A once-in-a-lifetime experience: The ultimate ticket rush

👨🏻🍳 Palace Banquet 📍 No. 1485 Beijing West Road, Building 1, Floors 1 and 2 "A once-in-a-lifetime experience 😆: The ultimate ticket rush 🥹" Highly recommended by friends, this is a must-visit spot. You need to book tickets a month in advance! 🥺 Tickets open for booking at midnight sharp, so make sure to set your date before trying to grab one 🥺. A deposit of ¥100 per person is required. Initially, we couldn’t secure seats together (since we were a group of four 🙈). But don’t give up! Keep refreshing the page, and you might get lucky 😆. Sometimes, people encounter payment issues or timeout errors, and their spots get released 🙈. Thankfully, we managed to snag four seats together in the end 🥹🫶🏻. Once your reservation is successful, you’ll receive a confirmation text. The day before the banquet, the restaurant will call to confirm your attendance and ask if anyone in your group is celebrating a birthday—they’ll prepare a birthday surprise 😝. If you plan to do makeup, change outfits, or style your hair, it’s recommended to arrive at 4:30 PM (the earlier you arrive, the better the outfit selection 🙈). We arrived at 4:30 PM, and some guests were already changing outfits. By the time we finished dressing up, the place was crowded, and the outfit choices were limited 🙈. If you don’t plan to dress up, arriving at 6:30 PM is fine, as the banquet starts at 7:00 PM 🫶🏻. Makeup + outfit change + hairstyling: ¥200 Outfit change + hairstyling: ¥100 You’ll first select your outfit, then proceed with makeup and hairstyling. The staff is very efficient 🙈, and everything gets done quickly. Afterward, you’ll have free time to take photos 😆. You can take pictures in the courtyard downstairs or indoors. Since it’s crowded, everyone cooperates to make space 🙈. — Food-wise, it’s truly impressive 🥹🫶🏻. The dishes are classic Shanghai cuisine, each carefully introduced, and the flavors are excellent! At the end of the banquet, all staff members, including the chefs, come out to thank the guests, adding a warm touch to the experience 🫶🏻. — Current Season Menu: Summer Banquet Ceremonial Offerings: Honoring heaven and earth, celebrating the abundance of nature, and expressing gratitude for the harvest. Ritual performance: "Spring Shen’s Sacrifice to the Five Grains" Drum Ceremony: With the sound of drums and flutes, we welcome esteemed guests. Dance performance: "Harmony Song" Tea Ceremony: Admiring the elegance of Chinese culture and the grandeur of the Ming dynasty. Drama: "Tea Chronicles" Celebration Ceremony: A grand celebration with court music and dance. Court dance: "Flower Adorned Ladies" — Palace Tea: Wuyi Mountain Da Hong Pao Palace Brew: Peach Blossom Perilla Drink (3% alcohol) After being seated, "palace maids" will present you with various cup options to choose from 🤤. They’ll also provide a warm towel for your hands and incense. 🥃 The Peach Blossom Perilla Drink is mildly sweet and sour, with a light alcohol content. I personally loved it 🤤. Palace Snacks: Black Sesame Glutinous Rice Rolls, Bayberry Cake Palace Cold Dishes: Pickled Lotus Root, Spicy Moringa Stems, Seaweed Peanuts It was my first time trying Black Sesame Glutinous Rice Rolls, and the sesame flavor was rich and aromatic. Both cold dishes were delicious, especially the Spicy Moringa Stems, which we described as "amazingly tasty veggies" 🤣. The Seaweed Peanuts were slightly salty 🙈. 🍲 Hot Soup: Jinhua Ham and Tofu Soup Rich and flavorful 🥹, with generous ingredients! The milky white soup was piping hot and incredibly tasty. The Jinhua ham wasn’t overly salty, with a perfect balance of fat and lean meat, and the tofu was tender 👍🏻. 🥩 Beef: Black Pepper Crispy Snowflake Beef This dish had a strong black pepper flavor, slightly salty but packed with beefy goodness 👍🏻. 🦐 Seafood: Green Crab with Sour Radish and Bean Noodles The taste resembled a spicy and sour soup 😻. The bean noodles were chewy and absorbed the flavors well. There were plenty of crab claws and meat, making it a hearty dish 👍🏻. 🐖 Pork: Dongpo Pork This was the best braised Dongpo Pork I’ve ever had 🥹🫶🏻. Even compared to renowned Shanghai restaurants, this dish stood out 🙈. The chef achieved a perfect texture for the pork skin, with balanced seasoning and an ideal fat-to-lean ratio. The rich, aromatic flavor lingered on the palate—absolutely divine 👍🏻. 🦐 Seafood: West Lake Water Shield Codfish Meatballs Not the typical braised meatballs, but refreshingly light and flavorful 🤤. The texture and taste were reminiscent of fish balls mixed with minced meat 🤣. The meat was tender and soft. 🍽️ Main Course: Chinese Noodles Longevity noodles, similar to scallion oil noodles 🤤. 🍧 Dessert: Osmanthus Honey Yogurt A delightful yogurt drink 🤤. Mildly sweet and sour, it satisfied my craving for yogurt during this Shanghai trip 🙈. Many restaurants offered yogurt-based desserts, which was a pleasant surprise 🤤.