Sidney Harbour Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in Sidney

Friday, February 12, 2021 “Chinese New Year” My husband & I entered Sidney Harbour Chinese Buffet at 5:50pm with my Mom & Aunty for a 6 pm Dinner Reservation. There was a line up of about 4 persons waiting for their pickup order, so we moved past them to wait to be seated. My husband & I have called this our favourite restaurant & have always enjoyed the food which I’d give 4.5 ⭐️ for and have always been greeted kindly & respectfully by the senior Lady Hostess at the check-in. On this evening however, the “older Asian Waiter” was also the acting Host and he basically greeted us very loudly & abruptly. My Mom quietly & politely told him she had a reservation & gave her name. He went to check for her reservation & couldn’t find it, “There’s No Reservation!” Then loudly he told her, “We’re not serving anymore customers, you have to leave.” My Mom told him again, it was made 3 days ago & gave her name & said Peking Duck was ordered by our Chinese friend. He went to the kitchen & he came back after he confirmed with the kitchen staff if Peking Duck was ordered & they said YES for 6pm. He told us that the reservation was only for 3. My Mom said there are 4 now. All during this time he was yelling at us amongst the people who were waiting & seated in the restaurant. Finding out he was wrong, he yelled, “Well, there’s a table for 4! Go sit down!” My husband & I decided to leave, after feeling very humiliated & angry because we had always been welcomed by the senior lady host, who recognized us when we’d visit the restaurant at least 2 times/month. We could see this waiter’s true prejudice towards First Nations people, myself & my 3 Elders: my Husband, my Mom & my Aunty. I’ve read many of the reviews for this restaurant & see this senior waiter has been rude or impolite to others too. I hope that the staff will be reading this & reprimand him & hire someone who will greet & accept all customers equally. Because of this incident, we will speak with a lawyer & see if we have a case against him & the restaurant for treating us this way.

Signed, Peter &...

I am extremely disappointed with a recent order from Sidney Harbour House Chinese Restaurant. In the past, we have consistently enjoyed excellent food and service at your establishment. However, our recent experience was significantly below your previous standards.

We placed an order for a combo for two. While the portions of all the dishes appeared stingier than usual, the Almond Guy Ding was particularly disappointing. This dish, which is typically served with a vegetable medley, almonds, and chicken, contained a shockingly small amount of chicken and almonds. Instead, the container was filled primarily with celery and included only two pieces of baby corn. This was a far cry from what we have come to expect from your Almond Guy Ding, and we certainly did not order a "Celery Guy Ding,"

Although the chicken and shrimp chow mein also seemed to lack a sufficient amount of protein (it could have easily been called noodle chow mein), we initially chose not to complain about these other dishes.

However, the experience worsened when my partner returned to the restaurant to show the owners the unsatisfactory Almond Guy Ding. We were met with rude hostile and unprofessional behavior. Both owners began yelling, incredulously suggesting that we must have ordered from a different restaurant. This is completely untrue. We placed an order from Sidney Harbour House less than a month ago and spent nearly $90.

Due to the drastically decreased food quality, the stingy portions, and the appalling customer service we received when attempting to address the issue, we will no longer be ordering from Sidney Harbour House. It is clear that the restaurant has become overly focused on cutting costs at the expense of food quality and customer satisfaction. We strongly advise others to consider spending their...

Service could really use some improvement. I am not sure if they were short staffed or if that was the norm for them since they didn’t apologize or any mention of them running short. We were sat down, offered our drinks quickly and left, there was no mention of our server or if the drinks would come out shortly. Later the waiter appears with drinks, took our order and busted off. About five minutes before the meal comes out, he slides the plates bumping my had and cell phone an says excuse me. I understand things happen but during the whole time I kept thinking to myself, these people can use some good manners. Food arrived, yay! Well, it’s not what I’m normally accustomed to but I have to say it wasn’t so bad. I laughed and mentioned to my spouse, “where’s the chicken”? Anywho, the food was good and later the waiter came with the check and apologized that they were busy. It would have been so much better should the customer (myself) has received that apology a lot sooner and not on my way out. Scored them a three due to lack in being friendly from being sat down to the waiter, incident with the toss of the plate onto the table, food was hot but could have used some visible chicken and lastly the apology should have came in...