Cha Ting 茶亭 — Restaurant in Sheffield

I am writing to express my extreme dissatisfaction with the service and overall experience at this restaurant on Sunday, August 24th. My partner and I, along with his elderly parents, chose this establishment with the hope of enjoying a pleasant birthday meal. Unfortunately, our experience was far from satisfactory and left us deeply disappointed.

To start with, the starters came out in drips and drabs rather than all together, one of the starters (a bowl of tofu not something you can eat on its own) came 15 minutes after finishing the rest, this was after all the plates and cutlery had already been cleared as we were waiting on the mains.

The most egregious issue was the unacceptable wait time for our main courses.

After waiting for the mains for over half an hour, (no offer of any drinks.) They bought out the chips and a bowl of curry sauce, we sat waiting for 10 minutes for the rest to come out however nothing materialised. We spoke to the waiter who checked the ticket and we were told it would come soon they were busy (the restaurant was only half full). Another 10 minutes I went to the front desk to ask they said they were sorry she would put our ticket to the front of the queue. (People who came in after us were being served their mains) I asked that we got fresh chips and sauce when the rest arrived as by this point they were stone cold, i just got a puzzled look like we should have eaten them and had to explain we were waiting to enjoy them with the rest of our food didn't just want to sit and eat chips. This delay was particularly taxing for my partner's elderly parents, who found the extended wait increasingly uncomfortable.

But the final straw? After enduring the endless wait and overpriced disappointment, we decided to cut our losses and walk out. We agreed to pay for what we had had but guess what? They charged us for food we hadn't even received! We found this out after paying and having to ask for the receipt and seeing what we were charged for. As if that wasn't enough, they then attempted to guilt-trip us by offering to pay us back out of the tip jar. Seriously? It was the most unprofessional and appalling display I've ever witnessed in a restaurant. To add insult to injury, the lady at the front desk began shouting at the waiters in front of me in a language I didn't understand. This behavior was not only highly unprofessional but also deeply unsettling, creating an atmosphere of extreme discomfort.

Needless to say, we will never be returning to this establishment, and I would strongly advise anyone else to stay clear. Save your money and your sanity.

The food is on the expensive side, what we ate was lovely but thats the only good thing I have to say. Vegetarians also be aware they don't offer a vegetarian curry option. We found the dishes to be excessively expensive, especially considering the long wait time and incompetent service.

Our experience at this restaurant was deeply disappointing. The combination of abysmal service and high prices has ensured that we will not be returning, nor do we recommend this establishment to others.

I hope this feedback will be taken seriously and implement changes to improve the dining experience for...

We booked a table at Cha Ting at 6:30pm for four of us, including my parents who are both in their eighties. Drinks arrived quickly, but that’s the only part of the evening that went smoothly.From there, it was chaos:

Starters took ages and came out in a random order. One arrived after our plates and cutlery had already been cleared away. We waited an hour and a half for mains, only for two items (chips and curry sauce – hardly a “main course”) to be dumped on the table, where they sat going cold while the rest never showed.

Staff were disorganised and completely out of their depth, despite the restaurant not being full. Instead of helping, the head server laughed and joked with a colleague while customers were left waiting. Infuriated me to be honest.

Over the course of two hours, nobody asked if we wanted more drinks. Nobody apologised until we pushed to leave. When I told the head server we wanted to pay only for what we’d actually had, she still tried to charge us for missing dishes, Only after my partner questioned the bill did she adjust it, this struck me as misleading. Only when pressed again did she give us money back – out of a tip jar, no less. Very unprofessional and sneaky. Adding fuel to the fire, once we said we wanted to leave she said she was going to tell the kitchen to put our order to the front, I don’t know how it wasn’t already as we’d been there so long. Why take more online orders if you can’t cope with a half full restaurant.

To make matters worse, we noticed other tables – particularly those arriving after us – being served before us. My elderly parents were left hungry and uncomfortable while we sat waiting. In my culture, elders are shown respect. Here, they were treated as an afterthought. One takeaway item we had asked to box up was instead whisked away to the back —raising suspicions—so we discarded it late.

To add to the frustration, we noticed other tables—especially with majority non-English patrons arriving later—getting served faster and more attentively. The food itself tastes fine when you eventually get it, but the service was beyond poor. Disorganised, dismissive, and frankly insulting. This was meant to be a birthday meal, and it ended with us walking out and throwing away the the food we paid for as they took it out of sight to box it up. It

I would never set foot in this place again. If I were dying of thirst, I wouldn’t come here for tap water. Expensive food, abysmal service, and no respect for paying customers. Greed and incompetence in equal measure. I had been in here before and the who I thought was the owner was a really polite, friendly guy. It’s shame this has happened.

We ended up going to Noodle Doodle to finish off the night and actually get food. Friendly staff, great food, half the price. Blessing in...

We had an extremely disappointing experience at this restaurant on Valentine’s Day. The main chef was absent for more than a week already and as a result, many regular items were unavailable. The kitchen was barely functioning, yet they still imposed a £25 per person minimum spend—which we were fine with at first.

However, when we tried to order, we were constantly told that certain dishes on the updated menu were “sold out” or simply not allowed to be ordered. The only way to meet the minimum charge was to order two rice dishes per person, which was completely unreasonable. When we asked the owner about this, he simply responded: "No choice, just order the set."

With no real option, we reluctantly chose the £70 set menu, only to realize that some of the supposedly “sold-out” dishes magically reappeared in this set. Clearly, the restaurant was deliberately restricting orders, forcing customers to spend more. What kind of dishonest business practice is this?

What did we actually get for £70?

Four deep-fried dishes—because, apparently, without the main chef, frying was all their kitchen could manage.

One small portion of rice to share—yes, one rice for a £70 meal!

A completely inauthentic Cantonese dining experience.

The most infuriating part? We were actually long-time recurring customers, yet the owner treated us like strangers the moment money was involved. It’s ridiculous to realize how little they value loyalty.

Instead of simply allowing us to order what we wanted, they forced us into an overpriced set menu. And after waiting 1.5 hours (until 9:30 PM!) for a simple rice dish, we expressed our frustration—only to receive zero apologies.

At checkout, the owner refused to acknowledge any responsibility for: ❌ The excessive wait time ❌ The dishonest ordering restrictions ❌ His dismissive and disrespectful attitude

In the end, we still paid him £100 — not because the meal was worth it, but as a reflection of our absolute disappointment in his moral bankruptcy.

It felt as if we were paying for the lesson that no amount of loyalty matters when greed takes over. We left not just dissatisfied, but utterly disrespected.

And let’s not forget—as a Cantonese restaurant, serving only fried food is disgraceful. It’s a complete disrespect to the cuisine and its cultural significance.

We will NEVER return. Avoid this place...