Madam Kwong's Restaurant — Restaurant in Christchurch

Probably say this is the worst Chinese restaurant I have ever been to. Terrible service. I called in to book a table for only a couple of us and when we arrived and said we had a booking the staff member didn't bother to check and just dumped us on the table right infront of the entrance where people were standing and waiting. Had to wait around 5-10 minutes to recieve a menu, while watching the staff running around like headless chickens, creating a very stressful environment. Most of the food we had was very bland and had barely any flavor. Apart from the black bean beef stir fry which was just way too salty and the chicken and corn soup which tasted likea bowl of hot water. When I got up to ask one of the wait staff for some soy sauce and Chilli oil, all he said was "I'll bring to you" but as soon as I sat down again he just carried on with what he was doing and didn't even bother bringing anything over for a good 10 mins of waiting. I approached other wait staff and politely asked her for the same thing and she looked at me as if I had slapped her in the face? Overall, for a such nice looking restaurant, you would expect great service and high quality food (especially for how expensive everything is) when we went up to pay there was a staff member already at the counter. We stood there for a long amount of time before he noticed we were there. Obviously Uber eats is more important than customers who dine in? Once we finally got to pay he didn't even bother to ask how our meals/ experience was and didn't bother even making eye contact at all. The only positive thing I would say is the Manager was very nice, she came over to asked if we wanted any more drinks and asked what was missing from our order and made sure it was sorted ASAP with an apology. Looks like she was running the show on her own. Seems like they might have needed more staff who cared? Don't think...

This was the first time trying this place with my partner and from our experience it wasn’t pleasant at all. We decided to order through Uber eats, had ordered two sides, Curry noodles and Satay chicken. Receiving the order there was no satay chicken as someone on the restaurant’s end didn’t put it on the system as it was not on the receipt. (provided photos below) The restaurant had closed by the time we received our order but we decided to phone in as it was only a couple minutes after the closing time. A lady had answered the phone and straight away seemed rude and disrespectful. I told her how they missed one of our meals and she bluntly replied to us to “go to Uber and get a refund”. I tried to be polite with her but she started being rude and could only give one conclusion to fix the problem and that was for a refund from Uber, when it was there fault for missing the order? I told her that we spent roughly $60 on your food, and it was a mistake on your end for missing the order. The least you could do is to make the satay chicken for us to pick up the next day as I clearly understood they were closed. When I went to pick up the satay chicken the next day the guy who was there was already walking to the kitchen so I expected the lady at the counter to serve me as I was waiting but instead she walked away. There was literally no one in the restaurant, but by the time someone came out they looked bored out of there mind. No enthusiasm or welcoming he just walked up to me. I don’t even want to begin about the food but here we go.. for our curry noodles there was so much seasoning that it was like licking powdered sand off the noodles. And my satay chicken was no where near what it was meant to be. The sourness put me off but worst of all when I had opened it, the meal was flooded with oil.

Highly...

The food was 9/10. However, the staff weren’t very welcoming - we felt as if we were disturbing them. As we entered we were greeted bitterly and asked how many of us there was. We then proceeded to sit at a table which three staff recommended we sit at - after countless recommendations of which table to sit at amongst themselves. We then sat down. After a minute we got told to move. We were fine with that. However as we walked to the said table they were still unsure about it. We did end up sitting there. 3 of us on a 10 seater table. Not only that but we shared the table with a delivery guy that was waiting for the food to be made. The restaurant was empty and only one other table was occupied - big group fully utilising the table.

They put both the delivery guy and us in an uncomfortable position in which all of us were helpless. After observing what they were doing I realised they were setting up for a Christmas party. One guy vacuuming whilst we sat there. Everyone else running around. Total disregard for the customers. I found it in my heart (and hangry stomach) to understand that they were stressed about the party that was to come. However, that is no excuse to treat customers and I urge Madam Kwong to train their staff to deal with customers well, while under pressure. I have been to many, many restaurants where they are far more busy than Madam Kwong’s and still remain humble and down to earth. The service was very, very unprofessional. I have a few more comments to make but I will end it there.

To the chefs, bravo 👏 your food was delicious. To the staff, do better. Find it in your heart to treat everyone with respect and kindness - everyone has stressful, busy days....