I've lived in Denver for 12 years. I've yet to eat at a Chinese restaurant here that had exceptional food.
We've mostly gone to Imperial over the years, despite their complete lack of creativity or flair, because it's above the median for Americanized Chinese food and is relatively consistent. But, even that low bar is beyond their reach at this point. We had take-out tonight and the meat in the pot-stickers tasted like microwaved frozen hamburger.
Have some pride, people. If we want Chinese food this lousy, we can just go to a dollar per scoop place on Colfax.
This is not a restaurant that's owned by someone who truly loves food. It's just another business for them. If you are going to mail it in, you may as well buy a Pack-n'-Ship franchise.
Sad, 3.5 star cumulative rating for what I consider to be one of the better Chinese restaurants in town. Say it ain't so Denver....
Imperial has rock solid Chinese food. My absolute favorite dish is the Chilean Sea Bass with black bean sauce. (This is a 5 star dish) The bass is very lightly fried and has a deliciously garlicky and salty sauce on it. Some people may complain about the price, but I think it's worth it. Â Ever looked at the price of Chilean sea bass at the grocery store? Yeah its expensive there too. Â All the other dishes I've tried are also tasty. Â Be prepared Chinese food is salty in general and Imperial Chinese is no exception. Does it taste delicious? Â Yes it does!
Lunch specials are a good deal. The restaurant is nice inside and well kept. The service is attentive and efficient.
How on earth could this place be less than 4 stars? Â If I'm in the mood for Chinese food, Imperial is the first restaurant on my mind.
Perhaps we were there on the wrong night...After all the hype to hit the Imperial on Xmas Eve, we decided to stop in after a long day with family. We checked in with the hotess and decided to grab a drink at the bar. 1 hour later, after hearing other people being called around us we went to check on our table. We were told we were called already but would be put back on the list. Another half hour goes by, with lots more people being seated so we check again. Finally we get seated where we continue to sit. All the tables around us get their orders taken and food starts coming before our order is finally taken. I know, we should have left but knowing what was in the fridge at home and being so hungry we thought for sure we'd eat soon. The food finally came and it was not very good. Over 3 hour experience with ok food, don't think we'll be back or recommend this place to anyone else in the future. Spare yourself.
Review Source:Basic lunch menu looks great, but a little pricy...6-10 for most apps, 11.50-15 for most lunches...most lunch menus I've seen for Chinese food run between 8-12.50...very stylishly decorated internally though and impeccably polished service...when you can tackle it. Â If you don't order when your waiter comes by to take your order the first time, you might be waiting for some minutes unless you actively flag someone down...Food, sadly, was average for my Vietnamese noodle bowl, not much in the way of sliced beef strips...guess it was ok.
Review Source:Quite possibly the closest to perfect Asian lunch I've ever had. Definitely, the best Basil Chicken I have ever had. The chicken is tender and not drowned in gooey sauce. They use lots of basil, whole spicy chili peppers, red and green bell pepper, green onions, bamboo and grape tomatoes throughout. The sauce is light and the brown rice, perfectly cooked.
The won ton soup is amazing. It has cabbage, whole spinach, and green onion. You almost don't need the won ton but they are so very good.
Not surprised they also gave me what is now my favorite egg-roll in Denver.
This is very, very good food in a very, very nice atmosphere. The service is fantastic and the atmosphere is soft and date-night like, but you don't have to dress up and they don't make you feel out of place because you're in jeans.
The menu isn't your typical Chinese food fare; they do have that, don't get me wrong, but they also have really nice selections of fish and other items you wouldn't necessarily expect at a Chinese restaurant. Those were really pricey though so I'd save those for a special occasion.
I had Happy Family. The scallops were so well cooked that I would've ordered a dish of just those had I known. They were tender and almost buttery; not at all chewy or fishy. The beef was obviously from a good cut of meat that had been cooked and sliced before adding to the dish because it was tender and juicy and also incredibly delicious. It really put all other beef dishes of curled up overcooked and chewy meat in other Chinese restaurants to shame. The vegetables were fresh and crunchy and the sauce had subtle hints of ginger and garlic instead of being an overpowering soy sauce gravy with MSG added.
The service is phenomenal yet understated. Sometimes the filling of my water glass every time I drank an ounce or two was a little too attentive, but I never noticed them lingering so it didn't really bother me. Someone at my table actually spilled a glass of water and two staff members quietly swooped in, cleaned it up, covered the wet table cloth with napkins, replaced her water and disappeared into the night leaving me to say, "Who were those masked men!?" I wanted to spill another glass just to watch it all again. It was like some kind of mission impossible spy stuff with hushed tones. Cool.
I only wish it weren't so pricey, but then again, the quality reflects the cost.
Someone said that it was a great place for tourists to eat Chinese. It is. No subtle flavors, no delicacy, no imagination, no soul. Nice room, friendly service, but not a place for those who love the complexity of Asian food. Watered down for the old people who flock to tis place. Want taste? Head for Federal Blvd or Aurora. You will never find it here. I won't go back, but would recommend it it to my sister-in-law who  thinks pot stickers are the essence of Chinese cooking.
Review Source:My first 5 star review. I'm usually a bit stingy with the stars. I came here based on a recommendation from a friend as the "best sesame chicken ever." I looked up some of the reviews beforehand and was a little skeptical based on some of the latest reviews.
This review is based on a weekday lunch visit.
Restaraunt was very clean, and nicely decored. Excellent atmosphere. Sharply dressed wait staff.
I had the sesame chicken, wife has the daily special - sesame scallops. Food was hot and outstanding. We both immensely enjoyed our dishes. They have great sweet and sour sauce for the egg rolls, not the red syrupy nasty sweet stuff most places serve but the excellent orange sauce you only see in the better places.
Service was top-notch. My iced tea and water glass never got half empty. The minute a dish was empty it was removed from my table.
I'm really confused about some of the more recent reviews. Maybe someone was reading them and has made some changes, but I honestly couldn't ask for a better dining experience. Prices are slightly higher than other Chinese restaurants but in my opinion it was totally worth it. Heck, I enjoyed myself so much, I want to go back tonight for dinner, it was that good.
I'd like to think my downgrade in their rating here on Yelp (or my direct email to the owner) has had some impact on what has been going on here. Â Whether it was me, or, just luck, I can't say but my last couple of experiences have been much better.
For one thing, when I ordered take out sesame chicken, they asked me if I'd like the sauce on the side so it doesn't get all gummy on the way home - yes, please. Â Much better.
Last time I had the scallion pancakes and chicken lettuce wraps. Â All packaged separately so the warm things stayed warm and the veggies stayed crispy. Â Delish.
I'm very much more pleased and they are back in my regular rotation.
Always on the lookout for chinese food and always have unrealistic expectations, still I had hoped for better. Â Pancake appetizer, was expecting some thing with a soft texture like a Korean one...it came out like frybread!, sent it back.
next up - shrimp with mayo and walnuts,..you know its supposed to have that little crunch to it, it did not...and there was a whole jar of mayo...sent it back....next up steamed duck, expensive and almost inedible/flavorless which for a duck slut is tragic. Â cocktails - pretty Ok - served in tikki cups. Â Whole lot came to $73 and that - they just comped the frybread. Â No value for money here, pretty good service though - she agreed with most of what we said...hmm so why no more comp on the food.
We went Sunday May 24, 2012 when the doors opened at 4pm. Â It was a celebration dinner for our Wedding annivesary. Â My sister in law and her husband wanted to treat us for our Wedding Anniversary.
We first ordered the Dragon Well Tea (hot & it's decaffeinated) Â No one liked it, so we went with tried and true Jasmine tea. Â The server, Jeff was very accommodating, Oh well, doesn't hurt to try something different.
What we ordered for four people.
Appetizers.
1. BBQ baby back ribs 4 in an order  (had a nice delicate sweet taste, I thought the ribs were rather small (about 3 inches each one and not very meaty at all)
2. Coconut Shrimp for for 4 people. looks like they butterfly the Shrimp before coating and frying. Â Very good crispy crunchy coating. Â Everybody liked them
3 Oriental Chicken Salad gluten Free. Â Everybody also like the chicken salad. Â I think it was everyone's favorite of the appetizers.
We didn't order any soups.
Main Dish.
1. Dungeness Crab imbued with 5 spices
2. Whole steamed sea bass Cantonese style
3.Shanghai Braised duck half
4. Filet of beef with Burgundy sauce
Choice of white or brown rice, we took both.
Dessert: we all ordered ginger ice cream. Â Ginger taste was very very light.
All four main dishes came out hot and ready, good presentation, good flavor.
Everybody was pleased with dinner, our server did a good job.
So why give it only 3 stars? Â I ate in many Chinese restaurants through out the United States, Europe, China and Hong Kong as well as my father owned over 5 restaurants in his life time and I worked in them in my youth. Â This restaurant serves very good competent food. Â It's just missing that little extra, to boost it to a four star review.
As a Chinese restaurant not located in a major Chinese area, it's good. Â We did enjoy ourselves at the restaurant.
Do you like warm, gross limp, lettuce in your fried rice instead of sprouts? Then you'll like Imperial's revised fried rice. Â Used to be great, flavorful, full of sprouts, now it's terrible.
Do you like glumps of soft, gooey chicken? Then you'll like Imperial's revised sesame chicken. Used to be crispy and fantastic, now it's truly so-so.
Do you like by the gross frozen egg rolls that have little taste? Then you'll like Imperial's new egg rolls. Â Their delicious, lemon-scented, one-of-a-kind rolls are a thing of the past.
Or maybe you'd like the Chinese hash with chicken gristle galore disguised as an appealing lettuce-wrap appetizer. Because that's what you'll get at today's Imperial Chinese.
I was a faithful customer of Imperial for more than 20 years. Then it fell apart about 3-4 years ago.It used to be the best Chinese in Colorado. Â Now it's definitely below average.
Anyone posting good reviews doesn't know the old Imperial. Â And sadly, the new one's days are numbered.
Bad management being cheap. The ruin of many a business.
One of my favorite Chinese food places in Denver. If your dining for 2, getting the group meal which includes appetizers, entree selections and dessert is a great way to go. I haven't had a dish here I didn't enjoy, and I'm picky when it comes to Chinese (really what I'm saying is I don't eat cheap/dollar scoop). Nice place, nice fishtanks, been here a few times and I've never had a bad visit.
Review Source:I've heard about this restaurant for years and finally had the chance to try it. It was fantastic and lived up to its reputation. Our server was Patrick, and he was wonderful and attentive. The food was fantastic. Every single course. We definitely plan to go back. It was well worth the price. There was actually meat in the dishes, instead of a ton of vegetables (which cost less than meat) like other restaurants typically serve.
Review Source:Having grown up near Chicago, I often miss the ambiance of a true Chinatown restaurant, gilded to the hilt, fish tanks, low lighting, etc. I love when dining is more than just food, but is instead about the experience. Imperial Chinese hits this mark and then some. Both my husband and I noticed and commented on the ambiance as soon as we entered.
The service was also wonderful. Unobtrusive, helpful and speedy.
The food was better than average. I had chicken dumplings (which I appreciated could be steamed rather than fried) and they were light, crispy and spiced well. As an entree, I had beef and broccoli with brown rice(I appreciated that you could get brown, white, long grain or fried rice in both white and brown varieties). There was plenty of food, (though smaller portions than one might expect from a typical Chinese restaurant) and we each took home leftovers.
Why the 3 starts? The meal was $40 without tip. While this isn't the end of the world by any means, the food was not significantly better than the average Chinese restaurant to warrant the significantly above average price tag.
I will likely return, particularly because of their abundance of specialty items (gluten free, vegan)as I have friends who fall into both categories.I also appreciate that this is one of the few restaurants in Baker with ample parking, a rarity on Broadway.
I totally hate doing this but think it's important, especially for those fellow vegan diners out there.
And please remmeber that I only base my reviews on friendly staff and good vegan food.
I went here last night for a friend's celebration. He had been a couple of times and said they had good vegan dishes. After a long conversation with the server, we all realized that they only had one vegan dish, nbamboo with steamed veggies. They even have items on their menu that say vegan but are not. The problem seems to be with them using egg and chicken stock. It's a huge bummer as even the manager had said they had  alot to choose from. I hope they can turn this around and make simple changes so that they are indeed vegan friendly (if they want to be).
Coming from the East Coast where great Chinese restaurants are easy to come by (every block really) it's been hard for me to find great Chinese out here.
I've been here twice and been told by others this is really the best Chinese around.
Ambiance is fabulous. Â It's not as fancy as it looks, this meaning you can wear a dress or jeans and either way you will feel very comfortable.
I thoroughly enjoy their hot tea. Â I think I've had my fair share of tea, maybe the most at the table.
Dishes I've tried so far:
1. Sesame Chicken
2. Thai Basil Chicken - Very spicy
3. Lemon Chicken
4. Panko Crusted Tilapia
5. Salmon with bean sauce
6. Kung Pao Chicken
7. Chicken and Broccoli
8. Crab Cheese Wontons
9. Steamed Pork Dumplings
Everything is delicious. Â I would everything above again and again and again. Â They probably do take out and that is totally dangerous for me as I would drive out of my way to pick p this delectable food. Â Everything is perfectly spiced with sublime flavor. Â We cleaned our plates, not a drop left over not even the garnish. Â Prices and reasonable and reasonable enough to keep you coming back again and again. Â This is by far the best Chinese food I have found so far.
If you have any suggestions of other great Chinese places please let me know, I am always willing to try.
What I had? Â Onion Egg Drop Soup, Scallion Pancakes, Sesame Chicken (Lightly battered slices of chicken sauteed in a spicy sesame sauce) SAMPLED: Tokyo Sirloin Steak with Asparagus
Food review: Â Well, I have to say this is the best Chinese food I've had in town but I suppose it better be with the prices you pay here. Â Everything I had was pretty good. Â Started with the the onion egg drop soup which was good but nothing out of the ordinary. Â When the scallion pancakes came out they looked like they were going to be really delicious. Â They were good but not as good as they looked. Â :-) Â For my entree, I dug into the Sesame Chicken which I believe had been highly praised on Yelp here. Â I'm afraid it didn't live up to the hype for me. Â It tasted like your regular sesame chicken which is good but nothing amazing by any means. Â One dish I wish I got instead, however, was what my friend got. Â The Tokyo Sirloin Steak... that stuff was crazy good from what I got to sample. Â I'd certainly recommend that dish over the Sesame Chicken.
Service? Â Good service for the most part (if I were to be nit picky about one thing, that would be that their bar had no bartender so when I was waiting for a friend, there was no one around to serve me a beer while I waited. Â It wasn't a big deal though)
The food was really good. Good hot & sour & egg drop soup. The hot & sour wasn't very spicy but good & the dim sum appetizer was great. I also really liked the lettuce wraps w/ chicken. But if you don't think you'll eat them all then make sure the waiter doesn't put the mixture in the lettuce it gets soggy when saved all together.
They also have a main lobster dinner special which I will definately go back for!!
My parents were in town for the weekend and we were looking for a lunch spot in the south Denver/Englewood area.  They used to live in in Denver and while they always enjoy the places I take them they also have some  favorites from back in the day.  Imperial Chinese is near the top of their lists so it seemed like a perfect choice, and it didn't disappoint!
We went for lunch so the menu wasn't anywhere near as deep as the dinner one apears to be, but there were still plenty of good options. Â I went with the Thai Basil Chicken - the meat was tender and juicy, the basil was fresh, and the chili peppers were kickin'. Â My dad loves their Sesame Chicken, and the piece he shared showed me why. Â It appears they use actual fresh chicken, not frozen nugget-like creations. Â Mom went with Szechwan Chicken, which came with a bunch of great veggies and was also good. Â All lunches come with an eggroll and soup, the Onion Egg Drop was a nice takeoff on the usual.
Great service, classy decor, and good food are all reasons the Imperial has been around as long as it has. Â The prices are decent, especially for lunch, and it's always nice to not have to pay extra for brown rice. Â Lately I've been more into the "authentic" and less "Americanized" styles of Chinese cuisine, but there's always room for food made well with fresh ingredients!
Imperial is not the kind of Chinese restaurant you only go to for takeout because you don't actually want to eat in the restaurant. This place is so fresh and so clean clean. There's several things about Imperial that I really like, especially when compared to your average Chinese restaurant in the US:
1) The vegetables are so fresh! Chinese food vegetables are usually soggy and covered in oil or some kind of sugary fatty sauce. At Imperial they're crisp and actually taste like what they're supposed to.
2) Varied menu. This place doesn't just have the standard American-Chinese fare (ie. Sesame Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken, etc.) but also has tons of fish and meat specialities that take you outside your Chinese food comfort zone in a very delicious way. [Try the pork chop specialty or the basil salmon]
3) Full bar. Most Chinese restaurants have very little if any alcohol beyond a small selection of Asian beers. Imperial has a great selection of wines in addition to some creative cocktails.
4) Pleasant atmosphere. Again, not the kind of restaurant you settle on getting takeout from when you can't really decide what you want.
5) Friendly and attentive waitstaff that are usually committed to service.
They also have a vegan menu, which is unique to all Chinese restaurants I've been to, but is so very Colorado.
If you're looking for Chinese food that's a cut above the rest, this is the place to go.
I was really surprised that they had a vegan menu. =)
Anyways, it was really good. They have a Chinese menu that you'll have to ask for it you want it. There's a Salt&Pepper Fried Tofu that was amazing off that menu.
On the normal menu the Chicken + Asparagus dish and a Imperial Noodle dish were great =).
The food is authentic with very little oil. =)
Tea is free at lunch, but costs money with dinner.
The waiter was so professional. He did round wipe with the hot plates before placing them. Also, he did offered the chopsticks with the napkin that you only see is very very high end traditional Chinese restaurants.
This place has been in Denver for years and only now am I made aware that there is a vegetarian and even vegan menu. Here's the confusing part: They have listed Vegan "Sea Bass" in black bean sauce and then Vegan Sweet & Sour "Pork" (Lotus Root). Then they have million vegetarian dishes, like "Chicken" lettuce wraps and Hunan "Beef" and Nan-King "Pork Loin." So we asked the lady if the "vegetarian" dishes were "Vegan" and she said, "oh sure! Yes!" Me: "So why are they labeled Vegetarian whereas other things are labeled Vegan?" Her: --stumped-- "I don't know! But they're vegan. OH! But some of them have sugar, maybe that's why?"
So, beyond our waitress' (and I think manager or something?) lack of sure-fire knowledge, we ordered the two vegan options and they were pretty darn delicious--especially the "Sea Bass." Pretty sure it was a soy/gluten thing...more soy than gluten, but still a texture I have not come to find in most things sold in stores around here.
Also a TON of gluten-free menu items that are labeled (doubtful vegan AND gluten free, but lots of gluten free, nonetheless).
VERY expensive place--that's the drawback for me. 15 dollar entree, the Sea Bass was. Our friend got Beef and it was only 8 bucks. Just reinforces the strange concept of "eating healthy costs more." Why?
I think the doctors are in on this.
Finally decent vegetarian Chinese food. Just because I don't eat meat doesn't mean that I want to eat tofu jello as my main course. Get with it people texurized soy protein is where its at.
So thank you Imperial for delicious fake sesame "chicken"
I tried the fake "beef" with hunan sauce. The "beef" was great the Hunan sauce was almost sickeningly sweet. I'd get it again but with a better sauce. They have fake fish options too, but I haven't tried em yet.
A little pricey but what can you do when there are no comparable options. All in all I love it :D
Came here for lunch but the vegetarian choices were next to nil. (Where was the fake sesame chicken everyone talks about?) Reluctantly ate a dead animal ... the sesame chicken. It was drowning in sauce and a pool of it was left behind when I finished. Overkill. Small cup of rice. A thin slice of pineapple. Some mediocre egg drop soup. Usually I bring home leftovers, but there wasn't enough food on the plate for that.
Nothing I couldn't find in ANY Chinese restaurant in a 50-mile radius for half the price. Don't know what all the applause is about. I won't be back.
The Imperial is a good restaurant. Â Zagat's says so, as is touted nicely in framed endorsements in the lobby - so it must be true, right? Â And that lobster tank - man - that sizzle just seals the deal - whoopee! Â Oh, wait a minute, that's before you're seated. The book's cover.
The dining room in nice, professional, and it looks like you're in for a good experience. Â More often than not, the service is good.
I've been there for lunch and dinner, solo and with others and the bizarre thing is that while many of the dishes are very good, somehow I leave the place feeling like I should have gotten MORE out of the deal. Â It's not the money, it's the overall experience..
Unlike other reviewers, I don't *care* how many Asians frequent Imperial, then base my opinion upon the clientele mix. Â First of all, relatively - there aren't that Chinese/Vietnames/Laotians in Denver, and second, demographically, most don't tend live next door to the Imperial. Â The Imperial is on Broadway, near I-25, Wash Park, Baker, Capitol Hill and Country Club. Â I guess one really should be worried if there are no Canadians in there, or some other similarly useless comparison.
Judge a book by its content, NOT by who ELSE bought it. Â If the latter were the case, we'd all have killer Cheap Trick and Hall & Oates in our sucky music collections.*
Solid 3 plus, can't bring myself to round it up to a 4. Â Try it.
*Note: it is now illegal in 17 states to own or download Cheap Trick music.
It had been a while since I had visited the Imperial and it's just what I remember. Â The atmosphere is great, dining room is very fitting to crowds and the service was prompt...
I had the Mongolian Chicken and brown rice and my friend had the Sea Bass I believe and both were very darn good... Â From the soup to the wine and everything in between, I had an enjoyable experience.
They have an extensive menu and wine list as well...
Took my elderly in-laws to Imperial this week. It's a good place for that -- elegant atmosphere, easy parking, efficient service. The food is good, not great -- but very consistent. Over the years, Imperial has continued to be a reliable stop for Chinese food; but now that we have so many Thai and other options, it's rarely on my radar screen.
For starters, the scallion pancakes and cold sesame noodles are tasty. But my brown rice wasn't as good as it should have been. (And there was a man sitting at a nearby booth talking really loud during our entire visit -- not the Imperial's fault, I know, but sadly representative of some of the clientele there.)
Excellent atmosphere, service and food.
The shrimp wonton soup is better than your typical Chinese restaurant soup. Â Ditto for the imperial roll -- better than the typical egg roll.
The sesame scallops were good, but my favorite was the chicken lo mein.
The Chinese eggplant with garlic sauce was good.
What if you opened a Chinese restaurant and only loud, clueless white people came to eat there? Then, you would have the basic premise for Imperial Chinese.
Recently, one Saturday, while having some some new tires put on my car, I ducked in to Imperial for lunch and to wait out the fifteen deep wait for new tires at the nearby wholesale club.
Upon entering the place, I nearly turned around and left. Why? Because, as I entered, there wasn't even one Asian face among the the hostess and wait staff that I saw. Â But, after all, since I was stranded without a car, and it seemed a better choice than the Wendy's down the street (a position that I would no longer hold 30 minutes later).
I can see why Imperial makes the unadventerous whitey epicurian comfortable. The room is clean, warm and inviting. The staff speaks perfect English (since they are all WASPS) and the food offers the kind of safe choices that one might find on a good day at a mall food court after working up a hunger rifling through the sale racks at Macy's and on a bad day at Red Lobster. Â The patrons of this place are clearly more Red Lobster influenced than Superstar Dim Sum influenced.
As a looked over the menu, I noticed that the "lunch specials" were in the $10-$12 range including an "imperial roll", soup and rice. "It must be mighty special for that price," Â I thought to myself.
Accordingly, I decided to skip such real Chinese authentic daily specials as "Curried Chicken Salad" and "Salmon Stuffed with Cream Chese" in favor of the expensive, and unfortunately, not very "special" lunch special.
I ordered the sesame chicken, based upon comments I have read here. Â Honestly, I could have had the same thing for a third of the price and Panda express. The Chicken was an overbreaded, tiny breast nugget, drowned in a cloyingly sweet sauce and served over a bed of iceberg lettuce. Â It reminded me of something my parents would have eaten at a Chinese restaurant in rural Georgia in the 1970s.
The Imperial Roll was a greasy, deep fried little nugget of ground meat which I probably would have had a great appreciation for after a night of hard drinking, but not so much at 1 pm on a Saturday afternoon.
The shrimp wonton soup had the greatest promise except for the fact that the shrimp wontons hadn't been sufficiently cooked and were floating dry and crispy (as in left out uncovered all day dry and crispy) on top of their flavorless broth.
The plate came served with a big triangular hunk of watermelon which was, perhaps, the only redeeming food item on the plate.
After a few bites, I asked for the check, paid the bill being sure to tip my waiter Chad for the more than adequate service and headed down to Wendy's for a junior bacon cheeseburger.
Ugh.
The first time I came here I was not impressed. I ordered to go so I didn't get the great service everyone raves about. I ordered kung pao chicken which was bland, not spicy at all, and heartless. The orange beef was cooked well, not over deep-fried, but also uninspired. We tossed the left overs. Thumbs down.
That was last year. My dad made us return and I have to admit that the food was much better. I've even had it to go a few more times since and I feel like they've improved quite a bit. I'll give them a 4 for now, with plans to retun.
Tuesday evening, 8:00pm:
perfect time to dine -
I've eaten here before, and always get great service. Â tonight provided impeccable service.
Dana brought us our Jameson, neat, without us asking. Â just kidding, we asked, but it came quickly.
'Tokyo Steak with Asparagus' - fantastic. Â gentle, steak-wrapped goodness. Â describing it would only take away from the experience. Â asparagus was blanched perfectly.
everything else we ate was prepared with the same care and complexities of which I have spoken, previously.
I won't bore you with 'why', but I must reiterate that the service was like floating on pillows. Â another great experience from a place that I love.
First time trying this people-packed Denver palace of Chinese cuisine. Â My daughter and I thought it would be kind of nice for the local relatives from my side of the family (you know how it is even years and years after a divorce) to go out to a nice Chinese restaurant together to celebrate the various holidays together, since my daughter and son will be with the other side of the family on Xmas. Â Like you all cared about these cumbersome details...
So a big group of us got reservations to dine at the Imperial. Â My cousins recommended it and it is close to my son's house. Â My daughter wanted to try the place across the street, the Little Shanghai, but she was ok with going to the Imperial instead. Â There was a bit of a mix-up about the reservations as someone had forgotten to write them down, but when my cousins arrived, that was quickly straightened out.
We started with tea. Â My daughter ordered roasted rice tea and it was marvelous. Â My son ordered jasmine tea and it was pungent and flowery. Â Â Then we ordered soup. Â I think we pretty much ordered all the soups on the menu. Â Egg drop, Hot & Sour, and Seaweed. Â I liked the Hot & Sour best. Â All were good.
It took a very long time before our waiter arrived to take our order for dinner. Â We were all done with our soup and quite hungry. Â The person taking away the dishes didn't seem to understand what we were asking him, but it was loud and really really busy. Â My cousin reminded me that we had plenty of time, to relax, and not to worry.
We ordered several items to share, and my brother ordered something to eat by himself. Â He liked his...it was moo shoo pork (sp?) Â We also ordered moo shoo vegetables...perfect! Â We ordered an interesting vegetable and wide noodle dish and I don't recall the name of it. Â I didn't like the flavor, but everyone else seemed to love it. Â We got brown rice, and it was tasty and cooked the way I like rice. Â We got a few different chicken dishes, hot and spicy, and they went fast. Â We also got the lemongrass salmon which was lovely. Â It was an enjoyable feast!
My son got a chocolate cake for dessert and everyone got to try it. Â A few people ordered beer too. Â The total, for everyone, averaged to $17 per person, which wasn't too bad considering all that we ordered.
I rather liked the place. Â Quite pleasant!
We love this place. Â I'm not sure if they are still doing off-site catering, but they did for our wedding and I can't say enough good things about our experience working with Jonny and his staff.
The food is excellent (though some is clearly western style), the feng shui is good, and the wait staff are very attentive. Â We absolutely LOVE the tofu seafood soup. Â They also make and serve their Peking duck traditional style which is great. Also worth trying are the stir fried baby bok choy and Nan King Pork Loin.
My wife was born and raised in China and I have traveled there extensively. As a result, we tend to favor more traditional, less western menus and preparation styles. Â Overall, the imperial gets high marks in this regard. Â When we talked with Jonny re: planning our wedding reception menu, we told him we wanted a traditional Chinese wedding menu with a few more western dishes for our more finicky guests. Â What we ended up with was a dinner that every one enjoyed and we've received great comments from everyone who attended (including family members who traveled from Taipei, Beijing, and yes, even Dayton, Ohio...).
This is one of those places where it's good to be a regular and have the staff recognize and remember you.
Again, I can't say enough good things about the food, the staff, and the restaurant. Â We've never had a bad experience at the restaurant and they made our wedding reception truly memorable.
Ferrari doesn't make a station wagon, and if it did I wouldn't buy it because when you buy a Ferrari you've got to buy a sports car.
Sesame Chicken is the Toyota Camry of Chinese food. It's ubiquitous, reliable and white people like it.
(Will I make more car analogies in this review? Buckle up!)
When you combine something reliable like the Camry with the performance of the Ferrari, you get lost in an auto metaphor.
However, when you combine the Imperial and Sesame Chicken, you get the best Sesame Chicken in the United States. Bar none.
When you go to the Imperial, they HAVE other dishes but you come here for the Sesame Chicken.
Now I haven't been to EVERY city with a significant Asian population, but I've been to most of them. And this Sesame Chicken beats theirs HANDS down.
If you are looking for Chinese food realism, you are better off heading to China because Americans tend to shy away from dishes that are featuring congealed Duck blood - and I like to think for good reason.
The service here is perfect.
Perfect service is this:
A)There is a maitre'd who is in charge of making sure that his/her waitstaff is providing impeccable service.
B)This aforementioned impeccable service consists of the waitstaff tending to their guests without being oppressive. Water should be constantly filled, guests should be happy with what they ordered, food should come out at the same time at the temperature that it was when it left the kitchen. Drink and appetizer orders should be taken promptly after seating guests.
You would think that list wouldn't be that hard to fill, but the service at most restaurants is atrocious. Your waiter forgets about you, your appetizers come out at the same time as your entrees, your ice clinks as it melts, forgotten by your flummoxed waiter.
None of that happens here.
What happens here is Amazing Sesame Chicken, and incredible service.
Perhaps from all the hype this restaurant receive, its DEFINITELY over-rated.
Very disappointed from the food spread of what the Restaurant manager has planned for us, with the certain price range we ask for.  Banquet Style.  They served us 1 dish after another.  Clear the dish after  we complete that dish.  So far like about 9 to 10 different dishes to be shared at least 8 people in a table ~ prices range from $20 to $35 per person..  I believe to accomodate 24 people can be over-daunting or over-whleming?? Duh!!
We had these:
Appetizers:
Peking Duck Steamed Spring Roll
Pork Dumplings
Soup:
Chicken and Shrimp soup
Main Entrees:
Walnut Prawns
Sesame Chicken
Fried Whole Seabass with Schzwen Sauce
Hunan Beef
Nanking Pork Loin
Fried Rice which contain PORK
Dessert:
Ginger Ice-cream
The only good thing, was the Restaurant do provide private rooms for our big group eating.
I only choose to have the main entrees of the chicken, beef, prawns and fish with brown rice since I dont eat PORK.
Nevertheless, I will try it again with hubby so I can finalized it. Â The next time if I were to visit this restaurant again, I can choose what I really want to eat from this Restaurant rather than what the Manager plans. Â What can I say, coz I do have expectation if this Restaurant have been getting good reviews all across Colorado.
Perhaps the reviewers have not been outside the US to taste and compare real Chinese food. Â No offence. Â I am just being truthfully honest!
Once upon a time, I could look forward to the Sizzling Black Pepper Steak and an order of Imperial Rolls as a special treat. I knew I would be attended by a professional server who would efficiently, unobtrusively provide me with whatever I needed.
Now, the entrees disappoint and the servers have been replaced with the new Denver Waitstaff: those who sneer at your every request and belittle you for your questions.
Sigh.
Ah, the 'Ol Imp Chin....an annual event for my family on Chinese NY (CNY)...they host a lion dance with TWO Lions, and they have lovely food and great service. Â We only come here 2-3x/year because it's a longer drive for us (well really long from California) and 'cause of the price-
We used to rent the back room, but our family is too big to fit now so we are always in the middle of the excitement. It's AWEsome 'cause there's 5 other vegetarians in our group of 18 so when they deliver our food they pile it on that huge lazy susan and it rolls around like a conveyor belt - there's tons of delicious veggie dishes to choose from.....fat noodles, veggie dumplings, chinese broccoli, Â mu shu, scallion pancakes.....
Maybe it's all of the family memories, but I just love this place, from the beautiful fish in the aquariums to the carved wooden display cases.
Food wise, you can pick anything and be happy. Seriously, I have played menu roulette here many times and never been disappointed.
Epicure Highlight:: Get the Sesame Tofu even if you're NOt veg- all of the meat-eaters at the table scarf this one up as quickly as the veg-heads- despite being tofu, it's somehow magically crunchy and sesame-y, they get the seeds to stick to the side of it with a quick batter dip or something-served with a sweet/spicy sauce, (strangely) with halved cherry tomatoes- I don't get why the tomatoes are included but you're not going to have room for them anyway, you're eating crunchy, spicy, sweet, yummy tofu.
On the meat end of the deal....My husband has had the duck, the whole fish with ginger, garlic and scallion sauce (excellent!!) , and multiple beef dishes- he reports back that they are prepared well and of good quality.
I would happily pay the price to eat here again, it's got great service, clean and nicely decorated interiors, and excellent food.  Good Chinese is hard to come by in Colorado but this place knows what they're doing- I wish them hundreds of  years of success.
My office ordered food from here for one of our lunchtime meetings. Â I have never been inside the restaurant, so this review is based only on the food.
I have generally had pretty decent luck with ordering tofu entrees from Chinese, Thai, and Japanese restaurants.
I ordered their Hot and Sour Tofu. Â Simply put... it was the worst Tofu entree I ever ordered from an Asian restaurant.
The hot and sour sauce that it came in was fine. Â But the tofu seemed like it was barely cooked and it was actually slimy! Â It honestly, seemed like it was "soft" tofu pulled right out of one those containers you get in the store where it is packed in water, and then placed directly in my container of hot and sour sauce. Â It sure didnt taste like it was cooked... let alone marinated in the sauce.
If this is how they prepare all their tofu dishes at Imperial Chinese... I would never order another one... or for that matter... ever eat their food again. Â Now I admit, I have only had their food once... and it was a free meal... Â If my office doesnt order from them again, I would be perfectly fine with that.
I think I am being pretty generous by giving them 2 stars.
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