Ginger Meg’s — Restaurant in Newcastle-Maitland

The food was quite nice (yum cha on a Sunday). When we arrived and sat down we told the waitress we were waiting for one more person. The waitress informed us we could order drinks while we waited but our 90 minute limit would start as soon as we ordered something.

Although it is quite dark in the resraurant, I didn't mind that too much as it gave a more relaxing feel to it, however the lighting in the toilets could cause some issues. Anyone suffering from even a minor vision impairment could find it difficult to find their way back out as it is extremely poorly lit and everything is painted black, including the door.

The music was just a tad too loud for our liking which led to us sitting around a very small table having to raise our voices to hear each other over the music. This means everyone else in the restaurant had to do the same, including the table of 6 or so young ladies behind us screaming like banshees in order to hear one another from one end of their tiny table to the other.

If you're looking for somewhere to have a "quiet" Sunday lunch, I would not recommend. However, if you're a younger crowd, say in your early twenties, and you're looking for somewhere for a nice feed before a good ol' Sunday sesh, this place will definitely get you in the mood!

In short, food was great (no complaints there) service was pretty good as well...but the volume of everything once the place was full was just a bit much for a group of people wanting a relaxed catch up over lunch. Had the noise not been an issue I'd had given 4 stars...

Lunch @ Ginger Meg's Newcastle Sunday 19th July 2020: "Bottomless Yum Cha" implies bottomless food, i.e. all you can eat, during the $50 1.5hr seating advertised lunch special at least. I found out, however, when I asked for more after finishing the several dishes listed, that the "bottomless" only pertains to certain drinks included, not the food. Various sources indicating Ginger Megs' Bottomless Yum Cha including their website are somewhat misleading in this. That said, the service & quality of food was mostly very good. The staff were all courteous, welcoming & efficient, providing water (good) when seated at the somewhat simple yet nice table. Most dishes in the vegetarian Yum Cha set menu looked, smelt & tasted fresh & quite appealing - indicative of a quality kitchen. Having enjoyed more authentic Yum Cha at a few places including Sydney etc., the dishes here seemed a bit more like modern tasting plates / tapas, however they weren’t bad. The decor & ambience is quite beautiful, much of the lighting quite dark which is great. The music seemed mostly unobtrusive & appealing, though a tad loud at some stages, & there's some interesting artwork on the walls etc. Lunch was quite expensive for what it was, due in part to the unexpected set (limited) quantity of food; & though it was certainly enjoyable to eat I just can't award more than 3 stars due to this. I'd like to try dinner, some different elements of their menu & drinks to better gauge the overall...

Had a 7:30 booking for our anniversary, were seated by 7:15 because we showed up early, staff gave us our menus, and asked if we'd like still or sparkling. we asked for sparkling and it took at least 10 minutes for them to bring us water, that should have been the first sign we were in for a long night....we ordered and asked for our entrees and mains to come out at the same time, we waited for 35 minutes for our entrees but no mains? After another 20 minutes our mains arrived at the table next to us and were happily taken by the 2 couples. The waitress realised their error, only to reach over grab the food they had already begun eating and offer it to us, we refused and said that we didn't want someone else's touched food. The staff apologised and said the kitchen would make us new food, after another 15-20 our re made mains came out... In total we were there for almost 2 hours. When we went up to pay we were obviously avoided, no apologies, no attempt to correct or address any of the problems of the night. Overall ,terrible service, completely ruined our anniversary, heard such great reviews but unfortunately we will...