Hong Kong City — Restaurant in London

❗️❗️DISABLED UNWELCOME❗️❗️ I have never been so disgusted with the treatment towards me. What you read in this review is not a overreaction.

Walking in there is a ramp but once inside the premises there are steps down to the dining area. I have Muscular Dystrophy and there are certain things I find difficult. Walking downstairs isn’t too hard but walking up them is unmanageable. I was told before attempting to walk down the stairs that a door can be opened on the ground level when I am ready to leave but they were not prepared to do it for me as I entered. Explaining they would have to find the key and move the car that was outside the door.

My partner and I sit down and order appetisers. Food quality for the seaweed, wings and ribs were horrible. We then went on to order main dishes and we ordered a fair amount all at once as the service was slow and we had an hour left until closing. The menu states we can order as much as we like within 2 hours but anything uneaten is liable to charge. We were happy with that and ordered what we wanted anyway. We then was met with huffs, groans, multiple servers talking in a different language about us and was told that we needed to order 3 dishes and wait. Then 3 dishes and wait...etc. We wasn’t told that at all!! Surely if we are aware there is a charge if there is uneaten food and prepared to pay then we should be allowed to order as we please in the 2 hours allocated. There were raised voices and muttering and we felt so uncomfortable. ❗️❗️The female manager was so rude❗️❗️ not just to my partner and I but to her own staff. We wanted to leave so we offered to pay what we had eaten but was then told we would get charged the full price for each item off the main menu! So we stayed to get our moneys worth.

It came to pay the bill and they had the audacity to put a 10% service charge even though the service made me feel like a hindrance, awkward and angry. The server approached the female manager and I presumed he said that we didn’t want to pay the service charge. She then ranted in another language I didn’t understand to her colleagues and pointed towards my partner and I. We paid the bill, my partner helped me out of the seat and we had to ask them to open the locked door. We were stood for at least 5 mins while sellotape was taken from the door to be able to prize the door open. See picture. IT WOULDN’T OPEN!!! I feel sorry for the server that was trying to open the door for me, none of her colleagues helped. No one offered alternative suggestions. So I was stuck. The female manager instructed a male waiter to suggest him lifting me up the stairs with my partners help. Really??? Is he trained to do that?? Are you insured to do that??? Have you taken into consideration his safety too?? The manager was a horrible woman!!! I had no option but to be lifted up the stairs by my partner, in pain, crying my eyes out. All dignity lost. The people in the restaurant staring. The servers and managers doing nothing. Absolutely nothing. They didn’t care. They could have all helped to open this door but because the manager didn’t want it open then it wasn’t happening. I had customers moaning and raising their voice at the Manager and staff “just open the door!” “Can’t you see she’s unwell” “this is awful”. I would recommend anyone to steer clear of this place not just for service but the food quality too. First and last time I...

--Edited 2 Jan--

What was once easily a 4/5 (-1 point for mediocre service) has now dropped to 1/5. Had an absolutely infuriating experience yesterday - which combined with another poor experience 2 months ago, has effectively lost them our custom.

First off - we never expect good service at dimsum places - it's not something you should go into good authentic dimsum places for. Nobody should expect friendly service - just very efficient service with excellent piping hot food.

We have quite a few complaints based on our recent experiences:

1. Huge waiting times in the queue / getting seated, despite there being numerous empty (and dirty) tables. Staff are not efficient enough to manage turnaround - lack of staff in general. Even operating at 50% capacity, there is a shocking lack of operational efficiency in this place. No system either (first come first serve?) - people just hung around and if you didn't shout loud enough you don't get a seat.

2. Long wait times for food. There is an acceptable period of wait for a busy dimsum restaurant. 10 minutes is acceptable. We waited about 25mins for the first dishes which came out cold and we sent one back.

3. 3 of our 8 dishes didn't show up even 15 minutes after we were done eating all the rest of the food. When we inquired around this, we were told there was no way of checking status, and we should either just wait it out or cancel. The waitress told us she had no time to go to the kitchen to check / chase. The rudeness of this response to food that hasn't been served over an hour after being ordered is unacceptable.

4. Microwaved food. If your fresh food comes out cold, and you tell them it's cold, it'll come back to your table 2 mins later after a trip to the microwave.

5. Absolute lack of respect for the customer. Between the waitress who served us and told us to basically shut up and wait for the one hour delayed food, to the person who shouted at us for not checking the bill correctly - the error was because we had to cancel 3 dishes as we got tired of waiting (1 hour is too long!) and they forgot to remove one of the dishes from the bill which we spotted just before paying. They've admitted in our last two visits that they don't have enough staff - yet have taken no corrective measures in months.

6. Other people having very similar experiences - could hear quite a few people complaining too - slow service, rude waiters, people would be running around with credit cards to have their payment taken cause they were left neglected at their tables when it came time to pay.

7. Cutlery was dirty and chipped. Table had not been cleaned properly.

8. No system around who gets food first. We had a table of 10 who sat down 10 minutes after us, ordered after us, who got the dishes served to them - the same dishes we waited an hour for and ultimately cancelled.

I truly hope that HKC can pick up their horrendous service - I'd be happy to visit and rank as 4/5 if the dining experience was efficient, complete - I don't care about rude service. But when I leave the restaurant having cancelled 3 dishes, had the few dishes come out cold, and be verbally insulted by staff and the manager, and in a horrible mood - that's past the limit.

Won't be...

I would like to take a moment to share my recent experience at HK City Cross during a family lunch, which unfortunately did not meet our expectations.

We booked a table for a large group and arrived on time, but we were informed that no table was available, resulting in a wait of approximately 30 minutes or more before being seated. This was the beginning of several issues during our visit.

After being seated, we placed an order for various dim sum items. However, many of the orders were not processed correctly, leading to delays and confusion. Some items we wished to order were unavailable, but we were not informed, so we continued to wait for dishes that never arrived. In terms of food quality, several dishes were lukewarm, and some, like the scallop cheung fun, were unfortunately inedible.

Additionally, there were multiple errors with our drink orders, which had to be corrected at least five times before they were finally served. When we received our dim sum receipt, it included several items that we did not order, adding to our confusion.

It appeared that the restaurant is undergoing some form of refurbishment, and it seems that opening before completion has created significant operational challenges. The staff appeared overwhelmed, running about without a clear structure in the service process, which contributed to an overall chaotic atmosphere.

We were frequently asked about the status of our orders, and there was an unusual insistence on returning a ballpoint pen that we had already given back after placing our order. Additionally, we encountered mismatched chopsticks, and other diners expressed similar frustrations regarding ordering without menus and receiving food before cutlery.

Overall, the experience was quite stressful and left little room for conversation among our group due to the surrounding chaos. To add to our concerns, the bill reflected nearly £100 in charges for items that were not part of our order.

In total, we spent approximately 3.5 hours at the restaurant for what should have been a 1.5 to 2-hour visit, primarily due to the long wait times and difficulties in ordering.

Regrettably, I must advise others to reconsider dining at your establishment at this time. For the sake of improvement, I encourage the management to complete the refurbishment and ensure that operations are running smoothly before...