Hoh Won Chinese Restaurant Kensington — Restaurant in Sydney

Went here for dinner last night with my girlfriend and honestly, the money was better spent elsewhere. In terms of the restaurant’s presentation, it was just very old, worn out, outdated, dirty A/C outlet on the roof, peeling/ripped wallpaper in places and just not very inviting overall. However, I’m always willing to forgo these things if the food experience is alright.

But then that’s where we ran into trouble. The satay squid that I ordered, I kept getting solid pieces of what at least appeared to be pieces of fish tail or something similar, as if the dish had been cooked in the same equipment that was used to make something else. So I stopped eating pretty early as it wasn’t very nice for that reason.

The fried rice we got, we smelled it before we saw it. Smelled like the kitchen was on fire. Strong smell throughout the restaurant, like carbon. The rice came out and it was burnt on the top, like it had just been burnt and dumped out of the pan and onto the plate. Couldn’t eat that either, because it just tasted burnt. Chicken in our other dish was fairly tough, but still decent, however, credit where credit is due, the spring rolls were great.

We brought these issues up at the counter afterwards and the lady that spoke to us insisted that they never had any complaints and I had to explain to her that this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have one by default. She kept insisting that “maybe” the pieces that I found in the squid were pieces of frozen squid because they came frozen from the market. It was absolutely not squid. I can say that with the utmost confidence.

Despite the fact that the rice and squid were pretty much not touched, the best she would give us off the meal was 10%, so we still paid over $58 including card surcharge and ended up mostly paying for dishes we didn’t even get to eat. We were happy enough to pay for the stuff we did eat and pretty much finish because they were not too bad, but it is unreasonable to still expect people to pay the majority share of something they didn’t even get to eat.

She said we should have let them know at the start so they could redo them, however, my girlfriend was on meal break at work and we simply didn’t have the time to sit around and wait for food yet again. Given the issues with multiple dishes, I don’t think we would want to have them again anyhow.

Staff in general didn’t make themselves available. Mainly just stood around the kitchen chatting and not keeping an eye on things at tables. We awkwardly sat there for ages waiting for an opportunity to flag the staff about the food issues, but they were too busy with their backs to us at the kitchen chatting. So in my opinion, we gave enough time to raise concerns anyway.

I feel bad for those of my work colleagues who recommended the place, because they said it was excellent, granted they all went a long time ago. They were all surprised to hear that we were one of only three tables on a Saturday night, they say the place was always full on the weekend. Either ownership has changed, or chef/food standards, or all of the above.

All things considered, I think it would be best if we don’t return. Really needs drastic...

After more then 25 years of eating in this restaurant, today was the last time we will ever order or eat in this place. We have ordered take away, the same 4 dishes we always order. One of the dishes was Honey Chicken. This time it was absolutely appalling - there was no honey sauce and it was dry and chewy as if it was days old. Another dish was Chicken Chow-main with crispy noodles - in the past we would order take away and we would get the dish in one container and the crispy noodles in a separate bag. This time it all came in one container which meant that by the time we were going to eat, the noodles were not going to be crispy. I made the comment that we normally get them separately. The chef came out to speak to me and asked what is the problem. I told him that they are normally separate. His response was very abrupt and rude, telling me that they have been doing it like this for a few years. When I told him that we have never received it like this he rudely told me that I don’t have to pay for it if I don’t take it. I called my wife to discuss the situation and while we were talking on the phone he took the dish without giving me the chance to say whether we want it or not. The whole ordeal was very unpleasant and the person was very rude and un willing to listen to what I was saying, telling me he was busy and didn’t have time. After nearly 30 years of eating in this place I was very disappointed and very sorry to say that we are never going to set foot in this restaurant ever again. There are many other Chinese eateries with far better...

They gave me a bill which I thought was excessive first : simple dinner for three costing $79.40 I demanded to see the detailed bill with all dishes and costs involved The male waiter stated that I must pay full cost first and then he will give me all details!! I told him that usually it's other way around but he was firm so in order to get it over and done with inpaid full amount by my credit card and then this male waiter... The male waiter extremely relactantly in a very quick handwriting gave me the list of all dishes with very sour face and very negative body language Upon checking his math I discovered that I was overcharged almost a dollar on my bill so he quickly refunded me one dollar cash and said it's actually not a dollar but .80 cents!! I didn't give him 20?cents back but just walked away from this place On top of everything my son got a hair in his rice but I kept silent about it as I did not want to ruin the mood of the evening !! Food is ok - your typical Chinese suburbia food with lots of grease ... so folks please check your bills when you go there as this folks are dishonest as hell By the way they charged $3 for one Chinese tea although it's just hot water not tea they top up their kettle when the tea is run out! So they dared charging me $9!for just topping up my kettle with hot water which is free!!! While food is ok I didn't appreciate their dishonest attitude and I don't think I'll be...