Fatima's Halal — Restaurant in New York

I will say this because I am in the restaurant business myself: people will ALWAYS come back if the food is GREAT. Not okay. Not good. But GREAT. With that in mind, I will say that the food is OKAY at best. I have been here twice already and ordered TO GO both times. When I got home and tried out the dish there was ZERO TASTE. The shrimp in the dish was VERY TASTY but the rest of the dish had no flavor at all. Nothing. I guess I could have added my own salt at home. On the plus side the dish had a lot of FRESH VEGETABLES which is a GREAT THING. The portions are HUGE, so it’s clear that they want to make the guest happy. The other issue is that the first time I was there I asked for the dish to be make extra spicy but it was NOT spicy at all and had ZERO FLAVOR. Instead the chef threw in a lot of dried red Chinese peppers, which somehow did NOT make the dish spicy. So I realized what the chef did. He made the dish not caring if it was spicy or not and THEN threw in the dried red Chinese peppers at the last minute. No problem. The SECOND TIME I asked for the same dish and again asked for it to be made extra spicy. And AGAIN the same dish had NO FLAVOR, ZERO TASTE. But this time the chef didn’t put any dried red Chinese peppers at all!!! He just completely forgot. He FORGOT OR DID NOT care to make it spicy AND also did not put any dried red Chinese peppers in the dish. When I looked at the ticket stapled to the paper bag it CLEARLY said at the bottom to make the dish spicy. So the problem at this restaurant is the chef, judging from all the bad reviews I have read. The girls at the counter who take the order are SUPER FRIENDLY and the food comes out VERY FAST. Fatima Halal needs to do something about the interior decor of the restaurant. YES, it IS a VERY CLEAN restaurant, and even though the place is small they do have a few good tables to sit at. The inside of the place looks so so. They have a good reputation from before. But reputation alone is not good enough to keep a business successful. The MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR is the food. I honestly think that salt seems to be missing from their dishes. To the restaurant’s credit they DID give me a small HOT CHILI OIL to go, and when I got home I realized that THIS was the missing flavor in my dish. They should prepare some of their hot and spicy dishes WITH CHILI OIL WHEN THEY ARE MAKING THE DISH and not have to give it on the side!!!! I really hope that the owner reads the reviews because the complaints about NO FLAVOR AND NO TASTE really is true. The place has a big heater and it’s warm and cosy inside during the winter. I honestly don’t care about the prices and that it’s only cash. That’s fine. They DO give plenty of food and the food comes out very fast. Also the vegetables are fresh and the dishes have plenty of them. I think the bigger problem here is the chef. I have a feeling that he just throws the ingredients in the cooking pan and hopes for the best. This restaurant CAN be a good place to eat GREAT food, but the OWNER has to do something about it. The OWNER has to take one day off and with the help of three other employees all of them should taste EACH AND EVERY DISH in the kitchen to see what the issues are and what needs to be fixed. I know of a friend who owns one of the most successful restaurants in the city and she closed the restaurant for one day and tasted all the dishes with three employees and they fixed all the issues. They have been in business for over forty five years. Fatima Hallal is not a bad place. But it’s not a great place either. The problem is that there are many other choices that are NOT Chinese with the same prices that offer far better food. As far as being a Chinese restaurant it is not better than most similar restaurants. But if you were to go to Flushing near Main Street and Roosevelt then the choice of Chinese restaurants with tastier and much more delicious food within the same price category increases. Fatima Halal needs to do just ONE THING. Improve the flavor and taste...

I don’t like to leave reviews for places but it was too much today for me not to. Ordered from this place. They just reopened and are really busy. I ordered and was told it would be 45 mins for pick up, which was fine with me. When I got there to pick up, they only took cash and the total was $32 for 3 orders. They knocked the price down to $30.75 because they did the math wrong and was arguing amongst themselves I presume about the total. them $35. When I got my receipt and did the math myself it didn’t add up to the total that I was charged. I went back in to dispute the amount with my calculations. They talked amongst themselves and I was told that a vegetable fried rice was $8.95 from $6.95. Got a new receipt and walked out. Sat in my car and did the math again and it still didn’t add up. I went back in and told them. They talked amongst themselves again and was now told that a vegetable fried rice is $9.95, when their menu states that’s the price for beef, chicken or shrimp fried rice. Needless to say they did not want to refund me the $4 I was owed. I left and one of the girls came running out with $2 and said this is what we owe you right? I took the $2 and said no it’s $4 and it’s not right that you’re doing. Your menu is not clear and you’re ripping people off. On top of all that the food is not that great. It had zero taste! The shrimp mei fun had no color and no taste. The energy, the time, the food and the fight for my money was not worth it...

So I got my food online, General tso chicken with fried rice. Also got chicken wings and an egg roll. I found the food to taste fine but some chunks of chicken tasted a bit sour. I have a feeling the oil used was bad. The chicken wings were soggy but thats expected when you order. My last two pieces, the chicken wasnt cooked thoroughly, it was raw. I threw that away and finished my general tso chicken. It was supposed to come with an egg roll which i did not even get though i paid for it. Just few hours later I get diarrhea and food poisoning. My brother is also having an upset stomach. Overall, the Food was quite disappointing. Even when the general tso and fried rice tasted fine it definitely didnt taste the same as the previous location. Very sour chicken, fried rice was fine though. I'm still in pain while writing this so I advise others to be careful. Super disappointing that for a new location, they cannot cook chicken wings thoroughly and their oil is bad. Not worth it, I would rather make the drive to Brooklyn or Long Island for...