Banquet Chinese — Restaurant in Colchester

Appalling Experience at Banquet Chinese – A Call for Action

We recently visited Banquet Chinese, 342 London Rd, Stanway, Colchester CO3 8LT, for a celebratory meal. As a group of middle aged NHS consultants we were expecting a pleasant dining experience. Instead, we were met with rudeness, unresponsiveness, and outright disrespect from the staff. From the moment we arrived, we were greeted with disdain, our requests for service were met with sniggering and dismissive behaviour when asked them to clear the used cutlery for our Auntray. Despite our patience, it became clear that the staff had no interest in treating customers with basic courtesy. Frustrated, we decided to leave after the starters, as it was impossible to get any reasonable attention. To add insult to injury: • They presented us with a bill that included a £20 service charge, despite the appalling service. • When we challenged the unfair charge, the situation escalated, creating a hostile atmosphere. • Rather than addressing our concerns or acknowledging the staff behaviour, the owner joined in and asked us to leave, which we were already doing. We felt humiliated and unwelcome—a shocking experience that no paying customer should have to endure. As professionals who value respect and good service, we have resolved never to visit this establishment again. Furthermore, we will be sharing our experience widely, leaving detailed reviews, and encouraging others to boycott Banquet Chinese to stand against such blatant mistreatment. If you believe that restaurants should treat customers with basic dignity and professionalism, we urge you to avoid Banquet Chinese and warn others. Poor service should never be rewarded, and we must hold businesses accountable for how they treat their patrons. Have you had a similar experience? Let’s stand together against disrespectful and...

Some seem to find this place good, I can't share their enthusiasm. This was my first (and as such only) visit to Banquet. The key point to note is that if you want authentic Chinese food, go to My Old Place in Liverpool Street.

My fiancee and I ordered the dim sum platter to start. Our dish arrived within ten minutes, which was a great start. Sadly, the arrival of the food meant having to eat it, which is where the meal went downhill. I personally didn't find it very tasty. We had four different flavours of dim sum, all prawn-based. What those flavours are? If you like guessing games, you're in luck. Otherwise you'll probably never know.

We then had our choice of mains. We picked the salt and chilli prawns, spinach and prawn tofu, mixed neat noodles, and ho fun noodles. The salt and chilli prawns were fine, but again nothing special. The tofu was dense, almost like eating jelly. Despite the potential for flavour, there wasn't any. The mixed meat noodles were the particular lowlight of this meal however. Whilst I enjoyed the crispiness of the deep fried noodles, I did not enjoy the gravy-like substance that coated them. Asian-British fusion at its worst, surely? The associated meats were soggy, fatty, and lacking in flavour.

For all that, the total was £75. Which is slightly more expensive than I'd like. However, it would be a price I'm willing to pay for decent food. Hence why I'll never be going to this restaurant again.

Any chance of me leaving a tip pretty much evaporated when I reflected on the service. It appeared rushed, there was no warmth or friendliness, and that respect it felt like McDonalds i.e. they give you your food. That's it. I did leave with one tip though - tell everyone I know never to eat at...

First time visit, booked table for 730pm and the place was packed with no table available meaning a 30 min wait, no complementary drink offered. Lady who overseas the seating believe owner is quite rude and abrupt. Considering our table was not required later on in the evening and no real further people arriving past 830pm the whole process felt rushed, barely sat down and within minutes we were asked were we ready to place order, seeing the banquet set meal involves eating many dishes you really need that break between dishes coming out. On a positive note, the food truly was excellent, duck was quite fatty and the amount of hoi sin sauce provided is not enough. Some areas of the restaurant incl male toilets could benefit a deep clean (Cobwebs and stains on the walls and waiting seating area little grubby and needs a good hoover around plant pots etc. Food Price reasonable Drinks are expensive £6 pint and Beefeater Gin and Tonic is £10 exact which is pretty steep and more like London prices. Some background music that you can hear would have also been nice. You defiantly will not leave this venue hungry, very noisy so would not recommend a quiet couple type evening, all tables are round and seat around 4-5 persons..meaning your not cramped next to other...