New Eastern Court — Restaurant in Wakefield

Edit - below the line was a few months ago - things have gone really downhill since then... Above the line is my new updated review, going from four stars to one.

Extremely disappointing - won't be returning

Arriving more than two and a half-hours before the advertised closing time, we were very disappointed to find we were not getting the normal service, yet had to pay full price. The grill was being packed away and cleaned up. No more fresh food was being added to the buffet bowls. The music was turned off, the carpets were being flipped and rolled up, the manager was wandering around like a camp warden staring at the remaining diners, as if he were willing them to get up and leave so he could close down for the night. New guests were welcomed half an hour after our arrival (more than two hours before advertised closing), and we confirmed with staff that the advertised hours were correct.

The remaining food, what little was left, was dry, cold and unpleasant. Prawn toast and hash browns were in a covered steam bowl, getting soft and rubbery. The duck was dry, its sauce seemed watered down.

With the strong focus on cleaning up, I couldn't understand why the toilets were filthy, the toilet walls and tiles were scaled and cracking, the wallpaper next to our table was food-splattered, the buffet bowl covers had rusting and leaking hinges, with dirty scale stuck to the surfaces at the back. The staff were too busy wandering around chatting and rolling up rugs to clear used plates from our table, until most of the way through our next courses.

Our hopes were high for New Eastern Court after its refurbishment - the decor was a massive improvement. Unfortunately our hopes have been dashed, and we encountered a horribly uncomfortable environment, little food that was old and stale, and only partial service, in the dirty restaurant. After thirteen years of faithfully visiting this restaurant, and even driving 35 miles plus for the pleasure, this era is at an end and we shall not return.

The atmosphere inside New Eastern Court is great. The staff are smartly dressed and friendly, and the appearance of the whole restaurant is enticing.

The available food is excellent, with a great range and variety. The price for all you can eat buffet is perfectly reasonable. There's a couple of things to watch out for though...

Firstly, beware of the allergy labels - the prawn toast, on standard white bread, did not have gluten ticked for example.

Secondly, we arrived almost three hours before advertised closing time, yet dishes were being withdrawn, the grill was already shut down, and the experience was definitely restricted.

In summary, if you ignore the allergy advice, and arrive VERY early, you won't be able to fault New...

Rude staff, no customer service skills nor manners! The first time I visited a couple years ago, we were ‘greeted’ by rude staff and expected to pay before even being seated, not knowing what drinks they had to offer or the price of them. The food was salty and had no flavour other than salt. We said we wouldn’t be going back there but we thought to give it another go, which I wish we didn’t. It was the same again and we were given a table number and expected to find the table ourselves instead of being seated like at any normal restaurant (unless you’re welcome to pick your own seating); we were told we have 90 mins before we even paid or were seated. When we got to our table we asked a staff member if the Highchair could be cleaned; his response was, ‘the spray and paper towel are over there’ 😳 after asking for a manager, he said he was a manager and continued to say he was busy and walked off. EXTREMELY OUT OF ORDER! When I went up to get myself and daughter some food, a man told us to, ‘move, move, move’, so he could refill the food trays, NOT ONCE BUT TWICE! I had to say to him, ‘that is not how you talk to someone, manners do not cost anything.’ He sarcastically said sorry 🙄 Also whilst getting my food and eating, all I could hear was CLASH, BANG, BANG! Staff just knocking plates about whilst emptying them, not having any consideration at all to the diners. Then to sum up our special occasion out, we were then put under pressure to hurry and leave, as the same ‘management’ guy came and put an extra table at the end of ours saying something like, ‘this is for the next customers, as you have 5 minutes left at your table’.

Absolutely disgraceful. I will definitely not be returning and will be telling everybody about the poor experiences I have had at this so...

Booked a table (6pm) for my fiancée’a birthday for the 2 of us and the little one. We turned up in plenty of time (5:45) and saw there was a massive queue outside. We politely asked people in the queue if they had booked a table and they informed us they were all walk ins.

We walked in and informed a member of staff that we had booked a table and he simply raised his finger to my face and walked past me (yeah you’re busy but really?). He came back and asked us to wait to one side so we did. For 20 minutes!

We began to get impatient as it was now 6:10pm and approached the bar and asked to be seated but was told we had to get to the back of the queue and wait our turn. We explained that they were all walk ins and we had a table but the woman kept saying everyone had to book a table and there were no walk ins.

She called across the next set of customers from the queue and asked “do you have a table!” To which a member of the group of 4 replied “no” and she said “no problem follow me”…. Really??

My daughter at this point was getting hungry and tired, so naturally my partner asked the same member of staff behind the bar if we could now be seated and that the previous group didn’t have a table booked. She insisted that they did have a table, so did everyone, and at this point a male member of staff stood infront of my partner and began raising his voice at us, literally backing us to a wall and telling us to get to the back of the queue. As you can expect, we do not tolerate this sort of behaviour and left immediately. The business which was once known as China city in a former building was somewhere we were regular customers to, travelling 30 miles each way to eat....