Gigi Gao's Favourite Authentic Chinese — Restaurant in Great Britain

We visited Gigi Gao's on Saturday 27th August to celebrate a family birthday. Sometimes you can stumble on a restaurant that you've not been to before and have a wonderful experience and great food - unfortunately, this was the very opposite of that. As mentioned above, we had a family birthday coming up so when I saw Jay Rayner's glowing review in the Guardian, I thought this place would be perfect. I booked for three of us via their online booking app but ran into trouble when we needed to add another guest. I rang the number on their website numerous times but it was never answered regardless of the time of day. We eventually managed to change the booking to 4 people after contacting them via messenger. Their booking app gives you 90minute time slots for the table so we opted to have the 7.30 to 9.00pm slot and knowing we'd be out around 9.00 we booked to go on to another venue at 9.30pm Conscious of the time constraints we arrived at 7.30pm promptly, said we had a table booked and were told "Yes, go and choose a table over there..." Within 10 minutes the waitress had taken our food order and the drinks waitress our order for drinks - although she didn't know what a Sptritzer was and said that she could bring the ingredients and a glass for us to make it at the table ... Our starters arrived, the dumplings were good, the Prawn Toasts were greasy and the Tianjin Mini Bao was a lump of tasteless heavy dough with some dry pork in the middle - not a great start but we chalked that to a poor choice of dish. At about 8.10 the waitress asked if we were ready for our mains. Yes please we replied so our empty starter plates were taken away. Fast forward to 8.55 and still no mains. Conscious of our 9.30 booking elsewhere I approached the counter to ask how long they might be "I'll look into it for you" she replied As I got back to my table the dishes started to arrive. A remarkable coincidence was my first thought but it became very apparent the dishes had been hanging around under heat lamps and forgotten about. The ribs (especially) were dried out and all the dishes were well past their best. While the (chef I assume) added a splash of sesame oil to the vegetable dishes to enliven them again, this just made them greasy and unappetizing. The meal was tasteless and very poor. As mentioned above, we were booked elsewhere for 9.30 so there was no time to take issue with the quality of what we were served - but then, at no time throughout the evening did any of the waiting staff ask if everything was alright. I accept mistakes happen and things can go wrong, front of house staff can sometimes be under trained but what made it bad was the fact that the kitchen sent out food knowing it anything but the standard it should have been. The one thing they did get right was the bill and £136 for 4 appetizers, 4 mains with vegetable sides and a drink each, was way over what their food and...

We went for dinner and it was well overpriced. It cost us £59.07 just for two starters, one main, egg friend rice and one drink. The spring rolls were okay, standard what you would expect, however the salt and pepper squid was bland, there was no salt, no flavour, just awful, the main was supposed to be a prawn curry with potatoes, mushrooms, carrots and onions. I had half a mushroom, NO potatoes, just onions and carrots, I did have prawns but not many. Also the curry tasted like it was from B&M the box instant curry. The egg fried rice barely had egg in it and was such a small portion. The only good thing was the orange lemonade and dip that went with the spring rolls. Very very disappointed.

The lady waiter was blunt and snobby compared to the others who seemed very welcoming, she seemed like one of the owners or manager, her face is on the doors.

I would of complained there and not payed but she made me pay first and it was around 8pm and the baby was tired and crying so I left upset.

NEVER RETURNING! My local Chinese is soooo good, plenty of food, much better quality and last us usually two days for £25.

I think the hype of this place is the way it looks and that's it.

Absolute jokers that's probably why she was all snobby about it as she's ripping people off and laughing behind their backs.

RESPONSE TO THEIR REPLY; We are not always unhappy where we go, and usually pay what we desire thank you and have been to some high end quality restaurants not like that's your concern.

On your menu you have put stickers over prices on there 3 times! And for two starters and a main it is ridiculous really. Look at your other reviews and see that people think its overpriced for what you get. Also I've payed high prices for good quality food and never had an issue. Money isn't the problem here it's the food, if your food was good I wouldn't of complained but it wasn't so that's why I'm complaining.

And she was very blunt, no smiles and turned away watching others. There's no need to mention my "African baby" either is it. Why you say that and not baby is discriminative especially because I'm Welsh. And I did not say her crying was anyone's fault, I said that's why I didn't complain as I didn't have the time basically as a mother.

Service fault wasn't on the guy serving or the other lovely ladies. Just the "owner" as you say then.

The tables outside are rusty and dirty, the cutlery had paint chipping off where they've been painted.

However, the decor I give you 10/10 as the effort is amazing fp. And the goody bag is a cute gesture. Which that's as far as my appreciation goes.

Instead of getting really upset, take it on the chin and taste your food. Simple. Maybe other dishes are great but those weren't simple as that. We all have an...

Being foodies & the fact that I love Chinese food I was excited for my first time visiting thus apparently iconic restaurant, unfortunately it will definitely be the last time. Was hoping so much for all the hype & advertisements of their awards to be true but sadly it was possibly one of the worse Chinese meals we've ever had. Started out brilliantly with happy friendly faultless service but that's where it ended. Ordered the fish balls & Saucing ribs to start & special fried rice, egg fried rice crispy chicken & salt & pepper squid. Our starters arrived along with the rice dishes & when we mentioned this they apologised & took away our rice dishes. The fish balls were tiny & at virtually £10 was in my opinion extortionate but the ribs were really good.15 - 20 minutes later after eating our starters they brought out 3 of our mains all except the special rice which came a minute or 2 after. Turns out that instead of cooking fresh they must have warmed it up in the microwave as the outside food was luke warm but the fried rice in the centre was all stuck together & absolutely scolding hot & I know no other way this could be but for it to be reheated in a microwave. The wife's crispy chicken was really chewy & my special rice & salt & pepper squid was unbelievably bland & as the prawns had been reheated they were like rubber not once were we approached & asked if everything was fine in fact the service from there on showed me a lot about the place. It really seems as though when we first arrived around 7:30 they were getting extremely busy but when we had finished it was pretty quiet & took virtually 20 minutes for someone to come & clear our plates, my wife commented earlier about how good & very quick the service had been to take our food & drink orders but then when we were done it was non existent & i commented that it was basically get them in & get their orders & that was it. I had eaten probably two thirds of my main meal as I was starving when we arrived & left feeling very underwhelmed & with a £98 bill for the two of us totally ripped off for the poor quality of food that we had. If we had a nice meal I would as I always do leave a good truthfull & honest positive review but disappointingly i have to leave a truthfull & honest poor review much to the point that if I could have given 0 stars I possibly would have. I look forward to the response from the restaurant & ask if they can honestly say that my special rice dish was not reheated in a microwave & explain how it could have been luke warm around the outside of the plate but scolding hot on the inside if it was made again fresh. As an ex chef & competent cook & my son is also a chef we already know the truthfull answer. The bag & gift at the end i will admit was a nice...