Friday night, we were craving an old favorite… Chinese food from the Dragon Palace in South Natomas.

We usually order dinner from there once every month or so… Whenever we feel like spoiling ourselves. The first time we ordered from there, we were hooked! They delivered to us, and the food arrived hot and super yummy! We had hoped it wasn’t a fluke, and ordered again from them… Everything was perfect. We’ve tried other Chinese food places in the area before, and none of them compare to the flavor and quality of Dragon Palace.

What’s even better is when we call them, and they know what our order is by our address. We’ve been ordering from them for nearly 3 years now. We actually used to live about 7 minutes closer to the restaurant, and were worried when we moved, that we would be out of their delivery area. We aren’t… Thank goodness! The good part is that even now, the food is still piping hot when it arrives here. The girls know exactly what it is when it’s delivered. They see the delivery man hand the food to daddy and yell “YAAAY!! CHINEEEESE FOOD!!!”

Prices are great. We usually pay between $40-$50 depending on what sides we order, but it’s well worth it. They don’t use the little cardboard Chinese style boxes, they use large containers, so there’s a ton of food to go around. We usually get 3 meals out of it for the 4 of us… so that’s nearly 12 servings depending on how hungry we are, and how large our portions are LOL.

They do also have an eat in restaurant. We’ve not yet had the opportunity to dine in, but can’t wait until we do. I definitely recommend Dragon Palace to anyone who loves authentic Chinese food!

On Saturday, 6 October, we just didn’t feel like cooking. We knew there was a new Panda Express just down the road on Del Paso Rd. and we were feeling like Chinese Food, so why not! We had to check it out.

We got there, and the parking spots were so small! I have a Honda Odyssey, so it’s not that large of a car to park. We were squished. I am actually saddened by the lack of space in this area. Things have just grown so much there isn’t much room for anything anymore.

Once we finally squeezed into a parking space, we walked over to the restaurant. We got in line, and thought about what we wanted. The selection was great. There was a lot to choose from.. even for the kids. They piled the food on our plates, and we moved on in the line to pay for everything. One of the entrées I ordered wasn’t ready yet, so they set aside a plate for me. They promised it’d be ready in about 9 minutes or so.

Once we paid for everything, we found a table that would comfortably seat the 4 of us. We had to pick a certain table or else the late afternoon sun would be right in our eyes. They didn’t have any window shades up to cut the light. We started eating and everything was ok until we started in on the Broccoli Beef. It was still COLD! I was so disappointed. That’s one of my favorite parts of Chinese food! I thought about taking it back up, but the line was so long, and they already had a couple of people waiting at the register for food that wasn’t done yet. I figured by the time, I got that resolved, the rest of my food would be cold.. so i set it aside. They did come out with my “missing” entrée (Sweet & Sour Pork) in about 10 minutes, and that was piping hot. The girls barely touched their chicken, or chow mein, which is VERY odd for them. They ended up asking for different food when we got home.

All in all, it was a little disappointing. We have decided that from now on.. we’ll stick with our favorite: The Dragon Palace Restaurant in South Natomas…