Emily Yeoh Restaurant — Restaurant in Brisbane City

I have never ever left a review before but I don’t want others wasting there hard earned money, especially in hard times like these if it can be avoided.

I can confidently say it was one of the worst experiences I've ever had in a restaurant.

Let’s talk about the service. Or rather, the lack thereof. The staff all seemed super confused and were walking around aimlessly. There was clearly poor communication between the staff , customers and manager

We asked for still water and both times was served sparkling, we gave up after the second time because we didn’t want to annoy the staff.

We finally managed to order 2 glasses of red wine for which one confused waiter brought out a bucket of ice for a bottle which we told him we didn’t need as we only ordered glasses. He walked away confusingly.

We ordered the EOFY (crab) banquet which was around $88 per person.

The starters came out fairly fast. The soup was good, however the skewers barely had at chicken on it and edamame was average at best.

Next came the ‘fish’ of the day (as stated on there social media page - whatever Emily buys from the market) Whatever fish it was, it was absolutely putrid, the sauce is what made it slightly bearable as it slightly masked the smell. We’re unsure of what fish it was, if it was fish at all, the texture and taste was nothing I have ever seen or eaten before. It was almost like what I would describe as potentially a stingray which is what we believe it was from reading other reviews.

Next was suppose to be the pawpaw salad which never came.

Mind you the whole time these dishes were being served, they were brought out with zero communication or what’s what or what’s to come. There were promptly placed down with the waiter quickly walking away.

The crab finally came out, the sauce was bland and below average. The shells were hard as a rock and we spent the next 30-40 minutes trying to break it open. Most places we have been to leave small cracks in the shell so it’s easier to open, the surrounding tables also had the same problems and voiced there frustration aloud which create quite a negative mood.

After we were finished with the crab there was sauce and shells everywhere and the waiter did a half effort job to clear the table for dessert. There was still sauce, tissue, and shell everywhere ….

The dessert finally came out 20 minutes later…

To top it all off, the prices were absurd for the quality (or lack thereof) that we received. I've had better meals at fast food joints for a fraction of the cost. it was a thoroughly miserable dining experience from start to finish. The tables around us were too missing orders and struggling with staff communication.

Upon paying we reminded the staff that we never got our paw paw salad to which they replied if we wanted it takeaway? Why would we want it takeaway ? A banquet is supposed to flow from one dish to another.

She kindly offered to take $2 off our total bill.

Our horrible review is targeted at the establishment and owner itself rather than the staff. We understand the staff are there to make a living so it’s not there fault. we think it’s up to the owner/manager to ensure operations run smoothly and the staff are trained adequately.

Save your time, money, and taste buds and go...

Arrived 10mn before our booking, greeted at the door. Our first request was for our booking table to be moved which was met with a quick positive response, and the waiting staff was able to facilitate our request.

Easy access with plenty of on street parking.

Staffing was sufficient for venue of that capacity, at no point did we feel like our table was missed or forgotten.

We had three different servers, though they had good communication and we were never asked for our drinks or food orders more than once and there were no mishaps in delivery.

Staff were prompt to let us know about the menu items that were unavailable that night - no daily specials menu was discussed.

Staff checked if we had any knowledge of their specialty dishes and were willing to answer any question we might have - overall very courteous and helpful.

Drinks menu was appealing and had plenty of choices for alcoholic or non alcoholic beverages.

Dinner menu had a great ratio of entrees, mains and sides to choose from, some specialty dishes, some very ‘westernised’ - though a lack of regional accuracy, ie. Hainan chicken and Agedashi tofu both on the same menu.

We had the Duck dumplings and Agedashi tofu for entrees. The duck flavour in the dumplings did not stand out at all, and the dumplings felt processed, with an overpowering raw chives taste. The Agedashi tofu texture was great but the flavour was missing and the accompaniment was basic, raw and unseasoned onion and did not suit the dish at all.

As mains we had the Hainan chicken and the Charsiu pork. Hainan chicken looked the part though it was once again a severely under seasoned dish. The pork was cold when delivered to the table, and has an even deep brown colouring and a dry and chewy texture. Very underwhelming as Charsiu is a classic Cantonese dish, which should boast a bright red lacquer along with moist tender meat.

Price in total for our meals, two wines and one G&T was $176, which we found expensive considering the quality of the food and for a venue classifying itself as ‘casual dining’.

In our opinion, Emily Yeoh is still relying on her 2014 Masterchef reputation, though it could use a revisit - both on the menu and in the dining area.

We would advise a fresher and more modern setting as well as innovation in their menu combined with an improvement in their plating standard, especially when it comes to region-specific classic dishes, where there is little room for modernisation.

Restaurantlogics.com Restaurant Management Solutions

Edited back down to one star because the owner or social media manager for Emily Yeoh thought appropriate to contact us via social media and harass then insult our persons and business. We have submitted an honest review of the restaurant with some constructive criticism, we went there expecting to enjoy ourselves and we would rather have given the venue a fantastic review. But we felt underwhelmed and disappointed. Now we are even more disappointed that they chose to respond in such a crude,...

Wow. We went here for a birthday celebration this evening. Despite the staff being somewhat friendly, they are simply far too inexperienced to allow an enjoyable experience. We had 10 pax pre-booked two months in advance with an agreement to allow a la carte ordering. We were sent an email this morning saying the a la carte menu that was pre-confirmed (given that for the 10 pax a banquet is typical) was available was in fact not available. There was a Thai banquet instead with a limited a la carte menu.

Following delivery of half of the mains, and a couple of drinks, we were told that the table was cut off from drinking any further alcohol. Four of the guests were pregnant and not drinking and the remainder had their first drink an hour beforehand when we arrived at the restaurant. After questioning this, we were sent from the waiter to the manager who attended the table. He rescinded the decision made by his 'inexperienced junior staff' (his words not ours) and said that he would simply monitor alcohol consumption in accordance with RSA regulations and confirmed that the issue was simply the noise from our table as we were a little loud.

We preordered two crabs which were actually quite well cooked but delivered 30 minutes after the mains were sent. The signature sauce was far too sweet. They were also delivered without any utensils or plates with left all guests left at least laughing at the comedy of errors (second time we had to ask for plates with our food).

Without getting into the detail of every issue with the food and the service, overall the service was horrible, the experience woeful, and despite a few dishes having potential, the food was not at all memorable.

We were given an excuse that it was their busiest night yet despite us seeing several tables vacant.

Extremely disappointing but at least memorable (in a hilarious way). Never again.

Reply to comments: There was no intimidation or threats to anyone's safety whatsoever. Very happy to discuss anything like this if in fact it occurred but the fact is that it simply did not. The attempt to hide behind such an accusation is extremely disappointing. We were very friendly with your staff all through the evening and even post discussion around the monitoring of alcohol consumption. As discussed with your manager, if there was a problem with our noise levels, the way in which this was dealt with was lousy. Perhaps lack of experience from you and your staff in running a business and a restaurant. I truly hope you can review your practices and improve as hiding behind the reply you have made serves nothing but your...