Emperor Court — Restaurant in Bristol

BE AWARE!! FOOD POISONING!

I experienced food poisoning at this restaurant. I've been vomiting and having terrible diarrhoea since then. The food was disgusting, and the staff were quite rude.

Here's what happened: I ordered seafood soup, expecting a delicious broth with mussels and fish, but what I got was far from it. It smelled terrible, and the texture was slimy. I couldn't tell what was in it - blended jellyfish or slugs? I'm not sure.

Then, I asked to change my dish to beef udon. The taste wasn't too bad, but it was still too oily and not enjoyable. While I was trying the new dish, a waiter came to me and said, "We will not exclude the soup from your bill because it is already cooked. Is that okay with you?" I politely responded, “Usually when you don’t like a dish, a restaurant excludes it from the bill. But it’s up to you. I would be really grateful if you could show me your great hospitality and exclude it, but no pressure. It’s up to you.” (These are exact quotes)

When I got home a few hours later (I was in the restaurant around 6-7pm and came back home around 11pm on March 15, 2024), I started vomiting and couldn't stop. I couldn't sleep, and I'm still vomiting and having diarrhoea now. I don't know what went wrong, but it was definitely because of the udon. I vomited up the dish, and it looked exactly like it did on the plate, so my body must have sensed something wrong with that dish and rejected it. Did they poison my dish because I politely rejected it? I only said, "Sorry, that's not for me." Did they use bad ingredients? Do they keep their kitchen clean? Are my health problems because of some bacteria in their kitchen? I don't know. But please don't make the same mistake I did. Do not come here!

And they did not exclude the soup from the bill. But they DID include a 10% service charge! Haha, I paid to be poisoned!

UPD:

1. i have tried just one spoon of this soup and the dish wasn’t eaten at all. In good places when you don’t like a dish and it’s not eaten - this dish is excluded.
2. usually it’s enough 4 hours to get first symptoms of food poisoning. I felt nauseous and had stomachache 5 hours later, then i started vomiting and having diarrhoea around 1am. Sorry for confusing above.
3. i leave my reviews when it’s convenient for me. I visited Zizzi on march 3rd. And Roman baths i visited in January 2023, but left a review in March 2024.

UPD2:

1. What should i answer for your “it’s not our fault”? I got poisoned. And it is damaging for me, for my health. And i know that it is your fault. I vomited the whole dish. I did not eat after visiting you. I haven’t eaten for 5h before coming to you. I definitely got poisoned there. Calculate the time.
2. really? I politely said that I would be grateful if you could exclude this soup from the bill. This comment ridiculous. Have a read of my quote again.
3. And yeah, I stopped vomiting in 3 days and having diarrhoea in 5 days. And I needed to call 111 two days after being poisoned. Thank God it’s over. Trying to get my normal life back.

Dear people, who read this review, do you see that? Do not come to this...

Tried this restaurant recently off the back of recommendations and gladly can say I was not disappointed and I’m sure you wouldn’t be either!

A very authentic and homely feel to the restaurant, warm and quiet spot with quirky basement vibe.

We ordered both set menu B and C because why not! 4 us ate here and we had more than enough good food.

I’ll talk over some of my highlights from the set menus, my favourite overall was certainly the sweet and sour chicken, crispy yet tender with real sweet and sour flavour running through out the dish pack a real punch and depth of flavour which just kept making you want to eat more and more.

Other hits on menus were - king prawns in ginger and spring onions, beef in black bean sauce, aromatic crispy lamb pancakes and mention to the mixed starts, ribs were succulent and juicy, and satay chicken was perfect.

Overall some really nice dishes, not full of oil or greasy like a take away, really flavourful and thought out dishes, not a massive menu here and the dishes they do they really know about.

Nothing bad to say about this spot and I would rate this visit a solid 8/10!

Will return...

Menu items are what you'd expect from any British Chinese restaurant. Quality is good, it meets the price point, as does the atmosphere. Service is great, friendly and attentive. The larger round tables have Lazy Susans. You're really going to get exactly what you expect from a classic Chinese restaurant when you come here.

The takeaway options seem a little limited, notably there are decent vegetarian/vegan options on the restaurant menu but none on the takeaway menu. In fact, the only way to get a good vegetarian takeaway meal is to get the vegetarian sharing platter for two, which includes items not listed individually. Strange. Perhaps they accept special requests? Despite this, there were plenty of orders coming in for takeaway/delivery when I dined in on a quiet Tuesday night, some seemingly from regulars, so it can't be bad.

Pictured: Beancurd with black bean sauce and green peppers/chillis Steamed...