The ambiance is great! The service was superior except that one of the workers was in there holding her dog at the bar and walking around. The food was sooo fresh and tasty. The seating booths are spacious, the bartender was comical, they have robots that bring your food, utensils, and food to your table. My family and I always get to go orders but we have decided eating in the restaurant is better. read more

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How did I never leave a review for Forbidden Palace?! This is my go-to sit-down Chinese restaurant! They have a great mix of genuine recipies and american-chinese ones. They also have a sushi bar and a FULL bar. It's a little out of my way on VB Blvd just past Rosemont in the shopping center with Sam's Club. I've had so many great dishes here! They have big servings, made to be shared with family. They are always tasty and cooked with quality ingredients. I enjoy the giant, white-meat nuggets in the orange chicken as well as the lo mein. Today I tried the Schezchuan veggies and added chicken. Damn, it was wonderful! The veg were all perfect and the sauce was bit spicy and had a stellar taste! My favorite appetizer is the salt and pepper shrimp, it's tempura shrimp with some salty seasoning and a mixture of sliced jalapenos, scallions, and fried garlic. Even the egg-drop soup is good! How much difference from a fast food place can you get?! A lot! Staff is usually great! It gets busy on some nights, it's worth the wait. Parking is so-so, worse if Bonefish (next door) has happy hour. read more

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I wonder what Nick Fierro would say about your new design. The design is great but not for a Chinese restaurant... I found calm and comfortable now I feel like I might miss the next trip to outer space. read more

It's a toss up between a 3 and a 4 for me. Ultimately gave it a 4, because of the freshness of food and the amount of meat and tofu given. I ordered the food for pickup asap, and the website didn't give an approximate time to be there by. Despite this, my dad went to go grab it at around 30 minutes, and fortunately for us, they were just bringing it out. We ordered one pad thai, two egg rolls, and the szech vegetables with fried tofu and a pint of steamed rice. Rice doesn't come with the meal for some categories, so you have to add it to your order. Made it home and the food was still fairly hot, and of course I had to try the egg roll first. It was perfectly golden brown, crispy, and you can actually see the shrimp pieces they put in there. I have to say though, it was a bit bland. The texture was great, but it just made me sad to have to douse it in sauces that it shouldn't of needed. As for the pad thai, my dad said it was great, and they gave a lot of shrimp pieces. The szech dish I got was kinda drowned in sauce, like enough to fill a cup to drink as a soup. The sauce itself was kinda just a less salty soy sauce with a little kick. The vegetables were perfect though. Everything was fresh, no gummy mushrooms either. Everything was tender, but not overly soft, they had a bit of bite to them still. Tofu was a great texture as well, and they gave a good amount of little triangles. Rice was definitely some of the best I've had from any Asian place. It wasn't sticky, or dry, or taste like it was a day old, or anything. An absolute 10/10 for that. Overall though, I think I'd go somewhere else. I just feel like there's better out there is all. read more

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The Forbidden Palace opened to new ownership in the former Smackwater Jack's in the Princess Anne Plaza Shopping Center in May of 2013, next to the Bonefish Grill. It was preceded by Forbidden City, which first opened long ago at 3644 Virginia Beach Boulevard before moving to Princess Anne Plaza. My records show that I ate at the original Forbidden City back in 1987. I kept a log of all the Chinese restaurants I visited from 1987 to 1988 and even sent them typewritten reviews. A series of recent polls on a Facebook foodie page ranked Forbidden Palace as one of the top 6 Chinese restaurants in Hampton Road. So, I decided to add it to my review list. It is primarily an American style Chinese restaurant with a diverse and ambitious menu, one that offers Dim-Sum, Sushi, Pancit, Cantonese, Mandarin, Szechuan, and Taiwanese dishes. I admire the transparency of their menu with their separate listing of American-Chinese entrees. Too many Chinese restaurants lead many to believe that all of their dishes are authentic Chinese dishes. Their menu did present a few curiosities. For example, they have Beef and Chicken Pho listed under their Cantonese dishes, even though Pho is a distinctive Vietnamese dish. Their dining space is spacious with a wide open feel. A large attractive bar is stationed in the middle of their dining area. Orange Chinese lantern covers are placed on the tables that are currently blocked off due to Covid-19 restrictions. They have a separate menu for lunch and dinner. Their dinner menu begins at 3 pm from Tuesday through Sunday. Their sushi chef is available for both lunch and dinner, but does not arrive on Saturdays until 5 pm. During four visits, three for lunch and one for dinner, I tried the following: HONG KONG WONTON SOUP: This one only comes in a small portion and is served with a bowl of fried wonton chips. Like most American style Chinese restaurants, a metal soup spoon was provided with their utensils. They gave me with a Chinese soup spoon on request. You have to ask for chopsticks as well. The broth exhibited a solid flavor, and the wontons were plump and flavorful, filled with pork, shrimp, and dried fish. I only wish a larger size was available. My Rating: 4 Stars. HOT & SOUR SOUP: This one also comes in a small portion only with fried wonton chips. Once again, I requested a Chinese soup spoon. Their version was flavorful and well balanced. The broth exhibited a solid peppery flavor and contained bits of tofu, pork, and wood ear mushrooms. This one deserves an option for a larger serving. My Rating: 4 Stars. MONGOLIAN BEEF: Beef Sauteed with Onions and Scallions in a Spicy Brown Sauce, topped with Sesame Seeds. Although listed under their American-Chinese entrees, this dish actually originated in Taiwan and was inspired by a Cantonese cooking technique of stir-frying meat and scallions. This dish is Mongolian in name only with none of the culinary methods of Mongolian cuisine. The Mongolian name was added as a marketing tool by American Chinese restaurants during the last century for exotic appeal. Their lunch time serving came with rice in the same plate as the dish, a presentation that doesn't appeal to me. I would rather have a smaller portion with the rice served separately. Their version was somewhat flavorful, but did not contain as many scallions as I like. Although listed with a chili pepper, it exhibited very little heat. The texture of the beef was a bit gummy in spots. My Rating: 3.5 Stars. SZECHUAN STRING BEANS WITH SHRIMP: This dish was recommended to me by a woman who described it as her favorite dish. Some of the shrimp were undercooked and delivered a shrimpy taste. The string beans were overcooked and lacked the crunchy texture I prefer. I felt no heat from this dish and asked for some hot chili oil, It was watered down and only added a trace amount of heat. My Rating: 2 Stars. DAN DAN SUPER HOT NOODLES: Chinese Spicy Sauerkraut and Ground Pork with Dan Dan Sauce. I am unable to resist any dish listed as "super hot." This one was listed under their Taiwanese dishes, but Dan Dan Noodles is actually a classic Sichuan dish. Their version gave me just enough heat to put a smile on my hot tooth. I prefer the version served at my favorite local Sichuan restaurant, but this one was quite flavorful. The sauce and sauerkraut worked well together. My Rating: 4.5 Stars. HOT CHILI CHICKEN: Diced Fried Chicken tossed with Hot Pepper. I ordered this one during their dinner hours. This dish was mostly a large pile of chicken nuggets. I found them to be overly dry, and some of them were burnt in spots. Some of the chili peppers were burnt as well, even to a pitch black. My Rating: 2 Stars. The service was very friendly and attentive during my visits, much more so than at the American style Chinese restaurant I reviewed last month. My mixed experiences with their food leaves me with only a 3-star rating, and I am unlikely to return. read more

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We ended up here on a Thursday afternoon by chance. We actually needed to stop by Sam's Club which is right next door but we were so hungry we knew we wouldn't make good choices shopping on an empty stomach so we decided to eat lunch first and of the few restaurants in the same shopping complex, we ended up here at Forbidden Palace. Upon entering we were greeted by a human (lol) & then asked to follow 'Wally' the robot as he led us to our table. The place is a lot more spacious than it looks from the outside which was a nice surprise and the decor was anything but Chinese or 'palace' looking. The walls were painted a with a space themed mural which I actually thought was pretty cool! They had ample seating with booths and tables and a large bar. In the middle of the restaurant. They also had tvs which were on. A couple looked like they were on ESPN and at least one was on some kind of news channel. The music that was playing sounded like it was on 80s flashback. Again, I liked it but that's just my preference :) Now on to service and food. Our server Jim was great! He came by and introduced himself and really made us feel welcome. What I mean was that you could tell he enjoyed talking to people and even more importantly, he loved his job! The menu was slightly overwhelming as it had so many dishes to choose from. From apps to entrees there was something for everyone that I believe that even the most finicky eaters wouldn't be disappointed. It went from dim sum to sushi if that tells you anything. For apps, we ordered cilantro dumplings, siu mai and lettuce wraps & for our entree, we ordered the Peking duck with bao buns. Cilantro dumplings were tasty and light but only with a hint of cilantro. We were expecting just a little more cilantro flavor. Siu Mai was tasty especially dipped in the sauce that was provided. They were larger than we expected (at least 2 bites). But they were just a little dense for my liking - still tasty nonetheless. Lettuce wraps were excellent!! Very tasty with a good ratio of meat to chopped veggies. The sauce it was cooked in was not greasy at all. The lettuce leaves were also perfect (I point this out because some places don't pay attention to this little detail so I always appreciate fresh, clean, intact lettuce leaves). Peking duck with bao buns were amazing!!! We've never had duck with anything but rice or noodles so when the dish came out with a plate of bao buns we were slightly confused but Jim was more than happy to explain how to assemble and eat the bun :) I would definitely recommend checking this place out at least once if you've never been. Five stars for food and definitely for service because I don't believe 'personal preference' (about the siu mai) should factor into it. We'll be back!! read more

This use to be our favorite. The last two visits the food and service a huge disappointment. Ugh, so sad!

First time diner tonight. Absolutely best Asian restaurant in this area. Wish they were closer to home for delivary. Broad menu excellent service. Jeramey was excellent bar tender read more

This family friendly , clean, and professional staffed resto is a great place to dine in. Prices are good too. They have a bar and a robot that brings you the fore pared foods. Menu has lots to pick from. We love the salty fried rice and the Peking duck as well. My family's fave place to go read more

I ordered take out today. I enjoyed the lumpia as an appetizer. I ate them so fast, I believe the order consisted of four rolls for $5.25 plus tax. This was bit pricey in comparison to other eateries. But you get what you pay for, and I'm thoroughly pleased with the quality and the temperature was just right. Happy eating! read more

Very good. Arrived quickly. Moderate pricing And told my fortune in cookie. Thank you read more

Excellent service and food every visit time. I regularly dine here as I am local. my favorite is the Szechuan green beans (with or without a protein). They also do not rush you unless you tell them you are in a hurry. They also do take out (very fast). If dinning alone, they seem to have a fair amount of middle aged folks eating at the bar while watching TV. I usually dine with others. I have been frequenting this restaurant for many years. I have always had great food and service. read more

Doesn't look like much from the outside, but 2 large dining rooms inside, and one of the 2 best Chinese restaurants in our area. And the only one with upscale decor and service. Reservations are strongly recommended. read more

Tasty almond chicken, although prefer nuts cooked with food instead of sprinkled on top. Hubby enjoyed his orange chicken. Lost a star for mushy veggies in spring rolls & egg rolls for previous takeout order. Sauté veggies until just wilted then assemble rolls for deep frying. Veggies will be crisp tender, perfect. Service great, fun robots delivering food. Space themed murals beautiful! read more

Even though we had reservations for Christmas evening they could not accommodate us. Rude hostess said their reservation system was down and that was it. Not her problem. She was unkind and did not apologize or try to make things work. Christmas is a busy day for many Asian restaurants. I would suggest they fix their reservation system. There were only two of us. We will not go back. It all worked out because we had a wonderful meal at Judy's read more

Consistently Wonderful. Great fried rice Amazing sweet and sour shrimp One of our favorites. read more

This is our go to #1 restaurant for Chinese food! The food and service are always spot on and so consistent! The dishes are incredibly flavorful, the portions are generous and the prices are fair and reasonable. We enjoy both dine in and takeout. The Hot Chili Chicken is such an excellent and flavorful dish, which we highly recommend!!! Great food, great service and nice ambiance read more

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A little pricey but the quality and quantity is good and food is delicious! We got shrimp with brocolli, beef with broccoli and Gen Tsos, it was all very tasty! read more

At last!! My long search for the BEST sit-down, Americanized chinese food resturant has ended. I am relieved to say, I HAVE FOUND IT! *key shouts and cheers of joy* This is the BEST Virginia Beach has to offer and it is outstanding! How Outstanding??? This review is from eating there 3 days straight! First off, their egg rolls. Without a doubt, they are the BEST I have ever eaten. Crunchy, delicious, with real pork pieces and whole medium shrimp...omg...to die for!! Seriously, I could live off these. Also, we tried the fried crab ragoons. The wrap was paper thin and it had REAL, not imitation crab! The sauce was tangy sweet rather than the red sweet syrup other places give you. I will definitely get these again. Entrees were Almond Chicken, Szcheuan beef, and Orange Shrimp. It all comes family style with steamed rice. First off, the Almond Chicken... while it is a 8/10 for flavor, it is different from what I still judge the perfect almond chicken to taste like. It was very fresh and light and delicious...but it is a light flavor like a chow mein. Worth having again. NO comparrison in the area. The Szechuan beef....this is exactly what Ive been searching for. Shredded beef, carrot, onion, and celery in a spicey brown sauce thats NOT gravy like. This was delicious. The closest in the area to this dish was PF Changs and their meat is always tough. Not this dish...tender, succulent...an all around WOW! While Judys is the best szcheuan in the area, this is the best americanized/new york style szcheuan. Orange shrimp....oh dear gawd. Where has this dish been all my life?? 12 lightly breaded fried shrimp...LARGE 3" shrimp! Mixed into a spicey, very orangey, brown sauce with carrots, broccoli, and water chestnuts, this is a remarkably good dish! Watch out for the peices of orange peel in the sauce!! They are large and easy to find but taste horrible. This dish feeds 2 people...easily. the 18.95 seems underpriced ro the guantity and quality recieved. This is a very, very good dish that everyone should try! This dish is now a new personal favorite. The place is really clean and business is steady with a strong carry out business. Service was outstanding and the 2 sisters who own it are visible and check with each table. The bathrooms are very nice and worth a trip to check out the sink...its a waterfall...very cool. Overall, a quality place to eat and I have already become a regular!! read more

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Been here a couple of times and I thought I already wrote a review for this place but I guess not. I don't go to many Chinese restaurant unless I'm with a group of people which brought me here again. I was told the Mongolian beef was their specialty so, that's what I went for. I'm so glad I did because it was very good! The beef was tender with plenty of onions and scallions. The meat was so flavorful and was just my favorite thing on the table. I also tried the orange chicken and I didn't like it. I've had a lot better at fast food take out. It was more tangy that sweet like most orange chicken I've had. Tried the fried rice too and it was a little too salty for me. Overall a good experience and would only go back for the Mongolian beef. read more

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Less than one star if that were possible. I live nearby, I have ordered from Forbidden Palace previously as well as all of the restaurants in this plaza. and in one minute they ensured that they will never get my business again when they denied my 4 year old use of their bathroom in an emergent situation as we were not patrons... on this night! It is one thing to take this stance with adults waiting outside of Bonefish for a table, entirely different when it comes to a child with that look which only comes when they are about to burst! I intend to share my experience with friends and neighbors. What they do with the information is their business but one thing is certain this place will NEVER receive my business again. I certainly hope the 3 customers and 50 cents worth of toilette paper were worth what I can ensure would have been much more over time from my family alone! read more

Our old faithful! Nobody beats Forbidden Palace's jumbo pepper shrimps and General Tso chicken. read more

Forbidden Palace - Double Jumbo pepper shrimp and general's chicken! Both containers were packed full, we took couple bites before this picture was taken - Chinese Near Me - Virginia Beach, Virginia

Best Hunan chicken I have ever had! Flavor and texture were excellent, and the leftovers made a great lunch the next day.

I can only rate the customer service since I didn't actually get to try the food. I first tried ordering online but after several tries to submit the order and it not going through, I gave up. So I called. The man who answered asked me to hold and I said ok. I could hear him with another customer and after about 30 seconds he asked if I was still there. I responded yes, but then he continued speaking with the in person customer. Then about 15 seconds later I was hung up on. I didn't feel the need to call back because I took all those obstacles as a sign that I didn't need to order from this place. read more

Been there twice in two weeks and the food was awesome. also kudos to the waiters Jeremy and Jared for outstanding service. never let my drinks go dry and was helpful on any questions we had. read more

We ordered for delivery during dinner rush hour, expecting a long wait. To our surprise, the food was delivered quickly, and it was delicious!! We ordered 5 dishes, and each was even better than the 1st we tried. Our go-to for Chinese food from now on. read more

They have the best pancit and a very tasty egg drop soup. My father and love both the house pancit and seafood pancit. The staff is always helpful and friendly. They gave me the wrong soup for take home one night so the next time I went in they comped my soup. read more

Wow! Just wow!!! Salt and pepper shrimp, eggplant in bean sauce, Szechwan green beers, spicy dan dan noodles... There was like 10 other things I wanted to try too. Huge menu! Friendly staff. Amazing flavor. I will be back many times! Great job guys! read more

I love this place! The atmosphere is relaxing, the service is wonderful, and the pork pancit, total win. I have been searching for a great pork pancit for a very long time and finally found it here!!! The owner is very personable, and likes to make sure his guests are enjoying themselves. Anyone in the mood for great food, wonderful service and a relaxing dinner, come here!!! read more

Great place to try a wide variety of dishes . Delightful soups and wonderful noodle dishes from many different styles of cuisine. Japanese, Thai, Philippino, and Chinese. Sushi, soup , and so much more . A great place that makes wonderful tasty food and drinks . read more

Very good Chinese for the area. We've been trying to find go-to place for months now and kept striking out until we found this place. We got lo mein, sweet and sour chicken, and dumplings. They were all fantastic. Service was fine. The little robots are so cute, and prices were very reasonable compared to Judy's. We grabbed a takeout menu on our way out so we could order again! read more

Been looking for some really good pork fried rice, everywhere is plain. Best pork fried rice in the area. Sushi is very reasonably priced and amazing! Chicken lo mein was pretty good read more

Food was good, small portions for the prices. Service was extremely slow, it took over 30 minutes to get our food.

Came by for a light dinner on Friday. The place was a little warm. The waitress told us that the ac was broken and the guy was coming in that night to fix it. She said that the AC that was higher to the ceiling was still pushing cold air but not enough to keep the entire place cool. It didn't bother me too much. The staff here are all super nice. I've been here a couple of times now and I enjoy it every time. Happy Hour is until 7. The draft beers are $3. Any kind. Me and hubs decided to split a volcano roll and stir fried udon. The Volcano roll came out hot and FRESH. It was delicious. Udon noodles were cooked perfectly. Just the right amount of seasoning. Only downfall to my visit was that I ordered a soup but they forgot to put it in. It wasn't a big deal because I was pretty full. I will still give it 5 stars!! read more

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My wife and I ordered egg fried rice, pad thai, and soft shell crab entre. As usual, everything was delicious. I just wish the soft shell dish wasn't so pricey compared to other Asian restaurants that carry the same dish. Our server, Amanda D, was great! She was friendly and on top of everything. The only minor complaint I have is that it was dead silent in the place when we walked in. No music was playing and the volume on the TVs were off. It was so quiet I felt like I had to whisper to my wife. Fortunately, someone turned the music on as we were about to leave. We'll be back soon! read more

We found the service, food ( Corn soup with chicken & shrimp), sesame chicken to die for. The drinks were great too -- we had mixed drinks (Mai Tai and a cosmo) today vs our usual straight cocktails. Very tasty food and authentic. Great ambience.... read more

Order food was told sushi backed up give us 30 mins . Get there than told well the owner is the only one who makes sushi and he isn't here he should be back soon. So not back up ! read more

Always amazing food, have tried several different dishes and have never had anything that wasn't exceptional!! You should definitely give them a try!! read more

Very clean!! Food is fresh and delicious. I ordered Chicken with Garlic Sauce. Will definitely be back read more

Forbidden Palace - Great food - Chinese Near Me - Virginia Beach, Virginia

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Really good location for me, almost right across the street. Very timely delivery. Really extensive menu with a wide variety of Asian foods. All of the food was very good. They do have some unique sushi options. read more