Jade Harbor — Restaurant in Philadelphia

Unacceptable Service. Flavorless Food. Demanded Tip.

We came to have dinner for Father's Day, looking forward to a nice family dinner. We were left flabbergasted at how we were treated by the waiters. The four dishes we ordered came out one by one in the span of an hour and thirty minutes. FOUR DISHES. We tried to ask for updates but were deliberately ignored (they looked at us waving and saying "excuse me" only to walk away). We resorted to asking the hostess what was going on and were told that they were busy...because that explained why tables who ordered after us were getting their food before us...

To further confirm what other reviews have said, this place DOES demand more tip if you do not give them enough. He told us we weren't allowed to go without tipping. I mean what service would we be tipping at that point?

We left the place feeling unhappy and our stomaches were left unsatisfied. Even a few days after my mom tries to recall the series of events that happened and wonders why we were treated that way. Dunno if they looked down on us for not ordering much (even then the bill was crazy high for just 4 dishes).

This is speculation, but when we first came in the hostess offered us a table that was being cleaned up. As she went to help set up our table, a waiter came to greet the guests that came after us, a white couple. He offered them the same table that was offered to us. Maybe it was a miscommunication between that waiter and the hostess. I've worked in the service industry and I know what happens when guests seat themselves. Maybe the waiter thought we had done so. But that misunderstanding could have been cleared if they had chosen to communicate with us in the multiple attempts of us trying to talk to them. Maybe the waiter even knew that we were offered the table but still wanted to give it to the white couple because white folks are stereotyped to tip better. Nothing against that couple, but I bet we would've been treated with a little bit more grace if we weren't...

SAVE YOUR MONEY AND YOUR TIME BY EATING ELSEWHERE. I would vote no stars if I could.

I ordered 4 dishes and it took over an hour for the food to come out. Worse, the last dish never made it and after waiting so long with no updates, apologies or response on when the last dish would arrive, I decided to pay and leave. Food was bland, lackluster, overpriced, and nothing to rave about. I ordered the ginger scallion lobster, snowpea vegetable dish, crab and scallop fried rice (which had no scallops), and steamed fish (that never came until over an hour when I got up to pay and leave).

Service is atrocious and horrifying. After putting in the order, the server ignored my table when we tried to get his attention. This happened multiple times where the server looked directly at us and looked away ignoring us. When we asked how much longer the food would be, no response was given. Other tables that came after us received all their food. Worse, our dishes that did arrive to the table, came out separately, one at a time. Lobster dish came first, with no rice, snowpeas (a simple fried veggie dish) came out 20 minutes later, and finally the fried rice and still no fish.

Like the other reviewers have mentioned, I can't believe it but the server actually came to the table demanding more tips and said we couldn't leave without tipping . Cleanliness is not a thing here. If you walk past it, they have a side door showing the kitchen and it is a Kitchen Nightmare episode waiting to happen. Trash is everywhere and one look at this place is probably enough to give Gordon Ramsay a headache.

Save your stomach and your money by...

A very debatable 5 star rating....but even being debatable would drop a star immediately under normal circumstances. This place has some pretty high peaks. If you are actually familiar and experienced with authentic Cantonese cuisine in Hong Kong, you will understand the flavor. At it's peak, the food is great and one of the few Cantonese restaurants in the entire city that can actually compare. I'm not saying that it's going to be better. It definitely isn't. But the flavor and aroma of the food is comparable.

But obviously other reviewers seem to have other opinions on that. I guess when they miss, they can really miss.

Additionally, the last time I was here, their English menu was atrocious. I ordered off their Chinese menu instead.

The restaurant itself felt cramped and I was not really a fan of the atmosphere.

So the question would be if I base this review off of it's peak or off of a combined record with the environment being a factor. But in defense of the 5 star rating, in my opinion, 5 stars means that you 100% recommend someone try this. I don't think it would necessarily mean that everyone would love it. I can rate a Mexican restaurant 5 stars and that would not appeal to people that don't like Mexican food.

So this review is based off of the high peaks of this restaurant AND ignoring the issues that other people have highlighted as well as the actual restaurant itself. 5 stars in that you should try it yourself. Though it should probably be dropped a star . . . but there isn't that many restaurants that put themselves into a situation to compete in the...