The Good Earth — Restaurant in London

I went to this restaurant last week for lunch with my wife and 15month old son. We arrived around 1pm and one of the waitresses took our order and the food came about half hour later because of a steam fish we ordered. It was all good at the beginning. We then had to change our son in the toilets but when we came out we were told the kitchen was closing at 230pm and it was last orders. I asked for the toffee banana and asked what ice creams I could order with it. The waitress said any ice cream I want for example chocolate or vanilla but I wouldn't know what's on the menu. She did pass me the menu in the end but felt she was rushing to clock out from work. The dessert came and while we were about to start she threw a plate of mint chocolates onto the glass turntable and at that point I asked if she had a problem. She said it's a small issue and I should forget about it as she has apologised as well. I called on the manager who was kind enough to take the dessert off the bill. Overall food was good, service a little lacking but I have been to this restaurant before and it is the first time I had a bad experience with service. I would like to thank the manager for acting professionally and diffusing the...

We have been here before, both seated and taken away. 44 years of experience in the restaurant business doesn't show any more. When we picked up the takeaway the staff were, as usual, very friendly. When we got home, just round the corner, we found nearly cold food. The rice - fried with mixed vegetables - had been around too long and was beginning to agglutinate and become stuffy. Starters : sesame prawn on toast had been re-heated because it had a chewy texture ; tempura trio consisted of prawn, asparagus and sweet potato (maybe? who could tell?), all of which had been dipped a long time ago using a poor wheat flour mix which rendered them way too soft and even battery, the last thing you want out of the light tempura method. Not crisp, Good Earth - how difficult is that? The main - chicken with cashew nuts - was so appalling we left most of it. Chicken with signs of re-heating, way too hard on the outside, too little sauce, a couple of nuts and, wait for it, some horrible lotus root slices which were tasteless, soggy and nearly falling apart. Lotus, as you must know, has to be crisp, that's the attraction. A very poor show. What has...

Please AVOID. One of the most overrated restaurants in the local area. Overly expensive and bland food, with menu items like egg fried rice and noodles being ridiculously priced especially.

Service is poor and you are barely registered beyond the fact that they know you need to leave the table at a certain time in order to get another cover on.

I have visited a few times before and this restaurant has gone downhill massively in the last two years. I didn't mind paying the expensive price for a meal before as the food was generally of good quality, albeit a treat, but it is now truly living on its past glories and people in the area with more money than sense still attend it seems, which is perhaps why it is carrying on.

You will honestly get far more flavour and more authentic cooking from a good Chinese takeaway down the road and for a fifth of the price. Please avoid this place for your bank balance and...