Mandarin - Menu

"This establishment in Northwood Hills has always been a goto restaurant for Cantonese food. The restaurant established at least 45 Years ago, provided a high quality, authentic food. My last visit was 4 years ago and now living overseas, this time with family was a special fairwell event. The dining experience I endured with the closest of my family will be the worst I have ever had in a cantonese restaurant. I will take the time to describe and list my grievances and also highlight areas where people new to this food experience should set there expectations. A traditional or even modern Cantonese restaurant have a near constant sound of wok cooking and i should of taken a lack off this as a warning. Another warning not politically correct but true is in all cases a cantonese/mandarin restaurant is always staffed predominantly with staff from the same region. In this case I was greetef by friendly staff with no Cantonese staff at all. The menu presented was not clean or wiped,at this point it's worth commenting on the restaurant as a whole. The original restaurant was set out differently and in comparison to today was warm, inviting and peaceful. What was very noticeable was the handmarks and grease smears over the original wall coverings.... tables were not dressed with cloths, hand napkins low quality and no table decoration. Wait staff were pleasant, young and not well trained. I witnessed a serious spillage over another customers table and the simple things of clearing glasses not being used were not being done. Food within the menu being offered were very westernized in description, with prices which were in midrange. The set menu for 4 had a great number of choices, where the menu for 2 was very limited. Prices for both were high. Prawn crackers served were not freshly made, but were not soft or stale. Duck pancakes were an absolute insult, I have had supermarket packaged versions which were multiple times better than what was served. One of the wait staff attempted to shred the duck and sadly again hadn't been trained to do so. The pancakes were dry, not soft and moist. The duck was of a below average size, which while had flavour, was quite dry. Sauce was from a bottle and vegetables were possibly fresh. I was concerned that we were going to magically receive our main dishes the moment our table was cleared, but the illusion of delay was impressive giving us doubt that we were In the middle of a terrible meal. At this point I have forgotten the dishes offered in the set menu for 2, briefly it was a garlic prawn and vegetable, stir fried vegetable, sizzling black bean beef and egg fried rice. The only dish which was of reasonable quality was the beef. It was sizzling when presented, was tender and appeared moist. The black bean was heavily salted which is the only negative in the dish. Both prawn and vegetable dishes were the same, where one didn't have prawn but replaced with baby corns. Mushrooms were not fresh and im guessing canned and most the vegetable appeared of frozen origin. Egg fried rice, was simply offensive. It tasted like microwave rice, had no good flavour. The manager of course very defensive, saying I was the first to ever complain. (After my visit, the internet searched revealed the truth I wasn't the first. She defended her kitchen and then proceeded to ask me how much i was willing to pay as I refused the final bill we ate less than a third. I ended up paying two thirds, to avoid anymore confrontation. Truth is it wasn't worth £144 or the £100 I gave them, I think anyone with basic cooking skills could make better, with supermarket ingredients for alot less. People within the vicinity of this restaurant, should know that this isn't a cantonese, mandarin or Chinese restaurant. It merely is a cheap copy I urge everyone who wishes to experience the delights of cantonese/mandarin food to find an establishment,that is staffed by people from the region. Expect to be greeted with warmth and respect. Sit at clean tables which are dressed, be provided with clear menus preferably written in 2 languages(Generally that of the region and english . There should be noise of woks, attention to detail, and warming family atmosphere. There should be fresh ingredients, dishes which all have unique flavors and rice well find yourself am authentic restaurant and you'll find out how rice should actually taste. I am deeply saddened that this restaurant has now been reduced to a cheap copy where clearly there is no attention to detail or authenticity. Only plus is so far there are no signs of food poisoning.. I will amend if it occurs over the next 12 hours."