Peppercorn Kitchen — Restaurant in Sydney

Disclaimer: I am only posting this review to reflect upon my true experience of visiting this place, and to potentially prevent others from unfairly receiving such rude service as I had in my visit. As a matter of fact, I do not have extreme, unrealistic standards when it comes to customer service.

I had never seen such rude attitude from a restaurant owner or staff, or whoever she was. When I first came around the place to dine in, there were 8 people seated across 5 tables since 2 people were eating on separate tables. I approached and politely asked the woman staff whether i was able to order first and wait, or if there was a waiting procedure such as a waiting number, etc. (Due to the 10 people rule of COVID restrictions; and there were no other tables opened). The first facial expression she made was absolutely horrendous- a big frown upon her face as if I had literally woken her up from asleep. In all careless manner she nodded her head to where the food display were and said ‘over there’. With no exaggeration, she treated me as if she saw a bug or something disgusting, by the expression on her face as well as the way she spoke. I was shocked for a moment and replied with ‘excuse me?’ and it was only then when she said ‘oh what do you mean?’ then told me to line up because a table was soon to becoming available. I walked away from the store because I had no intentions to stay and be treated so rudely. Absolutely no customers should be treated this way. I’ve never written a Google review for anywhere else, but i deeply felt the need to comment on her attitude after such interaction. I’ve visited this place a couple of times last year at which i enjoyed its average food flavours and had no issues with staff, however I will not ever be returning here to receive such absurd behaviour from a staff member to a customer who just wanted to politely ask to care for THEIR sake on dine-in and social distancing policy.

Of course all other factors like the flavour of soup, interior of the restaurant, etc. matters in what make up a business in the hospitality industry - but to me, respect and service for a customer, and being treated as a HUMAN willing to pay for an enjoyable meal is what comes first. I just could not contain such behaviour I saw today since I had never faced such similar situation my whole life, hence decided to post...

3/5 Recommended (͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖)👌

If you're looking for a place to have a family dinner, Peppercorn Kitchen will do. I'm only giving it a 3/5, because there are many Chinese restaurants with great food and optimal service like this one. It's a good place to start if it's you're first time trying Chinese cuisine, as Peppercorn Kitchen is well known for a few dishes. The restaurant itself is pretty cozy, lit up with Chinese lanterns and architecture. The staff members offer great hospitality and are very patient. And over to the thing that all the Asian people reading were waiting for: 🎉COST?🎉 The prices aren't too high, unlike Sublimotion💀(Ibiza, Spain). Peppercorn Kitchen's food is affordable but not too low either. It's just your average pricing. I've gone to this place around two or three times back when I lived in Carlingford(I went to the Parramatta one). I wasn't too fond of going to yet another Asian restaurant, but for my parent's sanity, I decided not to argue. When we entered, I found out that the inside was bigger than the outside. I think we were dining with friends, but it was too long ago for me to remember. Like always, we ordered lots of honey roasted sweet pork, and sweet and sour pork. They're always the best Chinese dishes. Like always, the pork was delish, but these ones also had a hint of spicy, which made it taste WAY better. Then I had some wrapped food(I call it that), like dumplings and buns. The dumplings weren't optimal(from a guys that hates dumplings), but the buns were ABSOLUTELY STUFFED WITH PORK. And it was tasty pork too. To conclude, better restaurants do exist, but Peppercorn Kitchen is a...

Update 12/01/2023: I still like their beef bone soup and being able to add spices/sauces to your liking is still a plus. What’s negative about my recent takeaways visits would be customer service. People can have bad days (or the staff just doesn’t care anymore) but the least you could do is to not take it out on customers, especially if it’s first-timers or those who have difficulty hearing/confused. Maybe pagers/buzzers would help customers to know when their order’s ready. It can get too noisy to hear when your number’s called with the current system. To others going there, I can only say “Go for the food, get takeaway. Everyone’d be happier with that.”

2022 review: I go here once every few weeks and never had any issues with my orders or staff.

The price is okay since I get enough for 2 meals’ portion when I buy takeaway and can cook more with the leftover soup next day.

I mostly go for the beef bone or tomato soup bases as the dry one isn’t to my taste. Definitely not a fan of the chicken/coconut one. Decent range of ingredients too! Waiting time...