A CHINESE restaurant fuelled by one family’s passion- Dragon Palace is Trader of the Week.
Introduced to Christchurch in 1998, Dragon Palace is a well-loved restaurant serving the best of Chinese cuisine.
It was opened by husband and wife Ditfor and Kathy Lieng, and nearly 25 years on, the pair continue to be the driving force behind the business.
Kathy works front of house, whilst her husband cooks, and daughter Chloe helps with the business’s social media accounts.
Kathy said: “Dragon Palace is our baby. We put real passion into it.
“It’s a family business and we work hard. It’s seven days a week with no days off.”
Visitors to Dragon Palace can choose from quality ingredients for chicken, duck, lamb, and beef dishes, as well as appetizers, soups, and extensive vegetarian options.
The restaurant also offers a ‘eat as much as you like’ option, where diners can pay a set fee to get as many different dishes as they’d like.
Whilst some customers enjoy their dishes from the relaxing restaurant setting, others chose to take advantage of the Dragon Palace take out service.
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Kathy said: “We’ve changed the ingredients. We use better quality and more expensive stuff.
“My husband put his heart into the food. He puts in real effort.”
One customer review has labelled the restaurant as having the ‘best Thai green curry’, and another called the vegetarian dishes ‘mind blowing’.
But Dragon Palace is facing an uncertain future, as in November last year, a planning application was approved to build flats in its place. It will see the restaurant demolished to make space for three housing blocks providing 38 flats.
Although it is unclear when the construction is due to begin, Kathy said it has already impacted the restaurant, as some residents assumed the restaurant had already been closed.
Kathy said: “People didn’t know we were still open, so the business dropped a bit.
“I’ve worked here for long time. I’ll stay here till I can. We’ve still got a bit longer.”
Dragon Palace is located at 215 Barrack Rd in Christchurch.
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