Chikayan — Restaurant in Hertsmere

Lived in Bushey for over 20 years and been here a few times in the past and regularly order take aways. Last night my family and I were subjected to a not so elaborate con. Booked on the phone a table for 7, for 4 adults, 2 children and a 2 year old infant. Was told on the phone we only had the table till 8pm which was fine. We arrived promptly at 6pm and asked for the menu to order off the menu, as we were before the time their buffet started. With 3 children and we are not big eaters at all we never bother with buffets. The waitress had already laid menus on the table and while we were waiting 5 mins for my one person, she came over twice asking to order quickly. We ordered starters & mains and she insisted that she needs to bring mains at the same time as we only have till 8pm, this was at 6.15pm. We asked politely to bring the starters first and mains later which she begrudgingly agreed to. During the starters she came over twice again saying she need to bring out the mains. saying "one wok, one chef", whatever that means I have no idea. I then had to tell her to please leave us alone as it really is ruining our meal, we all have watches and assure you will be finished well before 8pm. She came over again once more at which point I did have to bluntly say to please leave us alone. After starters she only brought out 2 small dishes of mains and we had ordered 4 mains, she said that these are two portion sizes in one. After much discussion she said this is the buffet portions, at which point she told us you ordered off the buffet menu! We obliviously said we did not ask for the buffet very politely. Her reply was that she asked us by saying to us "4 adults, 3 children, ok?". So that phrase said to us under her breath, while we were all busy taking our seats and taking off our jackets was meant to be the point at which we agreed to the buffet menu!! That really is the worst attempt at a con I have seen in many years! After a brief argument I decided to not cause a scene as the kids were getting a little agitated and I am not the type to kick up a fuss, though in hindsight I really should have. After the meal which we finished by 7.30pm, she brought out the desert menu which we declined and asked for the bill. The bill for one 2 year old, two kids under 10 years old and 4 adults came to £151 plus service. lol I once again politely said to the lady that we did not ask for the buffet, were before the buffet time & only ordered 4 main dishes & a duck starter with soup and that £151 is unreasonable. She said no you were late and not in time which was off course rubbish. She then said again I asked you for buffet and you said yes, which again is rubbish. After arguing for a few minutes I asked to speak to the manger, she said there is no manager here. So without wasting more of my mine and my family's time and causing more stress I just paid the money and walked out. It beggars belief that there are restaurants out there in this day and age that think it is reasonable to do this to paying customers. For the sake of an additional approx £50 short term gain they really do not how to run an honest, growing business for their own future long...

Very rude staff. We picked our son up from a children’s party and as it was lunch decided to stop at the hatch end branch. We ordered the buffet menu and a young waitress said that she would be charging the child’s buffet price for my son. I quickly explained that he had eaten and would not be needing any food as he had just been picked up from a birthday party. The waitress become quite furious with us and very rudely said; ‘we’ll he better not eat anything you understand!!! He can’t eat at all!” I got quite annoyed with her and said that I understood the meaning of not eating and that I had no intention of ‘secretly’ feeding him (which was obviously the insinuation). She grabbed all cutlery and plates that were in front of my son and marched off. Nevertheless we carried on and I ordered a separate drink for my son and offered him the prawn crackers to snack on (which were on the table).

I should have followed my better judgment and left, but given the blustery and rainy weather outside we decided to just get through it. Throughout the meal we were made to feel awfully uncomfortable with people constantly hovering to see if my son Was eating or not. Food was laid out away from him in quite a ridiculous fashion towards the other half of the table, causing farcical congestion unnecessarily. The manager came over and very rudely and took the food order. He then kept returning throughout our meal to hover by the window next to our table, to check to see if my son was eating or not. It was quite amusing to watch this go on as my son was interested in nothing more than the game he was playing on his lap and hardly looked at the spread of food on the table at all.

The staff here really do need to grow up and learn how to talk to people politely. If you have kids and value your dignity then please do avoid! Many other polite and family friendly restaurants in hatch end to...

Update Feb 2024 People are still eating this slop? The fact this place is still in business is amazing. Visit at your own risk!

Just avoid this place. After having visited here 7 or 8 times over a couple of years and seeing standards slip just a little bit more on each subsequent visit, I won't be going back.

Confusion (deliberate or otherwise) over which menu we were ordering from and a dogged insistence on winning an argument and losing a customer has meant I will never go back. The food, quite frankly, is at very best average, more often now bland and uninspiring. To get financially rinsed for the privilege (£3.50 for half a pot of green tea - usually a standard complementary item at any Chinese restaurant- tagged on to a £65+ lunch bill anyone?) was the last straw.

This place used to be ok. All I can say is there are MUCH better places locally for a decent Chinese meal.

This is just...