve. Their Lotus Leaf wrapped Rice Dimsum was much smaller than their competition. Based on that I may not order from there again. Their other Dimsum was good so they get an OK from me.

I drive from cambridge for the shanghai noodles

Pretty disappointed. I remember going to this restaurant when I was younger and loving the food there. I ordered from there a couple days ago and was really disappointed. Much of the dimsum was extremely oily and the sesame balls weren t even balls (see image) The sweat sour pork was honestly mainly the batter, not much meat as I remember.

A Chinese restaurant in Waterloo. They serve dim sum all day long but there are not many choices. The taste is acceptable and the side dishes are more flavorful. If you want to eat Chinese restaurant style, you can give it a try.

Fantastic Dim Sum.

Reasonable place... decent food. Could make it a bit more spicy. Dumplings were excellent

Tasteless

This place is absolutely terrible please dont waste your time and money on their tasteless watered down food Im one person and got the dinner for 3 and was still starving even their sweet and sour sauce is tasteless and watery not to mention the lady who works there is so rude her customer service is non existent worst Chinese in KW 10 out of 10 DO NOT RECOMMEND

I understand that Inflation is tough, but they have legit whittled their meals down to tiny portions. Spent $30 and got enough food for 1 person, not 2-3. The combo had 3 chicken balls and was mostly rice. The chicken was mostly broccoli filler even though the meal had no mention of broccoli. They just put broccoli in it so the general tao didnt take up only 1/4th of the container. Pretty disappointing, they use to be better.

I should have looked at the most recent reviews first before stepping foot at this establishment. We ordered the Hot & Sour Soup and it was definitely sour beyond being able to finish it. Everything else we ordered was super salty. Dont just take my word for it. Go there and be prepared to be disappointed on all levels.

Really great Chinese food. Service was good too

So so dim sum.

Good chinese food

There is hair in the dish

Disappointing. Not what it used to be and keeps getting worse. Question freshness of many items. Think GR Kitchen Nightmares. Too many compromises and just spiralling downwards. Order today made us sick and that s the final straw. We should have known just looking at the rice.

First time and very impressed! Made my birthday memorable! Food was tasty and quite warm, even after the 20 minute drive home. As expected and not too greasy/oily at all, like some places are! The staff member was very pleasant and the cooks did a great job preparing! Parking: Park across the street for free for up to 2 hrs., walk down a sidewalk right to the restaurant.

Very special evening meal was great and service too!

The food was delicious! And the service is very good. Every time we come in, they recognize us and are very polite to my whole family. Very good food!

Taking into account the reference and standard of Asian foods in the area, it is a little below the average of the characteristic seasoning of this type of food.

I have always loved their food and service

Another place we just walked into for dinner. It was good. The food prep time was amazing. However, unfortunately my Singapore fried rice wasnt what I hoped for. It came off a bit salty. My friend enjoyed his soup though

Excellent food with little grease. Some hard to find ingredients and dishes like bamboo fungus and squid curry.

Reliable Chinese/HK style comfort food and dim sum. They always make all the dishes so quickly. I was looking for a place with good ho fun/ gohn chow gnow hoh in Waterloo and I found it here :D Theyve got great friendly service and is a family run business. One of the owners literally runs to get orders whenever theres a new doordash ping on the device and runs back to the kitchen to tell the chefs the order. Theyre dedicated good people who make great food for cheap prices. Try the har gow and siu mai if youre looking for your dim sum, its really good!

Good food for a very good price. A good option for takeout :)

Our go to local chinese restaraunt..

Easiest Chinese takeout to order from in waterloo. Friendly service and pretty tasty food

Delicious! Our go-to place for Chinese takeout!

Great food! Our go to for Chinese Food.

I love this place, I havent had it a long time. Today, I fixed that. Great value, and tasted exactly how I remembered.

Absolutely amazing and our go-to for Chinese food. The portion sizes are very reasonable and the food is great quality for a great price. However, the English of the staff is often not the best, but still able to communicate. I think they are trying their best. I really recommend trying their food!

I really liked this place. Not only do they have fantastic ice cream, but they also have a terrific selection of card based games - and really friendly people there to help. If youre looking for a great ice cream or some fun games to pass a rainy weekend this is the place to go!

The only tasty thing I like in this restaurant is orange chicken rest all of the dishes are below average. Would only recommend them for orange chicken

Noice

First time ordering from this place and will be the last, 2 out of 4 items were just wrong items with our delivery order and the chicken balls we got were no joke 95% breading, there were 2 that had a normal chunk of chicken in them. Had hoped this would be the next go to spot for me and the Mrs but unfortunately will not be ordering from here again.

I ordered their wonton noodle soup. The wontons Im pretty sure are frozen grocery store wontons, and the noodles are mediocre. Food is disappointing, but service is friendly.

Pretty good food for a good price! I had an order of fried pork rice and wonton delivered today through Skip the Dishes. The food was delicious

Friendly staff, great dim sum.

Amazing food, quick service and such a cozy vibe. The menu is massive too... lots of options to pick from! This restaurant won t disappoint

The quality of the food is above your average Chinese food restaurants. They have a few authentic items that you would not typically find at other similar establishments. Very clean and good service.

The service was very bad and the lady was demanding for a Tip at last. She has no idea why people offer a Tip.

Cheap and worth the money!

Great food, excellent service. Asked the lady ( I think she is the owner) for vegetarian options and she recommended lots. The food was fresh and yummy. Vegetarian chowmein, veggies stir fry with Tofu and steamed rice. Soup to start with. This isnt our first visit here and it never disappoints.

They make tasty food and easily do vegan options

We ordered on skip and received the wrong order 2 hours after the order was placed

Decided to try Crystal Palace as our usual restaurant is closed. Turns out we enjoy Crystal Palaces food more than our usual restaurant ! Absolutely delicious, so fresh ! Will be ordering from here again !

Mmmmm it s good quality

WOW! Food was ready early, and tasted delicious!

Great prices. Its ready fast and it tastes delicious. If youre looking for a good Chinese spot in Waterloo. You cant go wrong with Crystal Palace.

Being married to a vegetarian, I did not have much choice here. We order the four vegetable dish with vegetarian fried rice. The food was good although it did not quite suit my palette. There was milk in the gravy which was a little surprising considering it s a chinese place. Maybe a different kind of chinese cuisine. Located in the heart of uptown Waterloo, this place has a good following if you like the non vegetarian fare.

Quick and good service

Tried this restaurant from reviews and we were very disappointed to say the least. I had there food before and it was great. Flavour now was non existent and paid $50 plus for delivery. Corn syrup glazed, red dye #5. Cutting cost on quality has set this cheap restaurant apart from all the other good ones. Good luck ordering from them.

Had take out today. Ordered a duck dish and beef and broccoli. The beef and broccoli was ok. The duck was absolutely disgusting. I know for sure the duck was cooked a few days ago and heated up and served. I tried to go on their website to make the ownership aware of the trash being served. But is is not an option on their site. Worst duck I ever tasted.

Crystal Palace? More like Crystal Fallace..

great food.my favorite chinese restaurant.i had takout.

Giving 2 stars because while food was fine it is misleading to have items without price clearly stated on the menu. We asked for clarification but only got a vague non-answer. First time was fine but second time it was much more than we expected. Again all of this could have been avoided if the prices were transparently printed on the menu like at any normal restaurant

The take out was very bad. I dont normally throw food : (

The lunch buffet is cheap and staff was friendly. There were not a lot of vegetarian options though and some of the food didnt taste very fresh, I guess because we went to the buffet quite late.

Always enjoy the food from this place. Reasonable price too. Old fashioned atmosphere

Mussels in black bean sauce & lo-mein are on point

Great food and the lunch buffet is a fantastic deal.

Crystal palace has a friendly and helpful staff and is very accommodating of allergies and sensitivities. We are gluten free and have come here with celiac friends (you can ask for soy free food). They do not use wheat in their fried food and thickeners and we always get at least one order of their spicy salt fried squid. Other highly recommended dishes include their sizzling beef and desert chicken.

While the menu looks authentic, the food is really subpar. One can easily find similar Chinese restaurants with much better food in Waterloo.

Nice place, clean and classy looking with good food. Also, most importantly, my water glass was never empty

Great staff and wonderful food.

Good food, fast service.

Old style Cantonese restaurant, traditional taste, excellent service.

Fresh Good Food!! Not too busy, not a huge restaurant, wait staff dont bother you.. No rushing required... Very nice

Amazing service and delicious food!

Great food at a great price

Great foods

Not the best dim sum Order a la carte passable but wouldnt go back

Not the best Chinese restaurant

We like the Dim Sum.

The best take out in KW. Always fast and delicious

If youre after a good variety of Chinese food of solid quality Crystal Palace is for you. You wont be pampered by the service but it gets the job done. The prices are agreeable.

Love it there, had lunch buffet..it was definitely worth it...very inexpensive, buffet was not big buy quite tasty

Great. Food was amazing, and the servers were very quick and helpful :)

Great and family friendly. Menu has lots of options to choose from.

Great Chinese food and very friendly service.

Great food. This place has been around as long as I can remember and there is a reason why. Great affordable food.

Reasonably priced and good place for Chinese food.

Great food

Amazing service kind staff and the best wonton soup I ve ever had. Definitely recommend to anyone.

Amazing food and very friendly people

Tasty

Price is okay but the items on the buffet could be better

Good food

Good

Excellent food and fast service.

The issue with Crystal palace is in part the poor atmosphere of the location, and mostly because of the lackluster, overpriced dimsum dishes. Dishes were nothing noteworthy at best, and pretty bad in general. Portions are small, even for dimsum. Siumai was a disappointing nibble rather than a satisfying mouthful. Perhaps the most egregious error was the fried squid, which came battered in a soggy, oily, shell that is not representative of how amazing fried squid can be at all. When you go for dimsum, you should expect battered fried squid to be served with a tightly fitting corset of dark, crispy batter that capitalizes on the bumpy, windy texture of squid tentacles. The salty, crunchy first bite should yield to an amazingly tender, juicy white flesh- an addictive, once-in-a-while treat that you cant resist! But in this case, I couldnt even finish half the plate before feeling sick. Service is minimal, though there were no expectations there. I suppose that there may be peak times where the service and possibly food is more focused, and on point, but otherwise I relegate Crystal Palace to the kind of place that caters to the naive diner, who doesnt know better to seek out practically any other Chinese food options, Americanized or not.

Nice quiet restaurant, fresh food, and very tasty!!

It was a very cozy atmosphere and it wasnt too busy. The food is just about what youd expect for a buffet, so no complaints here.

Good dimsum and free wifi

Probably my favourite place to get classic Canadian Chinese food. Always fast and delicious. Chicken Soo Guy with almond sauce is must get. Also nice little discount if your order is over $40 and you pay with cash.