Imperial Peking Chinese Restaurant

We have been to Imperial Peking Restaurant a few times in 2013 and also ordered takeaways several times over the same period.The restaurant has had better days when the food was better.The food seems to vary in quality and flavour in the several times that we visited (Perhaps different chefs??), so there did not seem to be any consistency. Sometimes, their Peking duck was good, but other times it was underwhelming. This is the same with other dishes as well.Service was not very good either. One feature of their service is that they do not seem to know how to serve the courses properly. Each time, ALL the dishes (entree, soup and main courses) would appear all at once on the table, even though we have not even finished our entrees and soup courses yet. This gives an impression that they are trying to rush the guests through their meals.This restaurant has been in St Peters for many years. It used to be one of the best Northern Chinese restaurant in Adelaide. I suspect it has changed ownership several times over the years. Sadly, I believe it has deteriorated in quality as a consequence.

The food is always good at the Imperial Peking, I agree with other reviews that the decor is a bit tired. Their Imperial Crispy Duck with pancakes is a family favorite although last visit the pancakes and cucumber could have been doubled to go with our half a duck.

We live close- by, so we frequently go to this restaurant. Our second last experience was on a Sunday evening. The food served, were the remnants of the day's yam cha. when we complained the waiter without fuss took it away and replaced it with fresh food.Our second and last visit was on sunday 11/8 to fairwell our parents who are going overseas. What a disappointment this was. The food was starchy, stodgy and tasteless. The garlic in the chicken was from a jar and overbearing. In all it has put me off Chinese food all together forever. Do yourselves a favour and try another.

Our relatives treated us to dinner at this restaurant. We had a banquet, which was not on the menu. My aunt called them and I think she specifically told the manager what she wanted in the banquet (I didn't see the menu, but my mum did and she couldn't see a lot of the dishes we had).We started with a cold platter with chicken, pork and vegetarian beancurd - all very tasty (particularly the chicken and beancurd). We had chilli lobster with noodles. The lobster was very nice. I wasn't too keen on the noodles - they were a little too soft for me but others liked them a lot - there was nothing left of that dish. The peking duck was ok - the pancakes were very thin and soft but the duck skin wasn't crispy, although the duck tasted nice. We had a whole steamed fish - I don't know what type of fish it was and I wasn't keen on it because it had a muddy flavour but it was definitely fresh and for those who like that type of fish, it was very good. We had fried silken tofu - delicious, pork ribs in a sticky sauce - also delicious, prawns fried in garlic (I didn't have any - was feeling very full! but those who had them said they were delicious), a chicken dish where the chicken is baked with herbs and things wrapped in a lotus leaf and then covered and baked in a bread dough - very delicious (you don't eat the bread). There was also sea cucumber but apparently it was rather bland - not enough seasoning and a mushroom dish (I didn't try that either). I can't remember if we had other dishes before dessert. Dessert was a sort of puffy souffle in the shape of a round-ish donut with red bean paste inside. It was very light but my souffle donut didn't have much red bean paste inside - it would have been better with more and if what was inside was more evenly spread instead of in one corner. It was very interesting though, as I've never had anything like it. We also had the usual sliced fruit. I had some of the watermelon, which was very sweet and juicy. Overall, the food here was really tasty and my family enjoyed it very much. We had a private room, which was great because we could talk and hear one another speaking. Things they could improve:At the start of the meal, one of the waiters brought in water glasses, but he put them down so hard on the lazy suzy that one of them cracked all the way down the side (without breaking). Somehow he didn't notice this and we had to give him the cracked glass and the glass chips that had landed on the table cloth. So, I'd recommend a bit of training in that respect, ie. if you're going to slam glasses down, then maybe do it on the covered table, rather than the glass lazy suzy! He also kept forgetting to bring things when asked, e.g. sauce, water, etc. but possibly he was new and still learning. Other than that, service from all the other waitstaff seemed fine. The bathrooms really need to be cleaned thoroughly or redone. The floor was really sticky (it was tiled) and it just looks unhygienic (even if it wasn't - I don't know). I think the restaurant has been there for a long time because generally, it looks very tired and shabby. Perhaps they feel there's no need because they have a lot of custom, but if the restaurant is doing well, I really feel it would give it such a lift to do a general repaint, thorough clean, etc. - doesn't have to be anything major.

The restaurant has permanently closed down as it was shut down by health authorities due to unsanitary conditions, including a dirty kitchen and utensils.