Cathay Restaurants — Restaurant in Ottawa

The upside of the restaurant is that they hand prepare many of their products. I think almost anything breaded and their egg rolls are made fresh here vs some Chinese Food restaurants are purchasing wholesale in bulk from Sysco and other suppliers. When you visit you can see a bit into the kitchen and it does not look like a disaster which is a plus.

The downsides are the staff are not friendly at all - I would give them at best a 4 out of 10 for demeanor and helpfulness. But the biggest detriment is the portion sizes are small. Your going to be paying $8 to $13 for what amounts to less then 2 cups of food. We found their portion sizes are much smaller then other Chinese Food restaurants we have tried in Ottawa. Their full order is like the half order at other places.

So we cannot recommend. There are simply better choices that provide equal quality but better value...

My expectations were pretty low walking into this place, and I left dissatisfied. I was looking just to have a combo dish for myself, and I politely asked the clerk at the counter if I could add on and pay additionally for some vegetables and I was told no. I have never heard of a business who doesn't want more money. So I ended up with pretty much rice and meat.

The rice that came in my combo plate tasted dry and flavourless. The chicken balls were also dry and a bit chewy. Nothing tasted fresh. By far some of the worst egg rolls I have ever eaten and I regret ordering a 2nd one because I was just really hungry today.

The food smelled amazing, but overall, I wasn't really all that impressed. Also waiting in their lobby literally felt like I was waiting inside a volcano. Would it hurt to...

We placed our order by phone. It was the same order we had always placed. A young man took the order. He made 2 mistakes. I only discovered the mistakes once i got the order home. I called to get some satisfaction and was told they would replace the one dish and the error in the sauce received. But having to return made the timing, to be able to eat, about 45 minutes from the time the original order was picked up. I requested the whole order be replaced because the other part of the order would be cold. But I was refused. Other parts of our order were not really microwavable. This was the most disappointing experience we have ever had with Cathay. After well over 10 years of frequenting this establishment, they have lost our...