Eat It And Love It is written by 6 friends in Pittsburgh, PA - we have 2 vegetarians, 2 vegans, and 2 omnivores in our group. We don't make any money from the site and do the reviews for fun and to aid others when searching for the perfect spot to eat!
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This is technically my third review for this restaurant under three different names - let me explain. Once, in a former lifetime, there was a restaurant called Zen Garden in Squirrel Hill that was an all vegetarian fancy-ish Chinese joint. After a few years, they added a few pages to their already extensive menu, changed the name to Hunan Kitchen & Vegetarian Restaurant, and started serving meat dishes, but it was still technically the same restaurant. Finally, this year that location closed down altogether and the vegetarian portion of the menu was shipped off to China Palace in Shadyside, which apparently is owned by the same people. Got it? Good.
I have had a rocky relationship with this restaurant (let's call it Zen Kitchen Palace) over the past couple of years. When it first opened, I loved it and I ate there a lot. A LOT. In fact, Nate and I went to the Squirrel Hill location on opening day and made reservations that we definitely did not need. They never seemed to have an overabundance of customers. Anyways, like with most restaurants, I lost my taste for it after eating there several hundred times and I didn't eat there for about 2 years. Then I went back and liked it again, then I didn't, and now I do again. I guess I just go through phases of wanting to eat faux meat at Chinese restaurants. But I digress. I figured it was at least worth a shot to check out this new location.
When we arrived, I was pleased with the decoration. Still fancy-ish, but not quite as unique as the Zen Kitchen Palace was in its hey-day. I immediately recognized the old manager from the Squirrel Hill location, so I knew we were in the right place. We were seated immediately and given a big, heavy menu and some hot tea. As I paged through the big, heavy menu, I noticed a serious lack of vegetarian options. There was one page of a handful of options, but nothing like what used to be on the menu at Zen Kitchen Palace's predecessors. I was confused. Luckily, we overheard the lady at the table next to us requesting the vegetarian menu. Ahh, they put it on another menu that you must request. But why? And why wouldn't they note anything on their main menu about the existence of this menu? That would have been a kick in the pants if I had ordered something sub-par from the regular menu only to find out about the vast secret vegetarian menu available. Bad, China Palace.
Upon receiving the other menu, I skimmed through it, but pretty much immediately settled on my old standard, Sizzling Tofu with Mixed Vegetables. Nate ordered his standard - wheat gluten with broccoli. I also ordered the brown rice so I could determine if I am insane, or if the brown rice from this restaurant always tastes like soap. I really like their brown rice - it's kind of a combination of wild rices, I suppose, but the last few times I have eaten it, it always tasted like it was cooked in dish soap.
I also had a lychee martini which had a very unfamiliar and unique taste. It came in a rather tiny martini glass, so that was kind of a let down. But when my food arrived, I was very happy. AND! My brown rice didn't taste like soap at all. On a scale of "Good, great, or excellent," Nate rated his gluten a "good." I tried a piece and it had a rather sugary aftertaste. I'll stick with the tofu.
I'll definitely go back to China Palace. Maybe the next time a family event occurs in town, we can all dine there together because, as Americans, it is required by state law that we all enjoy Chinese food. I'm still kind of annoyed about the hidden vegetarian menu, though.
China Palace
5440 Walnut St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
Google Maps
Posted by Julie at October 21, 2007 01:19 AM