You can always pick an authentic Chinese restaurant by the incredibly regal names. Neptune Palace is no exception, its name emphasised by the bronze statue of its namesake, the god of the sea. It has an impressive menu full of delicious-sounding Chinese-Malay halal dishes. When faced with so many choices, what do we do? We pick a set menu.
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| Prawn cutlet fritter & vegetable spring rolls |
First up, spring rolls and fried prawn. If I had just ordered off the menu I would most likely have given them a pass, which is why I'm so glad they were included in the banquet menu. Fried goods are often overlooked by me when I order Chinese food, yet I am absolutely charmed by how delicious they are. The prawn is bouncy and fresh, the batter satisfyingly crunchy but not overly thick; and the spring roll has a celery and bamboo shoot filling that is refreshing, crunchy, and interesting. These are great when paired with the sweet chilli sauce, dark soy and sweet and sour sauce which accompanied our meal.
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| Kapitan chicken |
A mild, savoury curry made distinctly South-East Asian by the use of thick, fragrant coconut cream, this one is particularly good mixed with rice. The chicken pieces have the flavour completely soaked in and are beautifully tender despite being white meat. The fried dough bits add a crunchy texture when enjoyed fresh, or if soaked in the curry for a long time, turn soft but absorbs all the flavourful goodness.
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| Sze Chuan prawn cutlets |
Don't be alarmed by the name: despite the reference to Sze Chuan (or Si Chuan in Mandarin Chinese), this dish is not spicy at all. It is actually on the sweet side, and reminds me of quite Shanghai-like flavours. The prawns used are, again, very bouncy and fresh-tasting, helpfully deveined and de-shelled so you can munch down on its goodness with zero bother.
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| Mixed green vegetables |
Usually a "filler" dish, the vaguely named "mixed green vegetables" never fill me with much anticipation. Neptune Palace certainly has challenged my usual low opinion of dishes of this name. Just look on bright and appetising these vegetables are! I particularly enjoyed the sugar snap peas - practically bursting with its light sweetness and a delicate crunch.
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| Salt & pepper squid |
Despite being enormous pieces, the squid is delightfully tender. The light salty coating adds an interesting texture to the squid, and is just a tad under-salted. Fear not, however, because I discovered that they taste particularly good when drizzled with the soy sauce which accompanied the meal. Suddenly, the squid is umami and hugely satisfying.
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Stir fried beef and snow pea
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As expected, the beef is wonderfully tender. When compared to all the other wonderful dishes served, however, the beef is a tad lacklustre, but I don't think that is the beef's fault. It is a perfectly respectable, well-flavoured, balanced dish; but the other dishes were simply too good!
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Soft shell crab
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The soft shell crab isn't strictly on the banquet menu. The menu item is Mongolian lamb, which I am sure would be delicious, but I do not eat lamb. The staff very kindly allowed us to switch it out for another menu item, so I picked one of equal value, being the soft shell crab. To be perfectly frank, I was shocked that we were able to have such a "luxury" item at such a reasonable price. This made us very, very happy indeed. The soft shell crab is absolutely delicious and is my number one recommendation from today - and it faced some tough competition, because every dish was wonderful.
In addition to the delicious and very reasonably priced food, the staff at Neptune Palace were helpful, professional, and absolutely lovely. We finished the meal with some complimentary fortune cookie (mine promised some good news my way - what a treat) and mint chocolates.
Score: 4.5/5
Price: banquet menus start at $53pp (minimum 6pp)
Address: Gateway Building Level 1 Corner of Pitt and, Alfred St, Sydney NSW 2000
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