Royal China (Queensway)

We booked a table for large family celebration - having been told that we could all be accommodated on one table by phone twice - only to find that we were placed on two separate tables, when questioned about this the Maitre d started a argument in the middle of the restaurant with us.

The children had to be placed on the smaller table from the adults – we had to stop the waitresses from trying to get the younger children to constantly order more fizzy drinks, this did not go down too well with the waitress.

When our drinks arrived, there was mistake, the waitress started to argue, that it was our fault. The starters were good, but this was proceed by a long gap until the main course arrived, which was confusing, as the restaurant wasn’t that busy by then.

At the end of the evening, four of us ordered Irish Coffee, these came within 45 seconds – you could tell that these were not made fresh and tasted awful.

The food was good, but the service charge of 13% was outrageous, considering the argument and cheap tricks. Our bill was way over £170.00, so we reduced the tip down to 10% - this was made the Maitre d angry and she told us that we had made a mistake – we pointed out that the service was not good – especially, the treatment of my sister over the seating arrangements.

We informed her that the 13% tips was at our discretion and not enforceable, and if she continued arguing, we would not leave a tip at all, she ran away at this point fuming.

I will never eat here again and have made a point of informing anyone who is going there to avoid it.
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Mr Lee Johnson
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Hmmmm not bad, but so very expensive for slightly above average food, We were charged £9.60 for a portion of chinese brocolli sauteed in ginger. £9.60, for some greens!!!!

I felt like I was being ripped off,
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zoeala
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Friday, January 01, 2010

Good food but 13% service automatically added is GREED. Then when I paid they asked for a further tip by passing me a slip with tip written on it and a pen!!
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Mark
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Really bad service, rude waitresses. What a waste!
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Sunday, October 04, 2009

As a long-time fan of Royal China group restaurants, I was pleased to make an overdue return visit to the Queensway location this weekend for Dim Sum at the suggestion of friends. The usual queue was in evidence but our table for 4 came up reasonably swiftly. Whilst the food was every bit as good as usual, I was disappointed to see that service has slipped from fiercely efficient to merely fierce. The first dish arrived quickly, but was then promptly snatched away have been apparently delivered in error. An order for BBQ pork was unfulfilled as they had not had their delivery. When the bill for £78.30 came, with the rather steep 13% gratuity included, the waitress decided that rounding our credit payments up to £40.00 per card (2 used for payment) was appropriate. Frankly, when a restaurant chooses to add a gratuity on the customer's behalf, and then decides that it's not really enough, the only word that comes to mind is greed.
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Philip
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Sunday, September 06, 2009

The Royal China chain offers very good dim sum at reasonable prices. The Bayswater branch is the one I have visited most regularly, and has been consistently good. The dining room is great, all gold and black laquers, although could probably benefit from a bit of TLC as it is starting to look a bit tired. Service is efficient and brusque as one expects, food arriving promptly and piping hot. Having said that, there are much better places to eat dim sum in London, notably Yauacha, and my personal favorite the Dragon Castle. So if you are in the area and fancy some good dim sum this place is ideal. If the quality of food is paramount head elsewhere.
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Shappo - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Monday, August 03, 2009

After reading some of the reviews on this page I have no hope for South East Asian or Chinese food in the UK. Coming from Australia and having eaten extensively throughout Asia, Royal China Queensway is the best Dim Sum / Yum Cha in Europe and is on par or better than the best in Sydney or Hong Kong. I’ve been shocked at the poor quality of Chinese Cuisine in London (compared with the top quality of other cuisines, like Indian etc.), but am more than shocked by some of the reviews on this page. We go to Royal China for Dim Sum all the time and love it – including Chinese friends who share my opinion of the restaurant.

It’s a real experience though and many of the customers are Chinese and the staff are very Chinese, so don’t expect orderly polite service, that’s just not how it’s done in this restaurant or Hong Kong for that matter, and they don’t need to change it, as the queue is out the door for lunch every day and they’re always packed.

Honestly, if you love Chinese food, you’ll love Royal China as it stands so far apart from anything else available in London there’s no comparison. If however, you like orderly lines and polite service, forget about it, this place is not for you.
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Darren
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, February 12, 2009

I will boycott this restaurant which once was an old favourite for one simple reason...I went there after Christmas 08 and they charged me 90p for half a slice of lemon in my drink. I have never seen this in any restaurant in the world. I will vote with my feet - any never return.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Monday, January 05, 2009

We had dinner on the new years day. My husband and I have experience of dining in the Oceania, the Far East, South and North Americas, and of course in Europe. Good food is very important to us, and we pay effort finding good restaurants where we go. The experience of dining at the Royal China was discordant; Food was excellent, I never had as good duck as was served there! But. Having dinner it is not only about the food. The discussion on the table was that is this a service or an industry. We felt being pushed to perform, we were not quests but more like cattle to produce revenue. In the end of day the personneel acted like military officals trying to get rid of the people. Christmas/New Year decorations were collected as we were trying to enjoy our wine. the terrible sound of all dishes being collected within five minutes. We recommend the manager to sit down and listen to the user experience of the customer.
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Maria Isotalo
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 5
Thursday, January 01, 2009

Went to the royal china on Saturday with my wife for a bit of dim sum. We had a very nice meal, the dishes looked and tasted freshly cooked. The rice in particular was excellent. We have been big fans of dim sum at the Bakers street branch for a number of years so were keen to give our new "local" Bayswater a go. On a whole we were very impressed, nice food though our favourite the sesame prawn rolls weren't as good as we have had at Baker st. Service was good though I was really annoyed to see they tried to get a double service charge off us when we paid. We had already paid 13% service charge so to be asked for more was terribly cheeky. They need to stop this sort of sharp practice. The restaurant was full and very buzzy. The meal came to £56 for two which was high but probably down to the two beers we had at £4.00 each.
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david ginsberg - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Sunday, December 28, 2008