Brian
Yelp
The Imperial Treasure - BallantyneMy wife and I were excited to try a new Chinese restaurant in Ballantyne. We came here fordinner around 4:00PM on Thursday. In addition to us, there was only one other patronfinishing their meal. We were promptly seated and provided with two oversized, menus withphotos of every dish along with the descriptions in Chinese and English. One two-sidedmenu featured dim sum and the other 10+-page menu listed more traditional dishes,including everything from soups and appetizers to chicken, beef, and seafood entrees.We placed our drink order, they do not serve alcohol, but free refills are offered at no extracharge. We asked for a few minutes to peruse the extensive menu. Our waitress, althoughpleasant, never came back until she noticed we were looking for her. We placed our orders,General Tso's Chicken and Kung Pao Chicken, and asked what type of rice was provided withthe meal. We were told the meal does not come with rice but if we wanted rice, we could buyit as a separate side dish for around $8. We've never encountered this before--no rice servedwith a meal at a Chinese restaurant!We placed our orders without rice. Much to our disappointment, our meals came outseparately, and my wife's meal came out about 5 minutes after mine was served. Theyshould have come out together. The plates were sizable and filled with General Tso's chickenand Kung Pao chicken. We were both pleased with what we ordered and thought the foodwas delicious. When we finished, we waited for quite some time and eventually had to seek out the server, who was on the phone, which added to our disappointment. Another serverasked if we needed to-go boxes and our check.The prices were higher than we expected; for example appetizers $7 - $12, soups $13 - $26(Hot & Sour soup was $13 but we do not know the size), vegetarian options ranged from $15- $20, beef $20 - $36, chicken $16 - $21, pork $18 - $30, seafood $24 - $30, noodles and rice$13 - $18. For this price range cloth napkins should be provided, not the small thin papernapkins they use. Ironically, they do offer a luncheon special from 11:00AM to 3:00PM for$15 - $17, which includes rice, spring roll, and soup.The atmosphere was fine, nothing special but it was clean and they incorporated someChinese décor. Altogether, we'd give the restaurant a C- and we probably won't be returningany time soon. However, we recognize that they may improve with time and hopefully will take reviews seriously. We wish them well!