East Imperial is one of the flashiest looking Chinese restaurants in Carlton. You can down a bottle of Dom Perignon, Verve Clicquot or Moet with your yum cha, and they have a number of flashy menu items, too, such as quail or seafood Sung Choi Bao and variety of lobster dishes. Overall, though, the bling image doesn’t mean much if the food isn’t good. I went on a Tuesday evening and was surprised at how busy the restaurant was. It’s in an odd spot in Carlton, on the corner of Rathdowne and Faraday street, away from the main action. The other diners were mostly older people(think 50+), all decked out in their finery. At first I took this as a good sign — it must be gooooood to get the olds out mid-week. But then I realised that none of the patrons looked Chinese — a bad sign in a Chinese restaurant! It turns out the lack of Chinese eating here was a tell-tale sign. As much as I love the look of the place and the service, the food was really ordinary. The peking duck was on the dry side, the broccoli overcooked and the fried rice was a bit tasteless. I probably would forgive this in a run-of-the-mill place in Chinatown, but given East Imperial is trying set itself apart in both its look and price point, it was disappointing.