Tai Tung — Restaurant in London

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE/ EXPENSIVE MEALS/ WILL FORCE YOU TO PAY SERVICE CHARGE UNLAWFULLY.

This happened on 03/12/2022 at lunch, edited because it was shadowbanned.

On arrival, the server just showed us the table from the entrance which is very unusual. In all restaurants we went to, they walked us to the table. Then he brought out some menus but did not hand them to us and throw them on the table.

10 minutes goes by and no one came to take our order. We had to call a server coming by to get started.

Some food was okay and others were not cooked right. We ordered 2 starters- Smoked chicken and deep-fried wings. 4 main courses- 1/2 roasted duck, whole seabass, beef stir fry with mushroom & bamboo, deep-fried oyster, and 2 potions of special fried rice without pork. There was a huge wait to get the starters and an even bigger wait for the main courses. The oyster was just disgusting and the roasted duck was cold and soggy. I have roasted duck all the time and it's supposed to be crispy, not soggy and cold.

The bill was £120.10 and they added a £12 service charge. Total £132.10.

We told the waitress that we are refusing to pay for that because the service was awful. She was arguing we have to pay for it as it is mandatory. She started to raise her voice and say it is her salary so we have to pay. If we don't like it we should have order takeaway. She kept getting louder and disrespectful, She wanted to cause a scene and everyone was looking at us so we gave in and paid. No respect at all.

I don't know their pay structure, but it is not supposed to depend on the service charge. We are not in the USA after all!

According to UK law, Compulsory service charges need to be made aware to customers either by telling the customer before the meal or should be on the menu or entrance... but this restaurant is not doing either. If the service is bad, the customer is also unentitled to refuse to pay compulsory service charges.

I called the Restaurant the next day and spoke to the Manager. He was very rude and did not care about the law. He said it is the staff salary so he cannot do anything and hung...

UPDATE AS OF JAN 2023:

Ordered Oysters with pork in a hot pot for takeaway but just received pork belly in some sort of sauce with zero oysters in sight and it certainly was not a hot pot dish either. I was very disappointed by this as it cost £15!

Their prices are very high. Granted the food quality is better than your average Chinese take away however they keep putting the prices up so eventually I may have to stop ordering from them altogether. I regret forgetting to ask for thier new menu which regular gets typed up and simply printed out on some paper rather than a proper menu so now I have to trust they guy taking my order over the phone didn't just try to con me. I doubt he did but still peace of mind and all that.

I first went here many many years ago as a child with my family and recall it having better quality food than it does when i visited for takeaway unfortunately.

Easy access but will require a small amount of walking. First shop to your right in the run down chinese shopping centre.

The decor seems to have changed although i like it as it has a cosy feel to it it is also worse than i remember and red whereas before was a whiter palate.

There is strict covid measures and the waitreses enforce it.

Overall i liked the food although was nithign special.

The menu does offer special dishes where you may not be able to find elsewhere like abalone, lobster, crab, crab claw, suckling pig and many more dishes although the pig was unavailable when i tried to order it which was dissapointing.

Interesting selection of different dishes although unfortunately some never seem to be available.

One of the spicy dipping sauce i received was delicous, salty and tasty and i would love to know what was in it since i havn;t really tasted anythign quite like it from other chinese restaurants which i enjoyed.

Also, they stop serving dim sum after 4:30pm which i don't understand why as i and many would like to be able to order this later in the...

I have been attending same restaurant for years with my family. Today though, on the 18th of FEBRUARY 2023 myself and my father called to the restaurant to book a table for 17:00hrs. I was blatantly stopped by the receptionist who told me: “we don’t take bookings till 6pm. You need to come in and we will sit you on first come first basis.”

I came with two members of my family and asked for table for 8(eight) people. I was told no by two different waiters at the door. At approximately 17:15hrs I was further refused to be served by a waiter whilst I was sitting at the empty table ready to make the same order for the family. I have been refused service after I have challenged him (waiter) on his wording and for his unprofessional behaviour, where he raised his voice at me and for refusing to provide me and my family with the table whilst I was waiting for the rest of the family to arrive.

When I requested to speak to the manger he (waiter) told me that he is a manager but he refused to provide any proof of being a manager. I asked to speak to the owner and the waiter refused to ask or call the owner to come and discuss this matter. I asked for a complaint book and I was further refused to be given a book. Apparently there is no complaint books in the restaurant. I was told to wait outside for the owner to come to work. When I asked how long for I was ignored.

I came back at 18:15 and spoken to Mr David who allegedly is the deputy in the restaurant, nice man. Pleasure to speak to Mr David.

It appears that the waiters made up their own rules and they treat the place as their own. Customers are being treated based on the waiters mood.

I was told by Mr David that there should be no problem in order to book the table at 17:00hrs or to be seated especially when the restaurant is empty.

Seems like the management team needs to take disciplinary actions with...