My Old Place

The food was Amazing!!! If you go there for the service, you are missing the all point, let them be rude as long as the quality of the dishes don't change especially "the crab curry". If you are looking for authenticity in chinese cuisine, this is definetely the place to go.
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mango pudding
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Sunday, October 03, 2010

I have been to this restaurant a couple of times, and their food is really delicious and full of flavour and spices.

BUT the service is completely abysmal, the head waitress particularly, is very very unfriendly, has a permanent frown on her face and acts like she's doing you a favour ( i toss back the attitude with a 'you do realise i'm the paying for the food,right?' one). Also, the food takes absolute agesssss to be served, and comes at 10- 20 mins intervals; most of the time, the sauce comes first and then the rice comes 10minutes later ( i'll leave you to comment on that).

However, the food is really good. I always start off being really angry by the service but leave knowing i've eaten a lovely and fresh meal.
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kaka
5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 7
Friday, June 18, 2010

Me and my chinese girlfriend went to My Old Place last night after reading the glowing review in the Guardian, and because we've been to its older-sister restaurant Gourmet San in Bethnal Green more than a few times, which is fantastic - stunning food, a huge, varied and authentic menu, enormous portions which arrive with dizzying speed seconds after ordering, and friendly, efficient staff...

Like other reviewers here have said the szechuan food here is very good - full of flavour, and cheap, with huge portions. We went on a Saturday night, and the food turned up quickly, so maybe others have been unlucky, but good grief the staff are unwelcoming, so don't come here expecting service with a smile. The menu is a lot shorter than Gourmet San, but still authentic. We shared crunchy potato in chilli oil as a starter (not chips alas, but shredded parboiled potato, and don't believe your mother, undercooked potato won't kill you on the spot), a vast pile of fish-fragrant aubergine, and a washing-up sized bowl of delictae boiled fish slices swimming in a broth of a thousand dried chillis and szechaun peppercorns.

The menu doesn't give drink prices, and you'll discover later that two (small, obviously) Tsingtao beers cost a tenner. It's hard to grumble too much though as the final bill was pretty cheap at £45 for two, including a glass of wine too; and you can always retaliate against this minor annoyance, and the dismal service, by just not leaving a tip. It's more than slightly mystifying why My Old Place isn't as good as Gourmet San, but perhaps it shows how hard it is to clone restaurants and the perils of diffusion - or maybe you simply don't have to try as hard in Liverpool Street.

So, in summary... good food, big portions, quite cheap, very grumpy, go to Gourmet San.
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Tom
6 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Sunday, May 02, 2010

Visited with a group of friends. Food was excellent. Atmosphere was lively. Service was very poor and although there is a wine list a very limited choice kept in stock with no spirits of any sort.

Overall despite the very poor service, food was excellent and I would dine here again.
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Raj
6 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Saturday, April 17, 2010

Having read a glowing review of My Old Place in the Guardian a few weeks back, I had eagerly anticipated trying it for myself. I was not disappointed. Vast platters of food, bursting with flavour, just enough chilli heat to make you blush but without blowing your head off. Wash it all down with ice cold Tsingtao lager. One of the best Chinese meals I've ever had - certainly the best value for money. Packed full of Chinese diners which is of course the internationally recognised stamp of approval for Chinese restaurants. Amusingly surly waitresses - all part of the charm in my book.
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Richard
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Saturday, February 06, 2010

Been here many times before but have realised that the restaurant cannot handle busy times (Fridays and Saturdays are a definite big no no)!

This place does really good food for real value. I'm not one that normally gets too annoyed with customer service but this place really pushes your luck.

Went there last night, ordered 3 dishes and 1 soup for 2 people. First dish arrived within 10 mins, the second arrived another 10 mins later. Tried to eat slow so that we could have all the food on the table before we finished any one thing off. Complained another 20 mins later. Again another 10 mins later telling them we want the bill for only the 2 dishes; they said they'll make sure they come straight away. Taking their word for it, we waited another 15 mins. When we finally spoke to them for the final time, they told us they ran out of ingredients for one of the dishes we ordered. Got the bill finally and left.

Extremely disappointed with the service. This place is good but def dont go during busy times! Also, very rude to non speaking mandarin people. I'm British born chinese (Cantonese) myself but this place cant speak/very unhelpful unless you can speak their language. Def wont go again!
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Jimmy Chan
4 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 7
Sunday, January 31, 2010

Went to MOP for the third time last night and, again, I was delighted. If you like spicy (Szechuan?) Chinese cuisine, this is the place to come.

MOP is excellent value for money: since the servings are so big, you should order a small number of dishes (e.g. a veg, a meat, a fish and some rice) and share them. This combination plus three hot and sour soups, jasmine tea and a can of Coke (plus doggie bags for the leftover rice, fish and veg!) came to only £45 for three people. That's £15 per head in the City of London!

Service is a little inattentive but who cares when the food is so good?!

Go there, NOW!
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David Jacob
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, October 01, 2009