10 December 2023 , 10:00
883
0
Nothing is worse than waiting for what feels like eternity for your Chinese takeaway to arrive, only to be disappointed by the food.
But the next time your salt & pepper chips are cold, or the you're missing the extra curry sauce you purposely ordered - you might want to be careful about leaving a bad review. One UK eatery, the New World Cantonese, isn't afraid to bite back at criticism, and their response packs more heat than the menu itself.
Located in Newport, Wales, the takeaway has a respectable five out of six stars on delivery service Just Eat. It's on the city's busy Cardiff Road - and prides itself on offering tasty, authentic Chinese dishes.
However, it's the venue's online responses to its customers' reviews that are proving spicier than a plate of Szechuan ribs. From putting unhappy customers straight over their choice of order to calling hoisin sauce and duck pancakes the 'Jay Z of appetisers' - along with giving in-depth weather reports to explain why a delivery arrived late - some of the comments make for even more enjoyable reading than the menu.
For example, when one woman wrote that her food was bland the restaurant suggested she choose a dish with stronger flavours in future. "You only ordered sweet and sour Cantonese chicken and sweet and sour chicken balls, and egg fried rice, all these are sweet and sour flavours, try ordering black beans or Szechuan sauce next time," the company replied.
Dr Michael Mosley shares exercise that can cut cholesterol and blood pressure
"We remind our customers that we are the best there is, there was, and there will be," they humbly added, before signing off: "We Use Heinz Tomato Ketchup where as others use Happy Shoppers Ketchup."
Similarly, a complaint on October 18 that a food order arrived cold was met with the following reply: "It was extremely heavy rain, temperature was 10 degrees tonight. We delivered your meal under one hour, you live in a mansion with only name on your doorstep, driver has taken extra time to find you, sorry. It is still thundering down with heavy rain as I write this response."
The staff also seemed happy to put their hands up on the occasions when they get it wrongRave reviews also get oddly random replies, like this six-star write-up from someone called Stacey. "Best Chinese I have ever had," adds Oliver, to which New World replies: "Thanks Oliver, wet and windy, but hot and tasty food delivered in 42 minutes on busy Friday night - what else can you ask for? We pride ourselves in action, never will we ruin your night in front of Netflix and chill."
However, the staff also seem happy to put their hands up on the occasions when they get it wrong. "Chips were not cooked fully and the rice was not either... had hard bits in," critiqued one customer known only as Chris. "Sorry Chris," the restaurant responded. "The new frying chef apologizes and has learnt from his mistakes."
'Everyone has their off days - we are not Artificial Intelligence,' said one replySometimes though, a one star review for the food not turning up can't really be blamed on anyone other than the customer themselves. "Hi Lewis you ordered the meal for collection," staff began. "We waited for you for half an hour to come to pick up. However, you then told us you cannot drive and have no car."
Some, like one man called Simon, however, are quite mellow about his Saturday night order arriving late, a situation helped by the delivery driver being apologetic and handing over a few freebies as compensation. "Thank you for understanding Simon," they replied.
"We always apologize to customers when running late and we always gives freebies even when we're early. The only time we refused to apologize is customers swearing at us first. They spend twenty pounds and thinks they owns Buckingham Palace."
What's your favourite Chinese takeaway order? Let us know in the comments section below