We went to Boston's Chinatown for a festival in August 2005. I had eaten at this restaurant years ago and enjoyed the experience. Since we were nearby and hungry, we decided to try it again. However, this time the experience was very disappointing.

LOCATION

This restaurant is located in Boston's Chinatown right next to the large Chinatown arch. The side of the restaurant used to have a sidewalk but it is now torn up due to construction. You can enter in the front of the building near the Chinatown arch. Boston's Chinatown has many Asian restaurants as well as shops and stores selling Asian goods. It is one of the largest Chinatowns in the country.

AMBIANCE / SEATING

This restaurant is rather large with an upstairs and downstairs. We ate downstairs. There were no booths and the tables were close together. The decor was uninspired. The room was a light beige with some chinese decorations on the walls. The most interesting part of the decor was the large fish tanks on the wall filled with crabs, eels, fish and lobsters. This free aquarium would have entertained the kids but the waiter told them brusquely to sit down.

The ambiance is casual. We went in jeans and most other people were casually dressed. The person sitting next to us had incredibly offensive body odor - so bad it was a factor in us leaving our lunch as soon as possible. While I am not sure a restaurant can eject someone for body odor, they could, at least, seat them away from other patrons.

SERVICE

I am going to try to be culturally sensitive here but have to say that we felt extremely unwelcome in this restaurant. We entered and the hostess asked us to park our stroller in the front of the restaurant. She then led us to a table for four. We asked for a high chair and she said she would look for one. After about ten minutes I saw her back at the hostess stand. I got up and asked for the high chair again. She signalled to a waiter and he appeared with a high chair about five minutes later.

After that, not much happened. No menus appeared. We didn't get water. No one spoke to us. I finally caught the waiter's eye and asked for tea. He turned away before I could ask for water too. He put the tea on the table and sped away. We didn't see him again for a long time so we did without water. He was present in the dining room, he just seemed to be studiously avoiding our attempts to get him to come over. Luckily I had some juice boxes in my purse for the kids so we broke those out. Since I couldn't get the waiter's attention so we could get a menu, and my son didn't want dim sum, I also had to feed him the crackers I keep in the diaper bag for snacks. At this point, I was beginning to believe that this restaurant required you to bring all of your own food and drinks.

Finally, after another ten minutes, I spotted a dim sum cart near the edge of the restaurant. It slowly edged its way over to us. We got it near the end of its run and there were only a few selections left. We picked two plates of dumplings. The server spoke no english so we couldn't find out what we were selecting or how much it cost. The dumplings were cold.

We finished off our dumplings but had to wait for another cart to come by for another ten minutes. We selected two more dishes of dumplings. Then, another wait. Finally, another cart showed up and . . . went right by us despite our obvious waving that we wanted to choose something. The cart stopped two tables down and the server resumed offering dim sum to patrons. The cart clearly had food on it and we couldn't figure out why the server didn't stop. At this point, it seemed obvious to me that we were not welcome in the restaurant. I waved to the waiter and asked for the bill which was the only thing that came promptly. The waiter stood there while I dug my credit card out of my purse and promptly ran the bill.

I can honestly say I have never felt so out of place and so unwelcome in a restaurant. The hostess, waiter and servers all seemed to make deliberate attempts to ignore us while providing better service to other patrons. It was so odd because the kids were well-behaved and we were being incredibly patient so I don't think it was us.

FOOD

We went on Sunday afternoon for Dim Sum. You can order from the menu instead of getting Dim Sum or, at least I think you can because I saw other people do it. We actually couldn't get a menu. Since there was a crowded festival outside, the restaurant was nearly full. Still, we waited over 15 minutes for the first Dim Sum cart to arrive once we were seated. The Dim Sum dishes were all dumplings. There was no rice or meat. From what we could see, the second, third and fourth carts also had the same or similar selection of steamed dumplings. I remember from my prior visit to this restaurant years ago that the carts also had rice, meat and desserts. I couldn't figure out why these carts only had dumplings and the language barrier prevented me from asking.

We tried four versions of dumplings. They were fine but not outstanding. There were a bit greasy for my taste but they tasted fine. The shrimp dumplings were overcooked and the shrimp inside was tough. I wish we could have somehow gotten more food because I would have liked to sample more. Each dish came with 3-4 good sized dumplings. Our final bill for four dishes was $10.95 which I thought was cheap. Of course, we were still hungry when we left, so I bought us all bubble teas outside along with some moon cakes since it was the Moon Festival.

GETTING THERE

Imperial Seafood House is located in Boston's Chinatown. There is extremely limited street parking nearby and getting a parking spot is almost impossible. There are some pay lots nearby that run $12-20. There is also quite a bit of public transporation that stops reasonably close to the restaurant.

OTHER THOUGHTS

There are two steep steps from the outside sidewalk into the restaurant. The first floor is all on one level and there are bathrooms on that level. If you can make it up the first two steps, the rest should be handicapped accessible. I don't think there is any handicapped access to the second floor.

There were high chairs but no children's menus. I wouldn't call this place child friendly, or for that matter, adult friendly.

I don't know if vegetarians will have options. We got a vegetable-filled dumpling but it had a meaty flavor like it was cooked in a meat broth. The language barrier will probably prevent most people from getting a list of ingredients.

They take credit cards.

FINAL RECOMMENDATION

We left midway through lunch. I knew it was time to go when they wouldn't actually serve us any food. The kids were well-behaved and we were not complaining. We were the only non-Asians in the restaurant but I would really hate to think that was the reason we were treated so badly and clearly worse than the other patrons. In any case, I can't recommend this restaurant.


BOSTON: Radius; Caffe Vitoria; Excelsior; Jacob Wirth; Cottonwood Cafe; Sibling Rivalry; Fleming’s.

BROOKLINE: Mr. Sushi; Fugakyu; Takeshima; Tsunami; Anna's Taqueria; Zaftigs Delicatessen; Bangkok Bistro; Golden Temple.

NEWTON: Appetito; India Paradise; Blue Ribbon Barbeque; Ice Cream Works; Baker's Best; Bill’s Pizzeria; Cafe Nicolas; Union Street; O’Hara’s; Yeradi’s; Johnny’s Luchonette.

CAMBRIDGE: S&S Restaurant; The Japanese Mall; Jasper White’s Summer Shack.

WEST ROXBURY: Cafe Misono.

BRIGHTON: Tasca.

ESSEX: Woodman’s.

SAUGUS: Kowloon.

CHAIN RESTAURANTS: Not Your Average Joe’s; Bertucci’s; Legal Sea Foods; Cheesecake Factory; Rainforest Cafe; Fire & Ice; Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse; Friendly’s.

COFFEE, BAGELS AND DONUTS: Bruegger’s Bagels; Finagle a Bagel; Dunkin Donuts; >; Peet’s Coffee and Tea.




Recommended: No

Kid Friendliness: No
Vegetarian Friendly: No
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations Bring your own food, they may not give you any