Tak Kee Roast Inn — Restaurant in District of Canberra Central

Never again will we visit this horrible place. This was our favourite restaurant in Canberra, we have raved about it to friends and it was also our default place to do take aways. 3 of us had gone there for dinner on 10/05 at about 8.45pm. We ordered a whole duck and a few other dishes. As we were finishing up the meal, one friend went to the counter and paid the full bill so that it would be treat for the rest of us. There were left overs so as we were about to leave we asked for 2 take away containers. The waitress brought it to the table and informed us that we had to pay $1 for the containers. We did not have any cash on us, we offered to pay by card. We also apologised for not noticing the sign that said that take away containers were 50 cents each. She asked us to go and search our cars for coins, we said that we took public transport.She said that she will have to charge us $10 as thats the minimum they accept for card transactions. We felt that was too much and asked if we could pay the next time we came. On top of showing us a very disgusted and contemptuous face the whole time, she looked at us in disbelief and said that there was 'no assurance' that we would come back to pay the $1. I promised her that we will come back to pay as we are regular customers, the woman literally rolled her eyes and retorted "if you are regular customer you will know you need to pay for the box". It was at that moment that one of us found some loose coins in our bags. On all other visits to the restaurant, the waitresses never really interacted with us and we hadn't minded as food came quickly and we enjoyed the old school ambience. We had never noticed that the take away containers cost 50 cents as we would always pay after we had packed leftovers and didn't care to scrutinise...

If you're looking at RiotACT review on Laksa don't bother, totally over valued. Water with dash of sugar and coconut milk, no depth and largely all frozen ingredients. Didn't even touch the duck, tasted like liver , over cooked liver at that. Cold and possibly a week old I didn't eat anymore than I had after two bites, the rice was yesterday's clearly bunch with no aroma.

Old lady at front wears gloves yet handles cash with gloves on, don't understand the point when you're rubbing it all over the bbq. Whilst I understand Canberra can be cold in the winter months, there's really no excuse for waking up face unwashed, hair uncombed, in your pyjamas, wondering the venue like your presence is owed to the patrons that trust in your health and handling of their meal. Riding on the coat tails of your history will only take you far. The inexperienced will experience the dirty cutlery, outdated reheated meals, unwashed bathrooms to the state the smell ventured into the main eating area.

If you're wondering if you should still give it a go, i would only encourage it, and, respectfully request you comment on my feedback after your meal. With the intent to only help others to avoid a time in their life, that will literally pile a grotesque, infestation classified as 'food' forced down their gut lining to the detriment of their health.

Clearly the place does not get a clean, they have to schedule it in once a year. Cleaning notification on their window, last I checked restaurants clean daily. Good luck not getting food poisoned, don't believe me go to...

Food - I Definitely enjoyed the meals, Great flavours and well cooked Chinese cuisine. I Left the restaurant with a full happy belly.

Service - Disgraceful and passive aggressive. To say it was !!Absolutely Shocking!! customer service would be an understatement, My Dinner guests and I felt uncomfortable whenever interacting the waitresses, one of the female waitresses in particular is the reason I’ll never go back to eat at Tak Kee Roast Inn again. Not one smile from 9/10 of staff, besides the one decent worker named Jackie that was extremely kind to us after he saw the behaviour from his Co-workers.

Atmosphere - Restaurant restaurant was packed to full capacity on my arrival, The atmosphere was nice enough. seemed to me that it was enjoyed by most the other customers dining to, DEFINITELY to small of a building for the amount of tables pack in the restaurant, to the point of having to squeeze & slide though a few already seated customers. having to say “excuse me, I just have to squeeze through” especially to a fellow customer whilst they are eating just makes it a awkward situation for everyone involved. The tiny volume of walking area is ridiculous in my opinion.

I did rather enjoy Jackie teaching some info about Chinese culture and traditions told from Jackie (Staff member) I Appreciated the kindness from Jackie after the arrogant and rude waitress’s was just atrocious.

Shame about the negative energy from the workers, I really liked the food, shame that I won’t be...