Now I am going to spill the beans on the various real-life complaints and experiences I've had and heard with a few popular hawker places and Chinese restaurants all around Perth.
The following hawker places and restaurant(s) will be 'critisized':
Ten Ten Kitchen, Vic Park
Bamboo Hawker place (previously Taurus Hawker), Collins Rd Willetton
Aquarium Chinese Restaurant, Great Eastern Highway
Golden BBQ, Market City Canningvale
Hawker's Cuisine, Northbridge
Easyway Bubble tea, Northbridge
Yummy BBQ, Myaree
Golden Palace, Northbridge (new posh dim sum place)
Ipoh Ho Fun Restaurant, Myaree
On Sunday, F and I had lunch at Ten Ten Restaurant in Vic Park. I must admit I have only been going back to that place recently as rumour has it they have changed hands. Unfortunately, it looked like they really haven't- they perhaps only placed a better mannered woman at the front counter the last time I went.
Foodwise: Ok to average. But one of my friends found flies and insects in her noodles a few years go. I haven't had any mishaps yet.
Service: It's so bad, it put me off going there for nearly a year. The fat woman at the counter who takes your money and shows you to your seats is off-putting, with her grumpy mannerisms and 'I don't care' attitude. Yesterday, we were shooed out of Ten Ten as they were closing: "Nah I give you receipt here bekos we klosing soon" - the woman chucked a piece of paper at our table before I even realised what was going on. No eye contact, no 'excuse me', no 'sorry to interrupt'. And when I had sort of finished my meal, there was still HALF the plate left of food on my plate, a waitress came and snatched my plate away from the table without a word. We were stunned as I could have wanted to eat more or ta pau the rest!
Some places the service is much better although food hygeine is questionable. Bamboo Hawker Restaurant previously Taurus Hawker, has great service to my surprise. All the times I've been there, they were courteous, on time, and very polite for an Asian hawker place. The only let down was I recently heard my friend found a fly in her noodles. I've also seen a few roaches running up and down my table and the walls when they were running Taurus Hawker in the old building. Nevertheless, that place is and was always packed. They have the best ice kacang in Perth so far.
Aquarium Chinese Restaurant, Great Eastern Highway is a shocker. Despite the raving reviews and it's warm ambience, the service just isn't up to scratch. A few weeks ago, 8 of us had dinner there for the first time. We ordered Peking Duck with San Choy Bao. It took the waitress a good 10minutes to individually plate out the 8 serves, and her hands were shaking the whole time. We waited 45minutes for the first dish to come out and it was nearly 9pm before we started on the mains. Then came the San Choy Bao. There was only 6 serves. When asked if there was more coming, the waiter said, "One odar only hafe sisx. Is lie that." Hmm. I think he didn't get the message. And the person who took our orders didn't inform us or ask if we actually wanted 8 serves (obviously did). Then came the sizzling Japanese bean curd which the waitress poured a bowl of bean curd into a sizzling plate on the table. She didn't leave the lid on long enough so the whole dish splattered everywhere and burnt a few of us. I think that sort of sealed the deal on whether we would be back a second time.
Some places are temperamental. Golden BBQ, Market City Canningvale is the closest roast duck place around, so we used to go there often until they increased the price and the service went down the drain. The man who chops the roast duck doesn't know English so Asian-looking people who don't speak his language get treated real bad. We went there for dinner once and had decided we would have roast duck rice x 2, so we ordered upon entering the restaurant. His response was "NO." Shook his head, looked down at the floor and walked away. Then the woman beside him explained it was no longer an option for dinner. And I'm sure they even recognized us as regulars. A year ago, I went there with a friend during a busy time and we stood there for 15minutes being ignored. Then my friend decided to belt out her Canto speaking skills, and the ice-cold duck chopper became Mr Warm and Friendly. He replied in Canto, "haiyah, you only stand there how do I know what you want!" Luckily my frirend is patient and played along as a joke. Oh dear! Is that any way of treating your customers?
Hawker's Cuisine, Northbridge has great food but is pretty expensive. Sometimes the service is good, sometimes it is nothing less than shocking especially if they are under a lot of pressure later into the night. Go early and you will have a very enjoyable meal. One of my fav places so far although I am not a big fan of hawker dinners.
Easyway Bubble tea, Northbridge- I never go there for two reasons: F found a clearly visible cockroach in her bubble tea a few years ago, and the fat man there has zero manners. I was in Northbridge with a group of friends, half of them decided on Utopia (just round the corner) and two of us wanted Easyway for a change. Bad decision. We had trouble deciding what to have as it was all new to us, so we let the couple behind us go first. It was near closing time, but still about 20minutes away. By the time the other couple had ordered, it was our turn. Or so we thought. "We don't take anymore orders now." The fat man switched off the till and walked away. Enough said! He even witnessed us walking into his shop and giving our place to the people behind us. I have never been back since.
Yummy BBQ, Myaree. Food is average, service is good depending on who you get. The trolley woman is usually very moody but if you don't mind it then it's probably worth a trip.
Golden Palace, Northbridge (new posh dim sum place). I've been there once, and noticed really bad behaviour among staff. I think it's probably only the girl (or is it a guy?) that served us. She/he also made no eye contact, didn't say a word when we ordered some dim sum dishes from the kitchen (she/he just disappeared and our dishes arrived late) and didn't understand what Chrysanthemum tea meant. On top of that, she/he was fooling around with all the other waiters even to the extent of screaming. Having said that, the food is super, ambience excellent, and I love the setup of the whole place including the cool unconventional chopsticks.
Ipoh Ho Fun Restaurant, Myaree. The best hawker restaurant in my books so far. Although the waiters and waitresses are not clad in uniforms or aren't exactly the most refined sometimes, they are sincere, polite, and the lady boss has all the manners in the world. We are always greeted with a warm aunty-smile and the food is always a delight. Besides, I can always sneak in to get some bubble tea next door after a meal! Only disappointment is that I heard they will be moving to the Eastern States in September if all goes well for them.
Have you had any 'fun' experiences at these places?
No comments:
Post a Comment