Imperial China — Restaurant in London

I write this google review with mixed thoughts. My Husband and I had experienced the most fabulous day joining in with the VE celebrations. On making our way back to Kings Cross we decided to soak the atmosphere in China Town with a light lunch and visited Imperial China. Whilst we cannot speak highly enough of the food - the service we received was unbelievably shocking. Never in my 58 years have I ever received such appalling service in a Restaurant being greeted with so much arrogance and attitude.

1. The Waitress came to take our order in such a rush and said what do you want? We Placed our order and she said is that all? Clearly annoyed we were only ordering x3 dishes between the two of us. 2)what drink she asked? I asked for half a lager please. We don’t do that - bottles only quickly named two, and I was so taken aback that I didn’t absorb what she said. (My Husband saw I was strugggling) He said a bottle of Tiger would be nice please. (I am a survivor of a Cardiac Arrest and do not do/need stress) 3)The waitress then proceeded to walk by us and SLAM our chopsticks on the table (so much so this caught the attention of the couple at the side of us)!!! 4)Arriving with our drinks on a tray a fellow colleague was blocking her path so she started shouting at her in a very loud voice. I asked her at this point are you ok? - why are you being so abrupt with us? I said this is horrible. Her response was I am busy and my colleague is not doing as I asked. (I am not angry at you)!!!? At this point I asked her colleague if she would serve us for the remaining time of our meal as I did not wish for our waitress to return to our table. 5)My Husband asked may we have the bill please? 6)She brought the bill to our table with a discretionary service charge. I immediately asked for this to be removed. Yet again she was disgruntled.(unbelievable) How one person thoroughly spoilt my day is beggars belief.

I reiterate at this point this Restaurant serves amazing food. As we were leaving a Gentleman asked if all ok? I did explain what a disappointing experience it had been, and he said he would have a word. I was physically shaking when I walked out of the Restaurant. I NEVER EVER COMPLAIN but could not help myself on this...

We became aware of Imperial China after seeing it mentioned quite a lot in the comments on a You Tube video where two guys who were trying different places out in China Town.

We were down in London on holiday and me and my girlfriend decided to try it out. From the second we went in we really liked the place. We loved the Koi Carp in the pond as we walked in, and it was a nice quiet and relaxing atmosphere. We were approached by a member of staff who took us to our table. We found that the Imperial China did not feel cramped like some places do and there was plenty of room to get in and out from your table.

We ordered prawn crackers and sesame prawn toast for appetisers. The prawn crackers were the best we have ever tasted. The sesame prawn toast again was the best I've tasted, it had plenty of prawns on it which were lovely and plump and juicy, and the sesame top was lovely and crispy and perfectly cooked.

For our main I got curried chicken with steamed rice and my girlfriend got pork chops with honey and lemon and steamed rice. The curry was absolutely delicious. Abundant amounts of chicken, green and red peppers, the rice was perfectly cooked and was not soggy or sticky, and the curry had plenty of heat with it and was lovely and creamy in taste, and I would go as far as saying the nicest I've had anywhere.

My girlfriend informed me that her main was absolutely delicious. The pork was lovely and moist and tender and was perfectly cooked, and the honey and lemon sauce tasted beautiful. The steamed rice was perfectly cooked and was not soggy or sticky.

The staff were the friendliest we have experienced from the various places we have been to in China Town. We didn't wait long for our food to arrive and found the service excellent. Also the place was really clean and it was nice to see linen table cloths rather than the paper ones you see quite a lot.

I have no complaints at all and needless to say that when we are next down in London, we will be heading straight to Imperial China when we go...

Awful experience - will be my last visit. We went in around 7pm on a Saturday night. The restaurant had a few tables full, but was relatively quiet. It was torrential rain outside and as we tried to take our coats off and settle down, 3 different members of staff were around our table, taking chairs, rearranging the cutlery, changing menus and telling us were to sit and moving us around. There was no need for this. The table was "set" when we sat down. There were other chairs at plenty of empty tables. We ordered 3 glasses of wine. The young waiter brought them over 5 minutes later, placed 2 down on the table then proceeded to spill an entire glass of wine across the table, over my mum and partner. He then ran off, leaving us to dry ourselves. Another member of staff came over, presumed we had spilled the wine ourselves and laughed at us. The waiter than came running back with another glass of wine whilst we were still trying to mop up the table. It took me going up to the station and ask that they replace the table cloth and cutlery and provide us with towels that they did anything at all and then apologise, saying that "he was still training". The food is expensive and we knew that before going in, but absolutly not worth the cost. We ordered mix starters for 3 - we got 3 pieces of each on a relatively small plate all for £20. Absolutly not worth the cost. The food was hot, but EXCEPTIONALLY bland. The same with our main Meals, no flavour at all .The rice was lovely, as well as the noodles - we could tell they had been cooked fresh. The chicken and beef dishes were obviously reheated and the sauce was not very tasty. The were more peppers than meat on the plate. The squid was greasy and the batter thick. For a bill of £100, including service charge, the service left a lot to be desired and the food was bland and no better then any take-away in London. There are so many better options in China town, (I would suggest Wan Chai Corner) for service and food. I would not recommend or...