- Yumcha
- 59-63 Brighton Road
- Surbiton
- KT6 5LR
- UK
- www.yumchauk.com
- 0208 399 5533
- 0208 786 2020
Yumcha
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Ordered a delivery from Yumcha on Friday we were told that it would be 40 minutes, an hour later still no delivery, telephoned them and was told it was just round the corner. another 20 minutes passed and still no chinese, 2 more phone calls eventually it arrived and we were told by the delivery driver that it had been in the car for 40 minutes, it was cold and soggy.
We spent over £50 and unfortunately paid over the phone with a card. The assistant manager, manager and owner are the most arrogant, ignorant people I have ever spoken to, refusing to refund anything and down right rude to me on the phone. Absolutely disgusting service, I urge you to use another Chinese restaurant. If you must use Yumcha whatever you do don't pay with card so you can choose to give them cash on delivery if they actually bother to deliver!
I have heard similar stories lately.
It appears that the restaurant was taken over by new owners fairly recently and the standards of service and food have really fallen.
This is a shame, because this was a good reliable restaurant previously. Now it appears to have fallen to Magic Wok standards :(
This was by far the worst takeaway I have ever had! I have had food poisoning since Monday and it's now Thursday evening, I will be visiting my doctor tomorrow as I still feel so bad. I suggest that the general public stay away from this dreadful place.
Right! What you must now do for the sake of everyone is to contact the local council trading standards office and get them to do a health inspection on the place immediately, take samples away and if necessary shut the place down. Four days of food poisoning is serious. Usually one can pass most of this in about 24 hrs but four days is significant of something far worse.
Well it has closed down, apparently for a 'refurb' but I wouldn't be surprised if this is the end of Yumcha. Restaurants don't bother with a refurb if they are doing well.
I was really looking forward to going to Yumcha with some friends, it looks really nice! And I had seen a few raving reviews. Now I'm not a connoisseur of Chinese food, but I am a bit of a foodie, so I wouldn't call smothering a battered bit of old pork in a syrup and a sprinkle of 5 spice a good dish. The crispy duck was OK, you can't seem to go far wrong with that one. The salt and pepper squid is one of my favourites, but it was a real let-down from Yumcha. And the lemon chicken was like the worst take-away dish you've ever had. Szechwan duck wasn't bad. But overall, it was a real disappointment. The jasmine tea was nice. Also recently been to Lee Yuan, and although we found them really really friendly in there, the food wasn't much good either! Where can we go for really good Chinese food?
Try the Magic Wok - the best chinese in Surbiton by far
Cooking has for some years been one of my main hobbies and for that reason I possess a copy of Larousse Gastronomique amongst the many other essential guides, including WW2 Ministry of Food booklets. I speak as I have found.
What you have to remember is that ethnic puveyors of ethnic dishes from take-aways or restaurants have differing ideas as to how their national dishes should be prepared for the likes of the general public many of whom have no idea what those dishes should taste like or how much they should cost.
My best advice is to go to a reputable supermarket and try their ready meals, be they Chinese, Indian, Mexican, etc., then try reproducing the same from a good cook books. Then you will realise just how much rubbish is being churned out by these places at often exorbitant prices because they think you don't know any better, especially if you have just been to the pub or you just cannot be bothered to cook after work.
Because of the pure economics and speed at which food has to be served, many of the food outlets will have pre prepared meat such as boiled diced chicken or well simmered and tenderised lamb, or it may even come straight from a frozen catering pack and gone via the microwave to be finally rapidly cooked to the desired effect and covered in sauces of various kinds then served with rice, noodles, or whatever. You pay your money and you take your chance which also may depend upon how long everything has been laying around out the back. Waste is not a word in many countries.
Take the chance and be sick in the night or off work the next day if you want.
By the time the right amounts have been added of of curry paste or powder, chilli, sweet and sour and lemon sauce both dead easy to make, garlic, ginger, onion, salt, pepper, tomatoe puree, soy sauce etc., you will think what you are eating is fantastic, which it is if I prepare it in say half an hour. That is why I do not use these places anymore.
Anyway, do you remember roast beef? Well what about some slices of the best tasting fore rib in some wholemeal or well seeded bread and butter with a thin spreading of horse radish sauce served with some chopped nice smelling vine tomato and a little lettuce garnished with crisps washed down with a nice well made (not rushed) cup of tea. Cheap and lovely English food. Alternatively breast of chicken or home cooked smoked gammon joint or mature cheddar.
Bravo Anthony,but i fear your words will be lost on many as little or no "cooking" or "domestic science" is taught anymore,many of us do, however, cook from scratch every day for every meal and I echo your thoughts on roasted beef,good cheddar and, dare I say,a cracking Shepherds Pie.
Turning to the Yumcha,I dined there recently with some Chinese (Hong Kong) friends and they were not impressed and despite the use of Cantonese with the staff the meal was average and the service poor,by Hong Kong standards very poor!
Sadly one has to go to Lisle Street to get authentic Chinese (Cantonese) cooking and avoid at all costs Gerrard Street with its faux Chinese gates etc,now a tourist trap and meeting place Red Poles.
The Good Earth in Esher is the only local one that I have heard universal good reports about. Be prepared for a big bill in there, though!
It is a shame about Yum Cha. It used to be a very good restaurant. The food was never outstanding, but consistently good and well worth the money. Since it was taken over earlier this year, the quality has gone right down - both in terms of the service and food.
Some people rate the Magic Wok at the other end of Surbiton, but I have never been impressed when I have tried it. I am sure it was a great place when it first opened in the 1970s, but the menu now needs a refresh along with the decor in my opinion.
Surbiton is very well served for Indian and Italian food, there are a few good foodie-type pubs and the French table is great for a treat, but Thai, Chinese, Mexican, US, Spanish etc are either represented badly or not at all.
The most horrible Chinese food in UK.
I've been so many Chinese Restaurant in 30 years, Yumcha is the worst one so far I had found. ......the lamb disk too tough like a piece of plastic; the pork rid not edible..............unfinished meal and really sick :((
I am not sure what a Lamb Disk or a Pork Rid is? Maybe you ordered the cheap cuts of meat!
Yun Cha used to be a real favourite of mine, certainly the best Chinese food in Surbiton and hard to beat elsewhere.
However, it appears to have gone downhill since being taken over earlier this year - the food has gone from great to passable, and the service from good to a joke.
I did not get food poisoning from there, but doubt I will be back any time soon.
When this happens save what is left of the meal and alert the local trading standards office to go and inspect the kitchens, the food storage and the means of preparation. If you don't then someone could end up dying of food poisioning. Thes kinds of places must be taught a lesson and if necessary shut down. I never go to Chinese take aways anymore for the same reason and am very suspicious of Indian restaurant take aways on the basis that one cannot tell if one is eating re-cycled left over food. I discovered this by reordering the same dish from the same source for several days and found that it totally changed in its consistency and taste as the week progressed and I ended up with a bad stomach. Often Tandoori chicken does not fall off the bone and is pink around the joints indicating that it is not cooked properly. Donna Kebabs are probably one of the most dangerous things one can eat. To be honest you don't know who you can trust except maybe the good old fish and chip shop, Mac Donalds and the Kentucky or a nationwide Pizza outlet because they exercise strict rules. There is enough stuff on the shelves of supermarkets to enable on to cook more of just as well and far more cheaply than a lot of these places. I know it is much nicer to just pick up something on the way home after a few jars but you takes your chance by doing so.
Oh what a load of tosh! I'm not surprised you were ill after eating takeaway for several days in a row!
You guys need to toughen up a little, you fill your body with so much junk and bad foods that you immune system is non existent and then you start crying when you have a bad stomach!
Man up, stop whinging and enjoy your favorite take away from time to time!
What a lovely old harmless expression, "A load of tosh". Nice to hear it still being used instead of the usual four lettered variety. I think however that one should be able to eat a take- away every night of the week if there is nothing wrong with it.
I love this place
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