Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

What is Christmas Day like at this popular Aberdeen Chinese restaurant and takeaway?

Golden Palace in Bridge of Don had roughly 200 customers on Christmas Day in 2023.

Erin Wang, a waitress at Golden Palace Chinese restaurant in Aberdeen, talks through what Christmas Day is like. Image: by Scott Baxter / DC Thomson.
Erin Wang, a waitress at Golden Palace Chinese restaurant in Aberdeen, talks through what Christmas Day is like. Image: by Scott Baxter / DC Thomson.

Staff at Golden Palace Chinese restaurant and takeaway in Aberdeen, say that Christmas Day is one of their busiest of the year.

Mother’s Day and Chinese New Year also prove pretty popular.

The Chinese restaurant in Bridge of Don overlooks the river, and with a tempting set menu on offer, it’s no wonder that families decide to ditch the home cooking – and the piles of dishes – and eat out instead.

Erin Wang, 24, works as a waitress at Golden Palace. She says Christmas Day can be both “exciting” and “chaotic”.

Erin Wang, a waitress at Golden Palace Chinese restaurant and takeaway in Aberdeen. Image: by Scott Baxter / DC Thomson.

“You have an idea in your mind of what it might be like,” says Erin, “because you see so many reservations.

“But when it actually happens, things still feel a bit chaotic.

“For the whole day last year, we had roughly 200 customers. And that’s not counting the takeaway orders.

“It is quite exciting too though.

“We have Christmas decorations up, all the staff wear hats, and there’s crackers on the table.

“When the customers come, and you see them have their food and they feel satisfied, that’s when it feels exciting.”

Chinese students also enjoy Christmas at Golden Palace Aberdeen

And it’s not just Scottish families who enjoy visiting Golden Palace in Aberdeen on Christmas Day.

“We are also open for Chinese students who are here on their winter break,” says Erin.

“Some of them stay in Aberdeen and many of them are our regulars, so we also want to open the restaurant for them.

“Otherwise they might be cooking for themselves on Christmas, all by themselves.

The restaurant is decked out for Christmas come December. Image: by Scott Baxter / DC Thomson.

“That could be quite sad as it’s a special celebration when everyone is normally together.”

Hoi Liu, 42, works as manager at Golden Palace.

He says: “We have a lot of families in, or friends, all from different areas coming together to meet in Aberdeen.

“That is always really nice to see.”

How to combat the Christmas ‘chaos’

I asked Erin if she gets nervous for the busyness of Christmas Day at the restaurant, where there might be 200 customers to serve.

“You don’t actually have the time to think about it,” she admits.

“The bell in the kitchen rings, you will hurry to the kitchen, and then you bring everything out.

“On the way the customers will be asking you for a lot of things.

“You need to take care with kids too. They might be stepping in your way.

“Most of the customers are quite understanding because they know how busy we are.

“This year, we will be even more prepared.”

Spring rolls, ribs and other dishes on the set festive menu at Golden Palace in Bridge of Don. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

This year, Golden Palace has separated Christmas Day into three service time slots, so that customers are more evenly spread out.

This should make service easier to handle for the staff at the Bridge of Don Chinese restaurant.

The set menu on the day includes dishes like won ton soup, crispy aromatic duck, lemon chicken and many more.

The restaurant and takeaway also have an à la carte menu with more traditional dishes, such as beef tripe with black beans, fried pork intestines with hot pepper and lamb with pickled pepper.

Erin says: “Compared to last year, more customers want to try new things from our à la carte menu.

A range of dishes available at Golden Palace, Aberdeen. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

“Some of the authentic dishes though, I know are hard for customers as there are bones in the chicken, and we eat things like chicken feet.

“But we are really happy to see more customers coming to try authentic dishes too.”

Conversation