East Imperial - Melbourne

My husband and I have been to the East Imperial before but not for a year or so and back then it was just passable. This time we went with another couple who hadn't been there before. We booked the 1pm Thursday lunch seating on a Sunday. When we arrived a few minutes early there was already a large table seated and a few other tables eating. This place is BYO so we brought out own wines.After being seated, an ice bucket and wine glasses were promptly brought to the table and the wine served. And then the food started arriving. It was a steady procession of beautiful tasty delights that everyone enjoyed. Even when we thought that we'd eaten enough, they brought more out which we just couldn't resist (eg Wasabe prawns, Peking duck, egg custard tart, etc). So by the time we left we were actually bloated.The place was packed for the 1pm seating but the service was outstanding. For example, one of us dropped a chopstick and the waiter was at her side in an instant with another pair of chopsticks. I've never seen any waiter react that quickly before in my experiences at restaurants. The wine was free flowing - even though it was our BYO wine, they were prompt at opening fresh bottles and pouring. We were never left wanting for anything and the fact that we were the last to leave (at 3.15pm) speaks volumes for how much we enjoyed the experience.I read an earlier review that this place has undergone a change of management and this is completely obvious. The setting is still the same but the service and the food have improved 100%. We'll be back!

We had a few friends together and thought that this would be a nice venue. The service was very slow and we were waiting over a hour for the food. When the entree arrived (soup) it was full of egg shell and I had to call the waiter over, no apology but he took my soup. The waitress was overly attentive with the continuous topping up of water and tea, however it got to the stage that every time we sipped the drink she was leaning over topping up, we had to request her to please stand back. The food when it arrived was a little bland and presented very basically, just a piled up plate no car. The atmosphere was stale, there were no other customers and the front rooms of the restaurant looked liked they had been closed up for a while. We went prepared with what to order however were told that the internet menu was 2 years old and they do not do that any longer. The wine list was extensive but the cheapest wine started at $38 ??. This was a disappointing night for everyone.

My parents were visiting from Qld and my dad just wanted yum Cha. Some of the food was great, some not so much. Needed to be hot not luke warm and dumplings need more fillings. Service was good, I think we had a new lady who was hard to understand but everyone has to learn.The most disappointing thing was when I got the bill and we were charged "$8" for green tea which they didn't tell us you had to pay for and it was more like hot water in a small pot which they kept replacing, ohhhhhh and charging us for it. This is bad service not to inform your guests that you charge for it and should be changed immediately

New management has taken over East Imperial and the food had changed.The food is more authentic cuisine instead of the random typical Chinese restaurant serving food made for westernised tastes.The lady owner suggested some dishes that were off the menu and I happily accepted.I think they should put it permanently on the menu, the double smoked pork with green beans is similar to the Hunan double smoked pork I had years ago.I also had the super spicy chilli beef and that was delicious too.I will be coming back again to see what other authentic cuisines they put on the menu.

10 of us ordered $88/head banquet. The dishes was not come in order and kept missing the orders. The staff was not professional and do not have much services. The sweet and sour fish soup was no taste and some dishes were just normal. We have 10 people but they only gave us 9 abalones. They just gave us one oyster to replace it. The quality and size of abalones were very bad. Only 2 dishes out of 10 dishes are accepted. It was overpriced and no services for whole dinner and felt disappointed.