Forbidden Palace Chinese Bar & Bistro

I have fallen in love with Forbidden Palace. The menu offers countless delicious selections. So far, I've enjoyed the egg drop soup, shrimp and broccoli, shrimp fried rice, shrimp Singapore, shrimp egg foo young, and Szechuan string beans and chicken. I've capped off two meals with their scrumptious cheese cake with white chocolate flakes. Watching the robots roll the food to the diners makes each visit fun.

The cooked food is very good. It’s surprisingly very fresh and homemade-esque. The sushi seemed to take a while even though there was a lot of wait staff because it appeared there were only two people making food. My husband and I love sushi. About 2/3rd of the menu is sushi, but we didn’t like the sushi or my usual favorite - shrimp tempura. The egg rolls are huge. The rice extremely generous portions. We have a whole other meal for two as leftovers. The service was great. All of the staff was. They have robots delivering food and there are 2 or 3 gliding around with cute animated faces. The place was busy and everyone was enjoying their food. The ambiance is as in their photos. I’m attaching pics of the food. Sorry we ate some first!

The food was delicious. Server was polite and friendly. The robot that was bringing food from the kitchen to the correct table was fascinating. The kitchen crew could be more alert and educated about dietary restrictions.

I was disappointed tonight. It was my parents 39th anniversary and I wanted to treat them to somewhere nice. Don't get me wrong, the food was good, the problem seemed to be the kitchen. When we got there the dining room was mostly empty. There were 4 of us at the table. They brought out two people's orders and rice. The problem was one of them had a lemon sauce to accompany their dish that took nearly another 10 minutes after first receiving the dish to actually receive. It wasn't even warm. 15 minutes after the first two dishes were delivered, the 3rd dish finally came out. 25 minutes after the first dishes came our waiter came and said that the 4th dish had actually come out a while ago, but it was on the robot that went to another table. the other customer had taken it. 35 minutes after the first two dishes the 4th dish finally arrived. By the time that 4th dish arrived most of the table had already finished their meal. The fact that the meals came out at various times, despite the dining room not being busy at the point, is proof the kitchen staff is not organized and it ended up ruining the mood of what was supposed to be a nice anniversary dinner. The food might have been good, but as a whole I was very disappointed in my experience.

Let me start by saying the food was incredible, the service was great, and the decors is very cool. The reason I only gave 3 stars is because their SEO has them listed as a buffet. They show up as the number 1 buffet in the area. THIS IS NOT A BUFFET!!!! My kids were starving and just needed something quick with no wait. By the time we got out the car and inside to see there was no buffet, it was too late for me to get them back in their car seats before meltdowns of epic proportions began. So it was frustrating that this was not actually a buffet. I saw after that other people had the same complaint. If they removed buffet from their SEO I would change my review to 5 stars. Now for the food, everything was great. The lomein was probably the best I’ve ever had. The fried rice was excellent. Everything was great. Great vegetarian selection.

I found this place by chance, while hungry and going into Harris Teeter for some fried chicken. They were all sold out, but just outside there was a heavenly smell coming from this place called Forbidden Palace. So I went over to check it out. First, I have to say that what I ate there is sincerely the best NY Style Chinese food I’ve ever had in my life. Atmosphere is serene and everything in the restaurant is very clean. Great place for a romantic date, taking your whole family, or even solo dining in comfort and peace. They also have traditional (authentic) Chinese food, if that’s what you’re after. This is the true "No. 1 Chinese Food" restaurant in taste, quality, and style. I’ve been back twice already since my first visit, and it’s easy to say that I will be a regular here from now on.

Food tasted pretty good. I ordered Chirashi. I assumed it would be quick to make it, but it took longer than fried rice and I had to wait till my husband's fried rice was half gone already. Chirashi was decent, but I can get the same quality sushi cheaper somewhere else. I think it's over priced. Maybe their presentation made me think it was over priced.