Emperor's Palace, Solid Food, Poor Service (Edmonton 30 in 30)

When meeting up with a close friend in Edmonton, we wanted to try something special and unique to Chinese cuisine; a dish that exemplified the exotic nature of Chinese food, a dish that is both controversial and culturally defining, a treasure from the sea that dates back from the 18th century: Shark's Fin soup. Armed with our new indulgence we called around Edmonton only to be denied by the more popular Chinese restaurants. At last we found somewhere to accommodate our new craving: Emperor's Palace.

Emperor's Palace is located in Edmonton's Chinatown tucked away on the corner of 106th avenue and 100th street. The building itself is sprawling and handsomely presented with large bright lettering and cavernous windows. The owners clearly were going for a banquet hall feel as the interiors are lined with plush velvety carpet, large authentic Chinese art and a full-scale bar featuring rare and expensive wines and spirits. A good start so far!

Unfortunately the faults started to creep in immediately. While initially struck by the awe-inspiring decor, we were equally annoyed at the long wait time for anyone in the restaurant to notice our arrival. The restaurant only had a handful of tables filled and a relative surplus of wait-staff and yet we still dutifully waited at the front of house for more than ten minutes before a manager appreciated our presence. Thankfully we were settled in rather quickly after that. The menu features banquet style Chinese food with many luxurious and expensive items such as Bird's Nest Soup, lobsters, crabs, Abalone and of course, the Shark's Fin. It was fun perusing through the large colourful menus but we knew what the goal of our trip was from the start!

The Chinese delicacy, Shark's Fin Soup. Each bowl of the luxurious dish is served in its own ceramic bowl. The soup itself is a labour intensive process requiring one first to process and dye the shark's fin, then prepare the base of chicken and herbal broth and finally amalgamate all the ingredients together for service. There is an initial powerful visual impact of the dish with the large fin swimming in the light brown broth.

The main flavour of the soup comes not from the fin, but rather the base broth and its condiments, most notably Chinese ham. Here the saltiness of the ham does well to strike through the luxurious depth of the broth. The addition of bean sprouts and cilantro both add aspects of freshness and crispness to the dish.

To finish assembling the entire dish together one adds in a few drops of red vinegar which helps to provide a sour component to the savoury broth, the salty pork and the fresh vegetables. The first mouthful of the finished soup was marvelous. The warm thick broth had a splendorous array of depth with a strong herbal component, a hint of fattiness and the aforementioned saltiness of the ham and sourness from the vinegar.

The star of the dish though was the shark's fin itself. The fin, stewed in the broth, takes in all the flavours from the soup and combines it with a delicate sinewy and chewy texture, with each bite a mouthful of cartilaginous goodness. We were impressed by the size of the fin here and admired Emperor's Palace's decision to serve the entire piece whole. Delicious!

To round out the night we had a Eight Treasure's Hot Pot as well. The dish is again served in a handsome ceramic container and contains eight "treasures" of Chinese cuisine including shrimps, squid, sliced chicken, BBQ pork, scallop, Chinese mushroom, fried tofu and vegetables all stewed together in a soy based sauce. This version was excellent with tender well cooked meats and a thin but rich sauce to tie everything together. Just make sure to get a bowl of rice to lap up all the juice!

There are multiple aspects that go into the value of a restaurant. Paramount is the food, the ingredients, the cooking styles and the presentation go a long way into detailing a good or bad restaurant. Here Emperor's Palace has provided excellent food with proper authentic cooking techniques and fresh ingredients. We were impressed by the size of the shark's fin but also the intricacy of flavours concocted from the soup and the hot pot dishes. One however cannot discredit the service, the ambiance and the price as other important factors that go into the value assessment either; something that Emperor's Palace unfortunately forgot about. We felt sorely dismissed and ignored when initially arriving and while that was eventually rectified it does leave a sore taste in one's mouth, especially when dining out at a supposed fine dining establishment. Overall Emperor's Palace has the food to contend with the best of Chinese restaurants in town but needs to deliver better on its service and experience to retain its customers.