Lilong by Taste of Shanghai Canberra 里弄 — Restaurant in District of Canberra Central

I so wanted to love this place purely because it is so close to home but unfortunately there was some very disappointing aspects. Lets start with the good. The staff were mostly really fantastic (it is early days so you expect some hiccups). The Mongolian Lamb and the dumplings were some of the best we have ever eaten. High quality ingredients, tasty and great presentation. Now the bad... The honey chicken was the worst thing we have ever eaten. It looked great but didn't deliver. The batter was hard and overcooked whilst the chicken was all brown mean that was stringy and chewy with a tonne of gristle and even some bone. The second negative was a really inefficient ordering system. You have to fill out a big paper menu yourself with a pen (I wonder how many people handled that pen today YUK)! This isn't low tech is not even a notepad for the waiter. So you have to find what you want in the glossy menu and then try and find it in the paper order form to complete. I have never seen this used in a restaurant and it was a big negative. It would have taken an 8th of the time for a waiter to just take the order. The poor waiter then had to go enter the info in (so double handling). I queried if this was just a short term opening issue (in case there were still waiting for iPADS to arrive for the waiters or for QR codes to be added to the table) but nope apparently it is what they plan on using. Also we were very surprised that it isn't licenced so no beer or wine on offer with dinner. The dumplings were that good that we might of considered returning just for them but that ordering system I...

Food was good, when it eventually came... though our order had been 'missed' somehow, and in the end not all of it actually came (though the missing item was not on the bill, so it had been completely missed).

The service was the worst I have experienced dining in for a very long time. 45 mins after ordering, both food and drinks, we had only the water that was on the table when we arrived. None of the staff seemed to notice a table of several people with nothing happening, or they simply ignored it. I understand that mistakes will sometimes occur. But, simple observation could have recognised that something had gone wrong for a table to be sitting longer than most patrons entire meals without even drinks appearing, rather than the customer needing to go searching for food.

Other parties did not appear to have the same issues, so maybe we were simply unlucky, and I acknowledge that our drinks were deducted from the bill by way of apology (though, as we'd had no service along the way this was less than one drink each, mostly soft drinks - not alcohol).

Should you dine here, don't wait to ask what's happening. If your drinks aren't forthcoming in 5-10mins, go and see what's going on (you will have to walk to find someone - don't expect...

We came in with a big family 13 people last night. Firstly, We are so impressed by the design of the restaurant, having a so warm feeling that we are dinning in restaurant in right Shanghai. Secondly, the service is superb. From steping in moment to finishing our meal, the service is so friendly. Jasmine is so attentive and helpful. She recommended the most popular dishes, so that made our orders turn so much easier. Lastly, the food and drinks are amazing. Wow, the meal was served so quickly. The dumplings are so juicy, the fish with pickle in soup is so authentic, the lobster is one of the thing of the dinner - so delicious. In general, Lilong is a must try Chinese restaurant and i will definitely recommend more of my friends, colleagues, family to dine-in again and again. Thank you for your...