Asian Palace

Asian Palace
5266 Summer Ave #65
(901) 766-0831

I am so, so late to the party on this one. I can't understand why. Asian food + Summer Avenue = Our favorite.

Thankfully, we have friends to keep us in line. Satchel's (age 11) budddy, Theo, spent the night Saturday and his awesome dad, Steghen, suggested we meet up for dim sum on Sunday.

Warren and I definitely ate at Asian Palace when it was on Covington Pike, but that may have been pre-monkeys. Yikes!

Maybe it was the locale that turned us off? I mean it's in a nearly abandoned strip mall adjacent to Garden Ridge.



(That's Theo, photobombing.)

However, once we went inside, it was clear why they had moved. It's huge. HUGE! Stephen guessed there were 300+ seats. Best of all, most of the tables seat 8, and since there were 8 of us (plus a super cute baby), it was no problem getting seated.



We arrived around 11:30am (they open at 11:00) and only had to wait a few minutes. Once we sat down, a waiter took our drink orders (no smoothies on Sundays, much to Jiro's disappointment) and then we waited for the carts to roll by.



Stephen warned us that we would be given things we didn't want and encouraged us to try and be strong. But I'll tell you, when they come by and offer something, it's just so easy to say yes!

There was a nice picture on the wall showing all of the available dim sum, so we had a good idea of what we wanted.



Our table (all of them, really) had a big lazy susan in the middle. So once the food started coming, we took a little then sent it around.

First up, some noodles and crispy pork. The crispy pork was really good. It was also nice to start with some things that didn't freak out the monkeys.



The spare ribs were also quite tasty.



The taro balls were sort of hoisted on us. Jiro thought he was getting a coconut bun, but it turned out to be a pineapple bun. Maybe it was a coconut pineapple bun? Anyways, those pancakes in the back there were one of my faves.



By now, all eight of us were very busily feeding our faces. It was so fun! I was so happy Stephen invited us and that we had a big group so we could try lots of things.




But we were just getting started! These flat noodles with shrimp inside were a major hit.



The kids were also quite fond of these noodles.



This was Satchel's absolute favorite--steamed spare ribs.



There were a couple of disappointments. The tripe soup was declared too chewy by Stephen. Thankfully that meant Warren did not pressure us to try it.



I was wary of the eggplant stuffed with shrimp, but it was actually pretty good. I just am not a fan of eggplant. (It's prettier, and not blurry, in real life.)



The taro coconut rolls were ok, but I wouldn't get them again.



And the desserts can get a little weird. This actually tasted good.



We ate several rounds of dumplings and shumai that were awesome. So awesome, I never got a picture. Ditto on the quail, which was outstanding.

Each time we selected or accepted something off the cart, our card got a little stamp.



It was double sided.



By the time we were finishing up (12:30ish) the restaurant was getting super packed and there was a considerable line at the door. I was happy we beat the rush, but it also seemed like it was best to be there at the busiest because there were carts everywhere full of plenty of things we never got a chance to try.

At one point Jiro looked at me and said, "Is it over?" It was really cute. He actually seemed disappointed. I think everyone loved having lots of little things to taste.

We went to the front to pay the tab, which ended up totalling about $90. Not bad for 8 people. We did agree that next time we'll be pickier about what we accept. Oh, and there will definitely be a next time! Probably even this week!



My understanding is that they serve dim sum everyday, but only have carts on the weekends.