Did not enjoy dinner here at all, very expensive for what was in the end quite ordinary food. I even had the famous duck special which I thought was overcooked, and was surprised to find that it did not come with any greens or salads at all. Can get much better, for much less, will not be back.
My partner and I had been looking forward to dining at Billy Kwong's for a long time and were not disappointed. On a chilly Tuesday night it was a joy to be seated straight away and have time to muse over the menu. The lovely staff encouraged us to share all three courses with matching organic wines and were very attentive with any questions we had.
The tables were close enough to our fellow diners for friendly banter and discussions about our chosen dishes. Overall the cosy, teahouse setting was a lovely way to spend a night out dining and I am looking forward to eating there again.
I thought you'd like to know that after much anticipation I was bitterly disappointed in my first visit to your restaurant on Sunday 31/5/09, in that we ordered 4 dishes, The crispy skin chicken with spring onions and Chinese vinegar, which was excellent, then we had the braised pork belly with pickled cabbage, this dish was an absolute disappointment in that the pork belly was obviously pre-roasted then the crackle was crisped to the point of being burnt then put into a tart-sour sauce which absolutely ruined its edibility and flavour, then the pickled cabbage was totally overpowered by a super dose of mint, carrot, dill etc.
Once again losing the subtle taste of a lightly pickled cabbage, it was definitely not braised pork with pickled cabbage! Then we ordered the mixed vegetables, zucchini, squash, bok choy, once again this dish was thrown together and not very tasty. Finally we had the misfortune to order the fried rice, cantonese, which was overpowered with the chinese sausage and too much soya sauce, this meal has to be the worst meal we have ever had.
Admittedly your staff were very professional and did deduct the price of the pork dish, however, I am prepared to pay for decent food but felt that you should be aware that your food standards leave a lot to be desired and we will not be returning!
This rating is based on the immediate greeting that we received upon arrival. We simply asked what the wait would be for a table for 2. The response we received from the senior staff was 'an hour' followed by a door slam. He was guarding the door as it was a VIP club and we were not on the list. He was extremely rude and snobbish. It is unfortunate that we did not have a chance to experience the food but even worse for the establishment that they lost us as customers because we will not ever go back.
The worst part about it was that my sister was here from the States and was looking forward to having dinner (since it was a recommendation) but that is ok since we had a fantastic meal somewhere else in George Street.
Dining out for my mothers birthday, thought we would go somewhere special. Before the food came out, we saw another table with a dish that wasn't on the menu so we asked about it to be told that it was something the give to their good customers.
Anyway we had whole snapper with ginger and shallot, but it was bland. Couldn't taste the ginger.
The crispy duck was delicious, but at nearly $50 for the adequate serving that was to be expected, as there are so many excellent Chinese restaurants that do duck equally well for less.
Very noisy and very cramped at the table. Felt like we were sitting at childrens tables.
Corkage was $15 a bottle in a Chinese restaurant and the winelist was tiny with esoteric junk on it that no one had heard of before (and we're hardly yokels). The restaurant was crowded, the lighting dim and the specials list was in flowing cursive script that we just couldn't read. With the help of Peppe`our friendly waiter we ordered a few entree's and the duck/pork specials.
Food was good, but not great and it was quite expensive for a non seafood Chinese meal, amusingly as well they left star anise on the duck plate which I bit on, nearly chipping a tooth and causing my friends to burst out laughing when I ran from the restaurant to spit it out in the garden.
We found this place overall to be pretty painful and not a place to rush back to, mostly due to the snootiness of it overall, restaurants should be about the customer, not the image of the owner.
Food was delicious! Service attentive. Environment really inspiring. Of course the tables are a little tiny (in 3 we were pretty unconfortable) and stools tiring towards the end of the night, but I guess this is part of the overall experience. I will go back and I recommend it to everybody, especially the crusty skin chicken and the calamari/rocked entree - to die for! Overpriced? maybe, but if you share it is ok!
I don't understand why people rave about this restaurant? The mains was exceptionally poor, I was wedged between two other tables and spent the night banging elbows with a stranger and the staff were stuck up and rude. If you wish to spend this kind of money on good food then there are at least four other restaurants along Crown Street that are far better value for money and if you want to share space with other people and pay far less for food that is better than save yourself some money and just go somewhere else on Crown Street.
The only thing that was good about this night was the wine we ordered, we had a bottle of Paxton Pinot Gris 2007 that was exceptional. We won't be going back here.
Amazing how the opinions of recent reviewers differ so much for this restaurant. Having been there 10 times or so, in my opinion the food is exceptional and the service likewise. But be prepared for a noisy, crowded and, perhaps, uncomfortable restaurant. We go there for the food, and take friends who haven't experienced Billy Kwong, and each time the friends rave about the food. The noise is part of the fun of the place. Go there with friends. Get there at 5.45 and be one of the first tables.
I have been meaning to write this review for a while. I had been looking forward to going to Billy Kwongs for a while, with my partner and I trying several times to get a table, only to be told to come back at a ridiculously late hour. When we did manage to get in, we were seated on the tiniest of tables practically on top of the people next to us. Starters were tasty, but our main (the chicken) was over oily, fatty and luke warm.
When the waitress saw we had not eaten it, we told her why, when she turned around to us and said it was our pallet, as we weren’t used to organic chicken and that’s why it tasted bitter (may be someone should tell her organic is supposed to taste better not worse)! Overpriced, over crowded, snobby staff, do yourself a favor save your money, stay away…