China Tang at The Dorchester — Restaurant in London

I really cannot believe the WAY WE WERE TREATED by the man who was our waiter, his name was TONY. ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING.

It was the afternoon of Saturday 14th October around 2.30pm when myself and 4 other friends went to have late lunch as it was one of my best friends' birthdays. I booked the table the night before and this was supposed to be a first time lovely experience at The Dorchester for us to remember - how WRONG I was.

We requested the halal menu, on initially looking at it we asked our waiter TONY to clarify what some of the items actually were and what their portion sizes were, to which he instantly had some sort of reluctant and annoyed attitude towards us; as if he couldn't be bothered to do his job and that we were a nuisance. We brushed it off and placed our order with him anyway. The food was OKAY - nothing mind blowing or anything to rave about, just very mediocre. Although the prawn dim sum and chicken satay skewers we got as starters were half decent I have to admit.

TONY the waiter, did not offer us any drinks, ask us if we needed anything at all nor did he make the least bit of effort to smile even once. Trying to get his attention to order more of the starters was SO difficult as it seemed he was trying to avoid us at all costs. He was constantly reaching and stretching over my friends heads to place things down on the table which was actually quite dangerous and just plain RUDE - I am pretty sure that if it was up to him he would have just thrown our food to us.

What really put the icing on the cake was that when it came to paying the bill of £180 (that's only 5 mains, 2 small rice portions, 4 very small starters and 2 bottles of water) and we OBVIOUSLY did not want to pay the 12.5% discretionary service charge which TONY DID NOT DESERVE after that disgusting service; he did get quite upset which was once again evident in his rude attitude where he shouted something in his own language to one of his colleagues and started snatching our debit cards from our hands when we decided to split the bill between us. I did complain to the restaurant manager at the end of our meal who did apologise to us and commented that usually customers leave with a positive experience, if he actually did anything or have any words with TONY, I highly doubt.

I cannot believe we were subjected to such customer service, I have never been treated in this manner by any restaurant staff in my life. I am absolutely APPALLED that an institution such as China Tang at The Dorchester would hire such RUDE, ILL-MANNERED AND INCOMPETENT staff. So please China Tang, get your act together and actually train your staff at being decent human beings. I would NOT RECOMMEND this restaurant to anyone after what happened to us, it's as if we weren't paying customers but third class citizens. I am sure anyone looking to eat Chinese cuisine can find a cheaper restaurant with better quality food in and around central London. I hardly ever give negative reviews about places I've eaten at but I really feel this time I just have to. Because of TONY I would give China Tang ZERO stars but that is not an option ...

We visited for my friends birthday yesterday and it was such a poor level of service. One lady running about alone whilst two ladies were on the door doing very little. We called ahead and asked if we could please have two tables together and they abruptly said no we are busy. They could only accommodate us in the bar. We then arrived and it was half empty and a guy came in and demanded a large table for his family to have cocktails before dinner. Which was immediately accommodated for which happened in front of us. Our family on this special occasion was scattered between two oddly shaped tables. It wasn’t welcoming and we waited for cutlery, forgotten drinks and the food was ‘ok’ some items were lukewarm. My friend is a regular customer at the hotel but it felt like we were a hassle for them and they couldn’t wait for us to leave.

Not China Tangs fault but on entry to the Dorecester I found the doormen to be selective in their attention. If you pulled up in a Mercedes or Luxurious vehicle they charged over to open the doors. I walked in and got no opening of the door, no one showed me to the restaurant. This for me felt sooooo antiquated, small minded and quite frankly showed how bad the staff aware managed. Don’t judge people on wealth, brand names and cars. Most people are eco conscious or prefer not to have brand names sprayed all over them the management should look into this very narrow minded approach in this day and age to think all people with money need to shout about it.

Most of my friend would catch the tube or walk, so perhaps train the staff to be courteous to all!!

Honestly it was shocking. Plus my friend whose birthday it was has spent so much money at the Dorchester yet we were treated despicably. £700 down the drain..

We were with our 88 year old father and the doormen said we were not allowed to walk through the restaurant and had to take the stairs rather than the lift. No 5 star hotel should behave in such a way. We had a word with the doorman on the way out they were...

Unfortunately I wasn't blown away by this restaurant; maybe I went in with expectations too high but I just came out feeling rather disappointed and with a sizeable hole in my purse. We came here to celebrate my partner passing his big exams to become a Chartered Surveyor so I wanted the occasion to be very special. I came in through the door to a rather rushed and distressed man who was the 'cloak clerk'. No smile, just said go downstairs to the restaurant, then as an afterthought, asked if he wanted me to hang my coat. I did, but he didn't seem happy. Again, no smile. Great start! Went downstairs to the bar where there were a lot of charming, smiling waiting staff greeting me and pointed me to the bar. They all knew who I was meeting and escorted me over to my partner, sitting there with a beer (which was delicious). The cocktails were amazing (I had the reduced alcohol Champs-Elysees cocktail which I thoroughly recommend) and our waiter was happy and helpful. We were then taken to our table by a very grumpy-faced Maitre d' who actually seemed quite rude and aggressive. We definitely felt like we were an imposition to her having to take us to our table. Again, no smile. Our wine server came over and he was lovely, friendly, approachable so cheered us up. Our food waiter started with a smile but then very quickly forgot how to so we didn't manage to crack another one from him the whole evening. Little things like this can really make or break an experience. The food was OK but I wasn't blown away which I would expect to be at an up-market restaurant in The Dorchester. To be honest I would grade it as the same level as the food we could get from some of the better high-street Chinese restaurants. The ambiance was lovely, the decor fantastic. And when you are there you MUST visit the loos as they are just fabulous and have a man reading you poetry from a speaker above your head. Not sure I would come back here...