I'd give a -100 if I could. After being a happy customer here for years, we had an awful experience you should know about. On 12/24/25, we couldn't get through their regular phone number quite a few times due to a busy signal. We then placed a Door Dash order at 4:50pm. After the app updating the delivery time several times, the order was suddenly "cancelled by the restaurant." We were really looking forward to our dinner for two hours, so you can imagine our disappointment and scrambling for alternatives on Christmas Eve. We did receive a refund for the exact amount that was charged to the credit card. We had decided to try the restaurant again on 12/31/25. Again, we couldn't get through. So I went in person to place the order to ask why the restaurant cancelled our 12/24/25 order. I've never heard of a confirmed order being cancelled before. They said they "cancel Door Dash orders at 6:30pm. A lot of people were disappointed, too." I said but we had placed our order at 4:50pm. I couldn't understand his reasoning. We decided to never use them again. Despite our terrible inconvenience and decision to never dine here again, we decided to place an order today 12/31/25 at 4:19pm for pick-up in person, so I could ask in person what happened on 12/24/25. They said today's order would take 25-30 minutes. It was ready at 4:37pm. That was redeemable, but we still don't understand what happened on 12/24:25 and don't feel confident that it will never happen again. So I imagine the lesson learned is beware of placing Door Dash orders at this restaurant! See photos for proof of our experience. read more

We ordered this via Uber Eats. The delivery is NOT the complaint. The food, however, left a lot to be desired. No cutlery, no chopsticks (yep, we love them), one packet of soy sauce for three dishes, no napkins, a bunch of fortune cookies (yay), and didn't even fold the crab rangoon. Ok, the food. Mongolian beef- not sure this is beef. Very sure it had NO flavor. Pork (just kidding, they do chicken) fried rice-- bland. Flavorless. Mid, as my kid would say. General Tso's-- why was it mixed with water chestnuts? Why wasn't it spicy? Why was it mushy? What was the green veggie in it?!? Crab Rangoon-- well, crab triangles, because they couldn't be bothered to prepare them properly. Spent over $100 on this crap. But hey, got extra fortune cookies, so guess we should cheer. Yawn. Overall. Gross. Disappointed. And very glad we didn't have to deal with the crappy staff, per the other reviews that I 100% believe. Do better. Or just close this garbage hole up. Two stars, because we included our delivery guy. Otherwise, yeah, -10. read more

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I just realized I've never written a review of this place, which we frequent several times a month. Like so frequently that we are warmly greeted with a "anywhere" whenever we walk in. I love good Chinese food, and this place delivers in so many ways. First, their appetizers are first-rate, especially the pot stickers which are probably the best in Marin (Sorry Ming Yen). And then there are the soups. The wor wonton is legendary, my wife has it about every other time we eat here. But even the lowly hot and sour soup served with the lunch menu is AWESOME. I could really be happy with just a bowl of that for lunch. I have about a half dozen favorite dishes, on our most recent visit I opted for the chicken in black bean sauce, which came out piping hot (especially the peppers which are nuclear), with the chicken having such great flavor - is it marinated? How is it stir-fried? It's great. The veggies all are done to perfection, and the black bean sauce goes great with the rice as well - I rarely leave a grain of rice on the plate for this one. Dad almost always goes for the birds' nest - house special crispy noodles - i don't think he's ordered ANYTHING else since he tried that a few years ago. Try the mu shu. Try the Mongolian beef. Try the Lettuce Blossom. NOTHING has disappointed yet, and we've been coming for years. SO, my apologies for not reviewing sooner, as this is indeed one of our very favorite Marin places. read more

China Palace - Chicken with black bean sauce! Yum - Chinese Near Me - Novato, California

Another wonderful lunch with friends. Food, especially the wor won ton soup, is excellent. Service is prompt and efficient. Your food is truly "served", with the server putting what you ordered on to plates or into bowls. Water is regularly refreshed. When is the area, China Palace is a must. read more

Great Singapore noodles, salt and pepper tofu. Nice ambience decent service. Can't wait to go again.

Best chinese food around. Love their fried rice and lo mein. Their chicken in any style is great.

I usually do not leave bad reviews...things happen, but I really would like to share absolutely awful customer service etiquette at this place. It's really could not get worst than this. If I could give zero stars I would. My boyfriend and I ordered the following items: seafood soup, BBQ pork chow mein and lettuce blossoms. The soup arrived within a few minutes. We waited at least 15 minutes for the rest of the dishes. The waitress finally brought 4 different dishes for 4 different tables. It looked that the table across us ordered chow mein as well. She served them first. When she brought us our dish she announced what it was. It was a different chow mein, not the one we ordered. She realized she served our dish to the table across. She went back to the table across and put "our" plate on their table and picked up the plate that was our order. By that time, the mother was helping her young son to serve the food between the two of them. The waitress went back to the kitchen and returned literally within 30 seconds or so. My boyfriend asked the waitress if it was the plate from the table across. She said no. We both were sceptical since it was obvious she made a mistake and the dish was barely warm by that time. A few minutes after we noticed a bright burgundy sauce on the side of our chow mein dish, which did not belong to that dish. We recalled that mother and son also ordered sweet and sour pork dish that was the color of the "wrong sauce" on the side of our chow mein plate. The waitress obviously was straight up lying to us. She even did not bother to change the plate. We decided not to deal with her anymore at this point, but asked another waiter to call the manager. After a few minutes of waiting, the waiter told us "the manager is too busy in the back." We paid for everything except the dish from the table across and left. I don't think we would be back anytime soon. read more

I've been to this place a few times hoping the service would match the quality of their food and ambience but it never did. Our waiters/waitresses always look unhappy and not welcoming, almost as if we were putting them out of their way for wanting food. It's unfortunate. read more

This is our go to spot in Marin! You will have zero regrets, from the tasty food, to the great service and reasonable prices..you can't go any where else to get this quality product. Our favorite dishes are the lemon chicken, salt/pepper wings, potstickers, broccoli beef and chicken chow mean. For soup their chicken corn soup is stellar great to go process and great in person meal too read more

I came here for a private family event where they rented out the entire restaurant before they opened for a lunch buffet. The place was big and very nice inside, lots of tables of different sizes that suit our family groups. The food was plentiful, set up like a buffet, there was so much to eat. It was a fairly large party, so they planned accordingly and there was lots leftover. They gave us to-go plates where we could take some home at the end of the luncheon. My 2 year old loved eating the green beans so much, probably her favorite besides the beef and broccoli and the chow mien. I thought everything was really good. The best part was the service, the owners were serving and were so nice and catered to everyone. We really had a great time and felt so welcomed being there. read more

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We love this place! We eat here almost every week. Their soups and salt pepper chicken wings are very tasty and comforting. The Mongolian beef is especially flavorful. The staff has always been very helpful and accommodating. read more

There are a handful of Chinese restaurants in Novato and China Palace is a family favorite. They make the best chow fun. We like to order it with fresh pork instead of cha su. I have also tried the hot and sour soup, potstickers, and Mongolian beef which has a kick to it. For Chinese New Year this year we ordered two big trays of sweet and sour pork and chow mein. I wouldn't order the sweet and sour pork again. A lot of the breading separated from the meat. I always get take out and the food is always piping hot. Service is fast despite the high volume of orders for pick up and delivery. They have a decent sized parking lot and they are easy to find off of Redwood Blvd. read more

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I love this because of Jeff I really enjoy the customer service here yay everyone should eat here

First of all, if you're a person of color (black) DO NOT bother dining in here. On 10/11/2025 I decided to take my little out for dinner for his bday as he mentioned he wanted to go to dinner at china palace prior, When we got there they seemed busy so I asked if we needed a reservation the hostess said no we have some tables open in the back, I was ok with everything, we were seated. usually take me some time to figure out what I want. mind you 5 min, after figure out what we wanted then 10, 15 min all while watching other set of individuals being seated, with water and menu and orders being taking less then 5 min since they were seated. Again I did not mind the place being a bit busy, i did not mind food taking a bit long to be served nothing at all. I just wanted to celebrate with my little brother for his birthday. 25 min later finally the waiter comes over to take our order. Oh boy this man was taking our as if he was doing us a favor, like I showed up with EBT as form of payment, like I was begging him. At that point I was done, still no water, no utensils nothing on our table. After this man takes our order, wine comes out still no water, 3 min later finally water. At that point I was done I asked for everything to go, didn't touch the wine because I had no food in my stomach, tell me why the other waiter comes to the table with a red cup telling me to pour the wine in the cup and take it to go because your still going to charge for the wine. My mind was blown at that point. First off that's Illegal and I plan on reporting that. He was literally pressuring me to pick up the glass of wine and pour into the red cup. Now I grew up in Marin county I've gotten use to dealing with racist white people of Marin but racist Asians of Marin that was a new experience for me. And believe me I am not one to throw the race unless necessary and this one was one of them. I felt so bad because my little brother just sat there not knowing what to do, as we were there to celebrate a quick dinner celebration. -Do better, and be better China Palace we in this together. On that note you'll never get that opportunity ever again to racial profile, provide shitty service as if my form of payment was my EBT card and play dumb when I ask for my shit to go. read more

This is a very nice restaurant. We arrived after five (5) pm and were the only customers. They were very busy with take out orders. After we were seated (party of two) more customer arrived and by the time we left the place was full. We ordered soup and potstickers and spicy lemon prawns. All well prepared. The service was very good. Although I ordered a bottle of Sake ....somehow it wasn't what I actually wanted, the hostess didn't really seem to understand what I wanted. No problem. Although I travel frequently when I return too this area I wouldn't hesitate to return. read more

It felt like my friend and I were being discriminated. When we got sat, none of the servers acknowledged us or offered water. 2 other couples came in and they immediately got severed menus & water. We waited for 5 mins while others waited seconds. After a new couple got sat and they got waters we left. I wouldn't recommend if you're looking for a friendly environment to eat food read more

This is my second time dining here with a table of 5. Menus say that there's a gratuity added whenever there's a table of 6 or more, but our check included a service charge (unsure if that is different from gratuity). Food is decent, but some dishes were saltier than expected. Restaurant was clean and had peaceful music playing throughout. However, my biggest gripe was in their service. Overall, the best way to explain the service was it was...too good. Like irritatingly good. Our waitress was conversational and fast, but one of the bussers was over-eager to help. Everytime he walked by (almost every few minutes), if your glass of water was even 75% full, he wouldn't ask and just simply refill it. Even when I purposely drank from my glass the entire time he was at our table, he waited with the pitcher toward me until I lowered it from my lips. I was basically drowning in water - you didn't need to come by every time to fill it! He also asked if we were done with our soup before our main course food came, which was then packed away for to-go before we could blink. Best intentions, but came off as "hurry up and eat". The fried rice also came after all the other entrees, which irritated the Asian in me. Rice first, then entrees. Overall, 3/5. Room for improvement. read more

The main older Chinese man who takes the orders is so rude. I don't know if he's the owner or what. Always in a bad mood. I tried to order food and I just hung up because of how rude he is. Food is amazing but this man ruins everything about it. Find a different job if you don't like yours. Last thing I need is someone being rude to me when I'm spending money here. Definitely won't go back. read more

So good I had the salt and pepper tofu oh my God so good I had to go back the next day and order it again. It was super good very authentic Chinese food . read more

For years we have patronized China Palace. We do mostly take out. We've always thought the food was quite good. No complaints there. It's just that when I go to pick up the food it's mostly the "older" guy at the front desk who takes my credit card. He NEVER smiles and never says thank you. Generally grumpy. Recently there have been two younger guys working the front desk. Much friendlier. And they know how to smile. When I was a wee tyke growing up in San Francisco, my parents owned a bakery. My Mom who ran the front told me , "Remember, the customer is always king." I hope the guy who works the front desk gets this message and learns how to treat all his customers "as kings." read more

This is an excellent choice! The ambiance and architecture are beautiful. What a great looking restaurant. The staff are exceptional in their courteous service and prompt attention. The food is delicious! Today we had Sweet and Sour Chicken, and also Chicken with Broccoli. The portions are large and the flavors are delicious. Highly recommended! read more

China Palace - Great Chicken with Broccoli - Chinese Near Me - Novato, California

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After reading some of the reviews we were hesitant to try this place but glad we did. Got the orange chicken and hot & spicy eggplant. Very generous portions for the price, and good quality food. We ordered takeout this time, but the inside looked inviting, with an old-timey, 70s lodge aesthetic. Will be back for dine-in. read more

Very great portion. The Mongolian Beef was very impressive with its tender, caramelized beef coated in a sweet-savory sauce. The Wor Wonton Soup offers a rich, aromatic broth filled with flavorful wontons, chicken, shrimp and fresh vegetables. A Must try ! read more

Customer service is really not what I expected. They kind of order for myself and got my order wrong read more

China Palace - The food was all right. It's the customer service that I did not like. - Chinese Near Me - Novato, California

Great spot for lunch or a family dinner! This is definitely one of the best Chinese spots in Novato. I highly recommend the lunch special as it comes with an egg roll app, soup of the day , and an entree With your choice of Vegetable Fried Rice, Steamed Rice or Chow Mein. I can recommend the Hot and sour soup, hot spicy eggplant, and the braised tofu with veggies. Service is fast, large sized portions, and affordable. read more

Good food. Rude waitress. Too bad. We were hoping to find a new place to eat. We won't be coming back.

If I could give this place zero stars, I would. My family and I came to China Palace expecting a nice dinner, and instead we got one of the worst dining experiences we've ever had. Our food came out in random intervals, about every 10 minutes. We had to eat 1 thing at a time. To make it worse, we never even received the rice we ordered. We had to tell them. The service was unbelievably poor, and one staff member was straight-up rude for no reason. It felt like they didn't care at all that we were customers.For the price and the reputation this place claims to have, this was a complete disappointment.They always use to go to your table and ask if you need a refill for your water, and now they don't. read more

Food was ok. Seafood soup had shrimp and mostly egg and maybe seafood broth? Chicken chow was good. Service was HORRIBLE. We had 3 servers ask us about what we wanted to order after placing our order then we received double what we had ordered so we sent it back. After that we tried getting our food to go and they took our food and HALF was in the container? Where did the other half go?! HIGHLY suggest you putting your food in the container yourself or avoid dinning it completely. TO GO maybe a better option. It was really bad service, communication could improve. The place didn't have air conditioning and the bathroom lights didn't work. No to go cups available. We made a service complaint and no apology or attempt to correct. Quick to charge the bill but but no appreciation to its customers read more

Normally we love dining here but last week was a bit disappointing. Food was excellent as usual. The unfortunate thing was we had reserved a round table for an early sitting but when we arrived (on time) we were told that they had a larger party coming in. They served us but the meal was very stressful as we were rushed out when we were barely done. The worst part was they had a phone number that they could they called and explained what was going on. We would have happily changed the date due to the circumstances for them and not be given the bum's rush out of there. Yes, we will go back but will definitely be checking our seating request prior to getting there. read more

We are very disappointed. As long time customers of China Palace we are very sad as to what it has become. We ordered the simple 2 person take out on line on Tuesday night. We waited over 15 minutes over the expected pickup time, but that was OK. The food that we received was TERRIBLE! The food had been reheated and the sweet and sour pork was TOUGH. We had almost a similar experience a few months ago, but thought we would give it another try, but sadly it is bad. read more

My husband and daughter went to China P , my husband ordered Mongolian beef my husband ended up getting FOOD POISING , was in soo much pain for 2 day almost took him to the emergency called the restaurant to talk to the manager all she cold say was we have no history of your husband or daughter here i told them to look at receipt and film if they have camera and she said have him come back we can give him another meal for free my husband said he will NEVER ever go back i also told the manager im just calling you so you are aware and im so lucky my husband isnt elderly because i dont know if he would of made it horrible horrible experience stay away!!! read more

Very easy ordering online. We were pleasantly surprised by how tasty everything was. We had egg flower soup, Mongolian chicken, Hunan prawns and vegetable fried rice. Delicious sauces and well prepared dishes. We will definitely put this at the top of our list. read more

A couple weeks ago we ordered pickup. Chicken was cold and tough. No more... . Sorry!

The food here is amazing! My husband and I have been here a few times and always love the food and the great service.

Not good. Your food has gone downhill. The beef was chewy. The chicken was dry. And the broccoli was raw. You should learn how to brine your meat to make it more tender. read more

I am insulted that I was sent these terrible eggrolls. I have never seen such badly cooked food in my life. Undercooked cabbage on the inside & falling apart flaky outside. Really unacceptable! I asked for my dish to be vegan, no eggs in the fried rice, & gluten-free. They lazily sent me plain rice, wontons, & a non-vegan soup. I don't know if there's a new chef, but the quality of food has gone way down! read more

China Palace - Egg Rolls - Chinese Near Me - Novato, California

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This used to be a great place. ive eaten here for decades but its not the same. the fish had a funny texture and the sauce was too sweet. Not the same. I gave them another chance today and had shrimp. Sauce too much sugar and cornstarch. Also i got a bad headache. Hope they haven't started using MSG. The won ton was good..but spring roll way overcooked. Very sad. Parking lot and dining room only a third full at lunch..so im not the only one who has noticed. Miss the way it used to be. read more

The food here is normally good here evidenced by the amount of patrons waiting for tables or waiting in the lobby for takeout orders iUnfortunately tonight wasn't so. Our house special fried rice was almost black in color, tasteless and dry. I am assuming that it wasn't fresh and made ahead of time to help with filling orders. The Mongolian Beef was bland and mostly onions. The worst part was that they neglected to include one of the meals were ordered and that went unnoticed until we got all the way home. When I called to tell them this we were offered a "credit" towards future dining for the missing item. I asked if they could just refund the amount of the missing meal but that wasn't something they would do. So we now need to drive back to deal with this which will be our last trip there. In total we spent over $125 for takeout for three people. Maybe this is why the restaurant only scores 3 stars on Yelp and appears to be trending downward. read more

Delicious Chinese food in a nice atmosphere. The hot spicy eggplant was my favorite. The service was quick as well. read more

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Ordered egg fried rice, came only rice , can't find any eggs in it. And they're very rude, not polite. The whole experience is unpleasant.