Top BBQ & Seafood Restaurant (Yum Cha) — Restaurant in Sydney

Never again. I swore after the pretty ordinary yum cha we had a few months ago that I'd never be back. It's not just the very average food, it's the appalling, off hand and sometimes downright rude service that I object to. Last night I was dragged unwillingly to Top BBQ with a beautiful 91 year old Chinese family friend. She did all the ordering and was so patient and kind. All she received in return was being barked and shouted at when she made quite innocent requests like "could you take a photograph of us for my family back in Hong Kong". Yes they were busy, but she asked nicely and they could have replied kindly. Then there's the issue with how long we had to wait. We booked our table for 6pm and our food didn't arrive until 650pm. When I (obviously stupidly) asked if we could get just one dish to tide us over I was told (aggressively). "We are busy - we have all these take away orders, one step at a time. Look at all these people, they are waiting for their food also". This was the young guy with the redish died hair. Some of the other waiters were sort of OK, he was just downright aggressive and rude. We asked for another bottle of wine (there were 5 of us) and he said "yes, you can have that, that's quick". So we waited 50 minutes and then out came the 1970s style, sauce out of tin style EXTREMELY average Cantonese fare. Then there's the atmosphere inside the restaurant - it's quite nice to sit outside, but our family friend wanted to be inside for the airconditioning. Don't bother. It's like a factory inside there - the door is open constantly so it's hot and then there is the constant "binging" of the Uber eats bell and the entire back half of the restaurant has been converted into a take away sweat shop. There are drivers in and out, bags being made up, no people seated, just tables full of food coming and going. I understand the dilemma a busy restaurant has - if we keep our takeaway orders waiting, then we get bad reviews, but we had made a booking and 50 minutes is just not good enough for our first dish to arrive. What about a dish of prawn crackers thrown in? What about a "sorry for the delay - it's unexpectedly busy tonight" instead of being yelled at and made to feel like a complaining idiot just because I asked for one dish as we were hungry. ...

Visited with family and friends for yum cha brunch. Upon arrival the tables were dirty with crockery and chopsticks on uncovered table surface. Upon ordering drinks we were told they had run out of bottled water and were sent to local petrol station to purchase, and only after all other drinks were served were we told that all the lowest cost wines were sold out. We ordered some hot fresh dishes from the kitchen: bbq pork, white bait and green beans. The beans were old and cold. The pork was served at an unsafe temperature so we requested a new dish. We were presented with the exact same plate of food minutes later with the only change being 1 piece of pork was replaced. The temperature was still not satisfactory and we requested for it to be cleared from out bill for these reasons. The plate of pork was taken from our table and placed on an empty one for 5 or so minutes and then placed into the service cart for reservice! That food had been touched and the staff didn't seem to mind to pass it on to others. Only after someone had accepted it was our bill cleared. While getting ready to leave we were offered a plate of pippy shellfish which smelled worse than any other off/spoiled seafood I have ever smelled! Upon receipt of our bill we had been charged for drinks we didn't order nor recieve. Our table ticket was written on multiple times without us ordering or receiving anything. Would not recommend to anyone! Save you dollars and...

This is the first time ordering since they moved. Top BBQ has been a family favourite for years. What has happened? 2 days before Christmas, I figured it would be busy so I ordered early (6.30) and was told or food would be ready in a bit over half an hour. On arrival was told it would be a little bit longer. 50 minutes is not a little bit. And then not all the dishes were ready. It was very obvious that everything had been put together in a hurry. And that's all I'm going to say out of respect and on account of the countless take-aways my family has enjoyed. There are quite a few Chinese restaurants in Dee Why but they have always been our go-to. If the place is under new management, they need to get their act together pronto. There are over 20 places to eat on the Dee Why Beach main drag and I'm not sure this level of service will cut it. It felt like the takeaway pick-up customers were at the bottom of the pecking order after bookings, walk-ins and the delivery businesses, and that sucked quite a bit. Oh and what happened to the prawn crackers? It hurts me to give such a poor review. Family wants to write them off completely but seeing as we've loved them for years I would give them...