Purple Diamond — Restaurant in Fenland District

Went here as a family of two adults, three children and a toddler. The young waiting staff were lovely and friendly and the restaurant is fine in itself, although the lighting was a little harsh and the table was very rickety. We weren’t drinking alcohol on this occasion as we were with our children so got on with ordering plenty of food to go around the table. The starters arrived after a 40 minute wait and were okay. The chicken satay was great and the crispy duck was pleasant, but the rest was fairly unremarkable. The tempura prawns were greasy and as a result the batter was soggy, so they were rather gross. Another 45 minute wait and the mains came. By this time our toddler was getting restless and my partner decided to take him home so it was just me and the three kids. We agreed that I’d ask the restaurant to doggy bag the leftovers up to take home as he’d been unable to eat with us. Anyway, the mains were disgusting. My children ate the chicken chow mein (of which I couldn’t see any chicken in there, it just looked like plain noodles) and the other four or five dishes went to waste. I tasted the crispy chilli beef and it was tasteless and burnt. The squid in oyster sauce was vile. The king prawn dish was also extremely unpleasant.

After ten minutes we decided to call it a day and I asked for the bill. £175 (no booze, remember!). I then needed a glass of wine to get over the shock. The restaurant asked if I wanted the food to take away and I declined. The dog had already been fed for the day.

Before we left the older Chinese lady removed 10% from my bill which was a nice gesture and I gratefully accepted it before settling and leaving. But I still feel somewhat robbed. £160 and we went home hungry. Never again. Such a disappointing experience and a waste of...

Bit of a story to this one but want to explain the situation in full.

We ordered £80 worth of food to be delivered 1.5 miles from the restaurant, 10 minutes drive away. We were charged £6.50 for delivery and paid the driver £100 so that's a £13.50 tip roughly for the driver.

So then this is where the service given becomes appalling. The food delivered was the wrong dishes and to add to it we were sent one rice dish with "Lucy is annoying :)" in permanent marker on the inside of the lid which had soaked into the rice. Reluctantly and unapologetically we were offered replacement dishes which showed up 20ish minutes later - once again the wrong items were sent, the rest of the food was cold and we were having to phone again. This time they're sorry for the issue and would send out more.

20 minutes pass they call back to tell us they're not bringing the food again, we're too far away and it's not worth their hassle - so now we're all sitting around a table of cold food some with ink in it and absolutely nothing to show for it.

After a long and drawn-out painful discussion about it, we were told they would refund £81 of the order but my address now is blacklisted from the restaurant and so am I. They were sorry for THEIR mistake but I would be the one penalised for it.

Anyway, lesson learnt, use literally any other restaurant in the area - not to mention the interior of the restaurant if you drop in for a chat looks like it's...

24th May 2024-4 people-If I could give a zero I would for food as we never got to try it, as no food was served to us until 75mins of us arriving, which was less than half the starters we ordered. I had prebooked, it was not busy..lots of empty tables, I had said it was a special birthday. Everyone who came in got served before us. I heard takeaways being told 30 mins. It would have been quicker to order our takeaway to our table. They would not let us order our mains even when half starter arrived, as were too busy...with deliveries. Obviously they are only concerned about takeaways and not restaurant. We had not made a fuss, but when the rest of the starters never arrived after an hour and a half we spoke to the staff and said we couldnt wait, so we're leaving. Staff said sorry, blamed kitchen..., but was not really sorry as we only got an apology when we said something, however our order had been obviously taken wrong..and don't blame the new young girl, she did not take our order... We did not eat the starter that was delivered as wanted to wait for others starters. We did get the drinks free but for a birthday prebooked meal out...what a disaster. We spent less time at gurkha spice who accommodated us late, ordering, served, eating and enjoying. I'd suggest you close the restaurant at weekends if you can't look after customers who prebooked because of...