Legendary Palace - Chinese, Oakland

708 Franklin Street, Oakland CA 94607
(510) 663-9188
Parking: street parking

Last Visited: January 17, 2004

Food: 3 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 2 stars
Price: $$ to $$$

During my visit, Legendary Palace was having a special with a 20% discount on dim sum when dining Monday through Friday and a 10% discount for dining on Saturdays. Also, they had a special of no tea charge.

Outside, Legendary Palace is quite grand looking. It’s highly decorated, with fancy colors like a royal Chinese palace and well, you just need to step back a moment and take a look. It’s a two story building that occupies the entire corner at the intersection of Franklin and 7th Street. Upon entering, you first notice the large size of the room with its high ceilings and sparkle from the numerous chandeliers that hang from the ceiling. They also have a dining area on the second floor.

We sat near the far wall with the large blanket of red velvet with a gold Chinese character on it symbolizing double happiness. Despite the fancy appearance, it’s a very casual place, from the patrons to the wait staff demeanor.

The good:
- Deep Fried Turnover with Minced Meat – Pork and dried mushrooms are placed in a sweet rice dumpling and deep fried. The consistency of the dumpling was good, and the filling tasted as it should. Still a bit crunchy on the outside, this was one of the better dishes. Three turnovers per dish.

- Deep Fried Sesame Balls - Red bean paste is stuffed inside dough rolled into a ball and deep fried. The sesame balls were still warm, and the texture was good – crispy on the outside and soft inside. This was also one of the better dishes. Three sesame balls per dish.

- Shrimp Wrapped in Tofu Skin and Deep Fried – Shrimp, bamboo shoots, and other vegetables are folded into tofu skins, braised, then steamed. They were steaming hot and flavorful. Good. Three rolls per plate.

- Steamed Spare ribs – Spare ribs are steamed in a garlic sauce. The consistency of the spare ribs was good – soft in texture and the sauce is not overpowering. The sauce could be a bit more flavorful by adding black beans or jalapenos. Also, this is the first place I have seen put taro root underneath the spare ribs. The good thing is that the taro was good, and it absorbs the flavor of the sauce, but the bad thing is that the taro occupies more plate space meaning less spare ribs.

- Har gao – Shrimp dumpling – The presentation of the steamed shrimp dumpling in a rice wrapper was good, and there was multiple shrimp inside each dumpling. The flavor was good. Four har gao to a plate.

The average:
- Shrimp Noodle Roll – Shrimp is placed in a rice noodle roll and steamed. This dish was average. It was on the bottom of a stack which means that it had been out of the steamer a while. It was cold making the dish lose a lot of its appeal.

- Pork dumpling – The presentation of the pork dumpling is typical with the orange shrimp roe on top, but the wrapper is more yellow than typical. The flavor of the dumpling was good, so that makes up for the presentation. Four dumplings per plate.

Now, onto the noodle dishes.
- Seafood Combination Pan Fried Noodles, Hong Kong Style – Scallops, fish, and squid along with seasonal greens are cooked in a sauce served over pan fried noodles made Hong Kong Style (which means pan fried, so the outer edges of the noodle which is a bit like a fluffy pancake are crunchy). The flavor of the sauce is good, and the texture of the seafood and vegetables are tender, but there is a bit too much sauce which make the noodles a little too soggy. A little less sauce would have made this dish perfect.

- Beef Chow Fun (Dry Style) – Chow Fun is pan fried with bean sprouts, beef, and yellow chives. The chow fun was very good with the fun being loose from other fun and the texture was good. Each fun was thin and had absorbed the color of the soy sauce used to cook it. The beef chow fun was good – hard to make it better except perhaps a little bit hotter in temperature.

One thing I was disappointed about was the restroom. On the first floor, there’s only one woman’s restroom. I hear there are at least two stalls in the restroom upstairs, but downstairs, the men’s restroom has multiple stalls, but the ladies’ does not. The line is impeccable. Seating a multitude of tables, the facilities should have more restrooms. The restroom is actually pretty nice, but the lack of maintenance turns it into a pig sty, completely unappealing to patrons. The men’s room was not much better. Another disappointment was the wait staff. Since they are serving dim sum during the lunch hour, there are a number of carts being pushed through the facility. However, when you get up to go use the restroom, the wait staff doesn’t let you walk through the narrow aisles first. They pretty much plunge through without a thought. Some training would definitely benefit this establishment and raise the level of service to the same level equal that of the décor. Overall, food is average, service could use improvement, but the atmosphere is nice minus the restroom.