Yin Court — Restaurant in London

So, I had left a 5 star review back in 2021.. I have been a customer to Yin Court for approx 7 years.

I've had work do's here; I came with family, introduced new friends, and probably single handedly introduced this restaurant to about 25+ people. Well, that will be no longer. I have explained this to all those I have once recommended this to, and now the principal will stay amongst them all.

I went on a wednesday evening approx 6.30pm there was 1 other couple in there at the time. This restaurant is not a busy restaurant and often I have gone to Yin Court to find we are the only customers in there for hours! The younger lady (not the regular owner) served us, we had a little one with us (4 years old) who took (no exaggeration) 3 chips and 2 prawn crackers from my plate.. the lady who served us saw this directly looking at us when he took it from my plate..

They have a "dont waste food policy" which I think is fantastic.. therefore if i had left 2 prawn crackers on the side & they took it away it would of been thrown, however the little one decided to eat 1.. no big deal. It came to paying the bill as to which she charged us 2 adult buffet and 1 kids buffet; I questioned it and said, he only took a few chips and crackers, does he really need to pay? I'll pay for his drink (obviously) and she said "he had food on plate he pay" I politely requested if she can re consider as the money isn't a problem, but the principle is.. £12.00 for a few chips and crackers.. she did not budge.. the couple opposite laughed and agreed it was ridiculous.. I paid because it was late and I could not be bothered to argue over £12.00..

However... I attended Tuesday just gone (6pm) so another non peak period for them, the regular was there this time.. me and the Mrs decided we wanted Chinese and we also (obviously) had the little one.. he won't just sit there and watch us eat.. so I mentioned PRIOR to eating, is it okay if he nicks a few chips and crackers to keep him quiet, she replied with "no; if he eats he has to pay" I looked at her and said seriously? I've been coming here approx 1/2 times a month for the past 5-6 years and he cant have a few chips? He has already has his dinner its just to keep him quiet.. she said no.. she put the crackers on the table, I then decided to not go and walk out.. as I got up the little one touched the cracker and was saying he wanted one.. she said "it's okay he can have one" I replied with no.. you can't have one..

Yin Court, had lost a £35+ sale that day; and now after that fiasco, lost a regular customer of 7 years.

I still had a appetite and decided to go to Cosmos at romford, as to which I did not even mention about the little one, we ate, (see photo provided of what the little one ate) when it came to paying, without me even asking to waiver his she came out with "just 2 buffets 3 drinks, I saw what he had and I'm not charging for that"

Now, this is what he actually chose to eat as a plate meal whereas Yin Court would have been a pick me bits off our plates..

Now ask yourself, would you be happy to pay £12.00 twice for what the photo shows?

I think not.

Best of luck in future.. but from us...

I went here yesterday with my family there was 13 adults all paying for not only the buffet fee also the drinks, the service was appauling it's meant to be a menu you can order what you want however we get told we all have to have a mixed starter as it's easier for their chef to do! We also had two little children under the age of 3 who ate hardly nothing all they ate was a chicken ball and a bit of chicken of there mums plate! When receiving the bill they had charged £8 each for the children to which I called previous to booking and said I would only book if we don't pay for the children as they don't eat hardly nothing. We did not order anymore than we would of with them being there and they earnt 13 x £14.50 + loads of drinks and had the audacity to charge for the children! So we called to speak to the manager who was completely rude came over shouting I've never received service like it in our face slamming plates in front of the little children and telling us the children had eaten to which we had already told her they ate what I stated previously, she was completely rude and has no customer service skills at all she then when we asked for the person who owns the business storm off and ignore us, then returns and has the cheek to speak to other customers on another table about what has happened right infront of us not only is that rude she is ruining and involving other customers into something she should of dealt with professionally. We will not be returning here ever again and if anybody wants a nice family friendly restaurant to go this isn't the place, she completely ruined my birthday and even when family hiding the cake she then came to the table and asked myself who's birthday it is are we ready for the cake, then plonks it on the table previous to the argument we had at the end without even lighting the candles! I've been here many times and the way we was all treated...

As pointed out in several other reviews, the manger and staff in Yin Court are very rude and extremely unreasonable.

For example, I went as the sole vegetarian in a party of four (none of whom will ever be returning!). Having looked at the offerings on the 'all you can eat' menu, I decided that I would rather just go a la carte, as I couldn't justify paying the all you can eat charge for the limited vegetarian options included. The request for an an a la carte menu was met with a rather rude iteration of the policy, that a table can only be all you can eat or a la carte. The rather offensive implication of this policy is that I would be asking the others on the table to give me food they were getting as part of the deal! Despite my attempt to explain my reason for wanting to order specific items for my self and that the other 3 would all be going for the deal, there was a complete refusal by the staff to be reasonable, or even civil! Even if they had refused politely, I probably wouldn't have got so upset, but these people just appear to be void of manners and I can't understand how they have managed to survive so long. I would have thought that the locals in an area like Upminster would expect higher standards and not put up with such obnoxious manners just because they are getting a (not so very good in my opinion) deal!

Suffice to say we left without ordering, after still being charged £1.50 for a small bowl of prawn crackers that were already on the table! They must be flushed with customers as there was no attempt to placate or keep us, So all I can say is, if you like your Chinese food with a free side of attitude in an ageing restaurant being run by rude and unpleasant jobsworths, then go ahead and spend an evening in...