Still darn good Taiwanese food. Family run shop hidden in the alley. Delicious tofu and chicken dishes. read more

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This place locates inside a bowling alley. Serving regular soft drinks and snakes for regular bowling goers. However, this review is for the Chinese food they serve. They have separate entry doorway if you just want to order Chinese takeout to go. (Due to the pandemic, they only have takeouts for the moment.) Food region style is Taiwanese. Be aware of dates of menus posted by other Yelpers, prices have been increased throughout the years. Despite the attitude of the lady who takes your order, she is just being short-answered on majority of questions you might have, but it's just the way she is, not that she's in bad mood or anything... If you are looking for Taiwanese food in central Jersey, this is the place as close as you go. read more

I've lived in Middletown of nearly 20 years and driven past Harmony Bowl thousands of times and never stopped. I knew there was a Chinese restaurant attached and now I regret passing so many times. Curiosity got the best of me and I popped into China Palace because I wanted a takeout menu and was ready to try their food. I checked out the Yelp page and saw real authentic dishes. You must know they are takeout only, you have to call in your order and for us non Asian food enthusiast many of the dishes may not be appealing. This is not your average takeout Chinese food. This place is for the adventurous eater. That said take your time on the menu and you will find some familiar Chinese dishes like beef with broccoli and general Tso's and Kung Pao chicken. I went bonkers and orders 4 items for lunch/dinner/late night/ and lunch the next day. I was thoroughly impressed. The food is fabulous. I tried the wontons in spicy sauce and it wasn't very spicy but it was wonderful, big meaty steamed wontons in a tasty soy based sauce. The crispy breaded Porkchop had a really different but pleasing coating which was very crunchy with tender boneless pork. Again the spice level of the sauce was very low. I think they toned it down because I'm Anglo. The beef and broccoli was great. Large slices of super tender beef and a generous portion of broccoli in a delicious sauce. I also ordered the Chinese sausage fried rice, again I was blown away by its authenticity. I'll be back because I need to try their noodle dishes. Things to know; Susan takes the orders and she is super nice and will Shepard you through the more unusual dishes. They are takeout/pick up only so use the menu from the Yelp page photos and call your order in. The prices are great and the portions are huge so have some friends to help you enjoy the feast. I can't wait to order again read more

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Our go to for Taiwanese takeout. It's legit! They have the best beef noodle soup in Monmouth County. We got their San Bei Ji (3-cup chicken) - delicious! The thickened pork soup was very flavorful. The stir fried pork with tofu was great as well. read more

China Palace - Stir fried pork and tofu, San bei ji, thickened pork soup - Chinese Near Me - Middletown, New Jersey

Stopped by today on Friday at 1:00:pm for lunch and the place is totally shut down !!

Lo Mein is to die for! We like pork sticky rice, and also Mapo Tofu, and beef noodle soup.

Love the food. Place not as expected but it doesn't even matter. I was able to buy Taiwanese comfort food. Will be a repeat customer.

Have been here a couple times with family and friends and always left the restaurant with a VERY happy stomach :) FOOD - 5 stars - despite the name they serve some REALLY good Taiwanese dishes. Everything is so delicious! I love that the food is not too salty here. [DEEP-FRIED "MEAT BALL"] - MUST HAVE!!! I order this every time I come here without fail. The sauce is garlicky which I LOVE. You get two for $5 and they're quiet filling! HIGHLY RECOMMEND. [OYSTER OMELET WITH SAUCE] - more like a saucy pancake than an "omelet". well worth the $11 with all the oysters in it! Very delicious. [BRAISED BEEF NOODLE SOUP] - very good broth with tender beef (thick slices and lots of it!) It also has a nice kick of spice (but not overly spicy). AMBIENCE - 4.5 stars - the restaurant is attached to a bowling alley. the whole place has a pretty retro vibe to it but everything is well maintained and feels very clean! exterior can use some improvement. *They also have a bar which is quiet rare for a Taiwanese restaurant/bowling alley. Love it! Overall a very cozy place with solid good food. Will definitely come back for more! read more

China Palace - Deep-fried "Meat Balls" (#2 on the menu) - SO GOOD - Chinese Near Me - Middletown, New Jersey

You will NEVER believe that you can get Taiwanese food so authentic and delicate in this part of the country, where there are some Taiwanese people but really not a large community. Must come by and check it out to believe it! 先警告一下，這家餐館的英文名不太貼切，既不是China(抱歉了統派朋友）也不是個Palace，單純就是一家完全讓人驚艷的台灣小吃店！ 真無法想像在這種台灣人小貓二三隻（跟紐約或加州比）的地方會有如此道地好吃的台灣料理，特別是小吃！ 肉圓，肉羹，米粉，牛肉麵等都超有水準的！ 老闆和大廚的用心，從一道乾扁四季豆就可以吃出來 - 豆子又乾又扁，大蒜榨菜的比例都很完美！ 在地或來探親的台灣人一定要來試試，絕對比所有北加州甚至許多南加州的台灣店都來的棒！ read more

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Nowhere did it mention that this restaurant is a bowling alley and bar. The posted menu was VERY limited. How did it get all the good reviews???!!! There is no wonton soup and there was pork in my shrimp fried rice. Very disappointing. read more

This place is open for Take-out. No dine-in for now. Very authentic Taiwanese food, good portions and reasonably priced. read more

China Palace - Take-out menu - Chinese Near Me - Middletown, New Jersey

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The food was mediocre at best. The service left much to be desired. I will not eat here again...ever. wish I could have given it 1/4 star.

This is NOT a typical Chinese takeout place, even though the name sounds like one. Rare Taiwanese cuisine in central/south jersey! Lots of authentic "small eats" and entrees, get there early on weekends, they get really packed during dinner time. Ordered: Taiwanese meatballs Thickened pork soup Pork chop and minced pork over rice Three cup chicken They all came out delicious, decent portions, took a little while for them to come out (went during peak dinner time, all tables were full), but worth the wait. First time here, will definitely visit again. read more

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Wow... I am shocked! In a good way! My family and I were in the area looking to see what new, good finds we can try out. China Palace came up as this Taiwanese restaurant even though it sounds like a take out joint. Even more strange was when we got here, it was part of the same building as a bowling alley? Walked into the bowling alley thinking we were in the wrong place but we weren't. We walked back outside and through the glass doors outside. It was just past 2pm on Saturday and we thought we missed lunch time since the door was locked but the waitress let us in. It's not a typical restaurant. It used to be a nice sit down area with a bar for folks to eat and drink after bowling. Somehow it fell into the hands of some Chinese owners and they're doing a Taiwanese food side project. Okay, enough about the strange initial experience. Now to the food!! We ordered quite a few dishes to share. We had one of the soup stews, pork chop rice, spicy beef shin noodle soup, and dan dan noodles. Honestly, everything was amazing. I did not expect anywhere near this quality of food from a place. The soup was a nice, thick sweet and sour conception while the beef shin was beautifully tender (reminiscent of Manhattan Chinatown quality). The pork chop was well done and the rice had even more meat sprinkled on top. The dan dan noodles had bits of bean curd and edamame which was married together with the sauce. Do not judge a book by its cover. They can cook and proportions are heavenly! I wish I remembered to take some pictures but we had gobbled the food up and even had some dan dan noodles to go. I don't like the setting itself but I will certainly go for the food. It's not take out. It's authentic and delicious. Treat yourself to some real Taiwanese foods here!! read more

Our go-to place for a nice satisfying meal! We have been to many Chinese/Asian restaurants in this area, and other places we visit, and China palace is our benchmark. We rarely like the other places better. Our kids live in NYC and when they visit us, one of the things we always do is to order food from China Palace which apparently brings back happy childhood memories. The menu is fairly simple, food is unpretentious and definitely inexpensive, however they taste great. Their clientele tends to be Taiwanese and Chinese and that says something about the authenticity of their food. Highly recommended. read more

It is not closed. Open for take out only. Excellent Taiwanese food hidden in a bowling alley. We love this place! Great pork chop over rice, fish, chow fun, and other classics. read more

Setting: the right side of a bowling alley through twin glass doors The restaurant looked as if it had a former life as a party room for young patrons of the bowling alley. The carpet screamed celebration and there were echoes of happy shrieks of children from years past. The room was full of Taiwanese clients, eager to have authentic food from a land they had formerly called home. I had the pork chop over rice with meat sauce which was delicious. It wasn't as good as the same one at Saint's Alp (RIP) but it was a good substitute. My dining companion and life partner had a shrimp dish and he was pleased with the quality of the food. We waited a solid 40 minutes before we got our food and we watched with bated breath as we watched everyone else get served before us. It was disappointing but the food made up for it. read more

Don't expect a smile at this place... And don't ask questions.. She gets irritated.. Just order, eat, and go!! Lol But the food is worth it! Super delicious fried taiwanese meatball with the amazing garlic sauce!! It's definitely a great rendition from the original sweet sauce they put in taiwan.. Beef noodle soup... TO DIE FOR! Broth is specularly flavorful and the noodles soaked into the broth is just so nice! Black bean noodles!! I feel like I'm actually in Taiwan!! Soo good!!! Love the Lima beans and fry tofu in the dish! And finally the spicy cucumber tofu dish!! If you like spicy! This is real spicy! Not the ones where people say "it's spicy" and you don't feel anything... This is SPICY and surprisingly very very flavorful!! Remember people.. You don't come here for the service. Cause let me tell you.. It sucks! But if you are having an Anthony Bourdain kind of mood and want to taste awesome taiwanese street food.. You come here!!! And for all you asians out there.. Think of this is an indoor street stall.. Service is horrible.. But the food... Soo beautifully constructed!! Plus.. There's a bowling alley connected to the restaurant.. Same owners but they are so much nicer and friendlier! :) read more

To be a Taiwanese cuisine, they can't understand the dialect when I ask them for more rice. The 3 cup chicken... skimping on ginger and rice wine. Oyster omelet was so bad because the oyster was over cooked. General tso chicken, which was originally made in Taiwan and they made a total failure. Most of the dish are just tailor to American taste...sweetness! read more

This is a traditional Chinese Restaurant that shares space with a neighborhood bowling alley. This is not the place to come if you are looking for General Cho's Chicken but it is place to come if you are looking for something adventurous or just in the mood for a big bowl of soup that you can eat with chop sticks. I usually sit at the bar when it is not busy and talk to Mike the cook about bikes. I am sure your experience will be different. read more

The setting is pretty shabby. It's right by the Harmony Bowling Alley, and the building doesn't have a sign, so you'll have to look for it. From the outside, it looks like a greenhouse. The interior is a bit small. There's a bar, a few round tables, and a few booths. The hostess was really nice, checking up on me and giving suggestions. Don't be misled by the name, the food here is mostly Taiwanese-style (not from "China") which is rare around this area. With that said, I got the beef noodle soup (niu rou mian). The soup itself was full of flavor, and the meat (after letting it sit a while to cook), was soft and chewy. I wish I had the stomach to try more of the other dishes. Most of the dishes are $6.50-7.00, with a wide selection. I would definitely come back to try the other dishes. read more

Delicious, great flavor, authentic. Don't be bothered by the exterior, it's connected to a bowling alley, it's worth stopping in. Fast service. We enjoyed EVERY bite, yang-chow fried rice, taiwanese lo mein, crispy pork with spicy dipping sauce, yum. read more

Food, great. Service, ok at best. I've been here several times. I typically order the Taiwanese meatballs (tastes much better than it looks in a picture) and the pork over rice (even better than Shanghai Bun in Matawan). I've never had the usual Chinese-American dishes so I have no comment on those. read more

"What do you feel like for lunch?" "Noodles!" That's typically a conversation that I'll have with coworkers. Up until today, that would usually lead us to Jing Chuan at Airport Plaza in Hazlet. Sadly, I learned today that they're no longer in business, which is a shame because not only did they offer several "Big Bowl Noodle Soup" options, but they also had quite possibly the best Hot and Sour soup in eastern Monmouth county. As a result of learning of their demise, I did some searching on Yelp and found a review for China Palace which made mention of a Beef Noodle Soup. This intrigued me, so I set off on an adventure. And that is just what my trip to China Palace was. The first thing you have to know about this restaurant is that it's somewhat hidden. It's lurking in a bowling alley (Harmony Lanes) on rt. 35 in Middletown. There's also no sign on the building itself. Once there, you enter the restaurant through this glass room that sticks off the building and enter the dining room. It's nothing fancy by any means - but I came here for the noodles and not the decor. Once seated, my dining partner and I received the menu. The titles are in Chinese characters with the descriptions in English. Now, I should take a moment here to set something up front. As one reviewer mentioned - this is not a place to go if you're looking for General Tso's chicken (although that was surprisingly on the menu) or other more "mainstream" Chinese/American dishes. Some of the descriptions could be off-putting for those expecting that, such as the "Ginger Pork Intestine" or "Spicy Beef Entrails". But don't let that scare you off. I ordered the Braised Beef Noodle Soup. It was delicious. Tasty broth, loads of noodles, some Bok Choi, and chunks of beef. I added some hot sauce to give it a bit of a kick. My dining partner ordered "Squid potage black mushroom noodle / rice noodle soup". She said it had great flavor and loved every bite. In addition to our two noodle soup entries, we were given a small dish of lightly pickled cucumber. It was clear that these were freshly made and tasted great. Perfect addition to the table. Overall, I really enjoyed it here. It was a nice save to the sadness of Jing Chuan closing and will become my new "Go To" spot when we're craving noodles. If you're in the area, it's worth checking out! read more

China Palace - Menu - 1st page. - Chinese Near Me - Middletown, New Jersey

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Decided to come back for lunch after a good first experience with a friend of mine. Well, that was a mistake. While the food we ordered was still good, the remainder of the experience was truly insulting. Here's the deal...if you do not speak Mandarin, you will be treated differently. We noticed that every table got a little serving of what looked like pickled cucumbers and some peanuts... except us. I got them the first time I went with my buddy that spoke the language. Even worse, when we got the bill, they had the nerve to use whiteout over the correct price written for a dish and then charged $0.50 more. I didn't even argue...paid the bill and left. What a disgrace, I will never return and if you don't speak Mandarin neither should you. read more

Decades ago I worked very near China Palace and would frequently go there. It is located in a bowling alley that has looked for decades like it is on the verge of failing. It is hard to imagine people going out for bowling and for exotic Chinese food. But the food was good. My favorite was Squid Noodle Soup. It was a thick broth with fine rice noodles that slid down with much the same sensation as broth. One day the restaurant closed. I would frequently try to find other restaurants that served this delicacy, Squid Noodle Soup. I never found one. One reason I realize now is that the dish was probably Taiwanese and there are very few Taiwanese restaurants around. There was Bandu for a wile, but that was a fair distance for me. I was there only once. (For one reason that time I had just been given Novocain for dental work and trying to eat Chinese soup with numb lips was so embarrassing I never wanted to go back. Incidentally, with Taiwanese soup the stains do come out.) I knew for some time that China Palace on Route 35 was open, but had been there only once and the decor made the place seem dismal. I don't know if they carried my lamented Squid Noodle Soup then, but on a return visit I find that it is there pretty much in all its glory. In the old days I think the squid was fried and now it is just boiled or some such, but that may be my memory. We also got Chau-Chau with little idea what it was and it was spicy dumplings. The menu claims that just about every dish is $7.05. What they actually charge with tax is $7.50 so the menu price should be $7.01 to make the numbers come out right. So actually the dishes cost less than the menu says. Taiwanese is a different flavor for this area and despite the dismal surroundings I think I will be back. read more

Food is ok. Place need some major renovations. But what you pay what you get. Definitely worth the price less than $10. Service consistently average. read more

I heard great things about this place, and they were all true, I had the general tso chicken, cause I wasn't really daring to try any of their odd menu items, but still the chicken was great the service was nice and friendly, I know your probably skeptical because it's conjoined with a bowling ally but trust me it's a great place to eat and you should definitely check it out! read more

I read good things about this place, and I've been trying to find some good Chinese food around here since I moved to Middletown over a year and a half ago, so the other night we decided to give it a shot. This was Saturday around 6pm, I called and asked to place an order, and in a thick Asian accent the woman said "we don't take orders, ok?" And hung up. I thought maybe she thought I was trying to order delivery, so I called again and specially said "I'd like to place an order for pickup." Once again "we don't take orders, ok?" Click. I'm thinking wtf? How do you not take phone orders? Am I missing something? This place is around the corner from me and I'm sad to say this experience has ruined it for me. I don't think I'll ever try to go there again. read more

real authentic Taiwanese food. its the only taiwanese style within a 15 mile radius. popular spot where everybody knows everybody.

I've been wanting to go here for a long time but never did until yesterday. I did take out only and had the beef noodle soup with pickled vegetables and Ma Po Tofu. Although I found the soup to be a bit bland and the noodles didn't seem fresh my review was based mostly on the tofu dish. It was by far the best ma po tofu I ever had. I can't wait to go back and try more dishes. It's the only authentic Chinese restaurant in the area. If they ever put soup dumplings on the menu I might move in. read more

Best authentic Taiwanese dishes in Jersey. My favorites are the Chinese meatball with an amazing garlic brown sauce and thickened pork soup as well as Dan Dan noodles. The flavors remind me of home and short of going to New York it's the best place in Jersey read more

Oh hell no! I so went here open minded and wanting the experience but for my fellow Yelpers I must keep it real! Old dirty and confusing ass menu with no help from service in regards to your questions about any of the dishes. I literally threw up that HIGHLY recommended fried meatball crap. The lady was nice though so I feel bad but screw that. I cannot act like it was even close to what other Yelpers wrote. I cannot believe this place was a 4star on yelp! read more

Real-deal Taiwanese food, a rarity in the NYC tri-state area. You won't find better in Manhattan; Flushing may give it a run. The food is 5 star. You shouldn't go to a place like this for ambiance or friendly service, although service was fine. Must try Taiwanese meat ball/dumpling. The best. read more

Great authentic "Taiwanese" food, 90% or more the same taste if you ever travel to Taiwan and compare. The 10% or less difference will be coming from a little different ingredients they could only obtain in US. Yes, the waitress (I believe she is a co-owner) does not smile that much but she is a nice person. read more

If you want genuine Taiwanese cuisine, this is the place. My relatives from Taiwan think their oyster fry is better than what they had in Taiwan. Their pork stew soup is excellent. Yes the service is not outstanding and selection is limited, but for me, it's hard-to-find genuine Taiwan cuisine worth the visit. read more