Just came back from Chinese New Year dinner at Royal China, and a pleasant experience it was NOT!

It was an all-inclusive dinner package, and two tables of 19 diners cost RM1,250.

The food, which consists of yee sang, shark fin's soup, steamed grouper, buttermilk prawn, roast duck, some oyster/kai lan/c
Chinese mushroom dish, and Chinese sausage braised rice, plus dessert, was actually not too bad, but here's what's wrong with the dinner...

This was a Chinese New Year dinner package, not a wedding dinner, so plain rice should have been served at the get go, instead of coming in the form of Chinese Sausage braised rice right at the end. Kids were actually crying because they were hungry and the first few dishes couldn't fill them up, or they were just not used to eating without rice. PLUS the Chinese sausage braised rice was a bit too salty for the kids, who wolfed them down, and then immediately spit them out due to the saltiness.

And most of the dishes were pathetically lacking in quantity. The portions were so small I had to refrain from eating my fill so that the elders have enough to eat. I'm still hungry now and will have to go out and eat something later. For around RM65/pax, (there were 15 adults & 4 children) one would expect a scrumptious meal where everyone would walk away filled to the brim, no mater ho big an eater you are.

Other things that were of sub-standard for a supposedly 5-star restaurant:
1) No black vinegar was provided for the shark fin's soup. We had to ask for it after almost mistaken the soya sauce on the table for black vinegar.
2) No serviettes/napkins were provided. Wet wipes sealed in plastic packets were placed on the table, but we all know that is meant to be used AFTER dinner, not during.
3) The duck dish from my table was removed to shift the contents onto a smaller plate as the table was getting crowded; However, it never came back. We later discovered it was delivered to the other table instead (which still has their own duck dish on the table). DOH!

The best part is, the restaurant was only about 1/3 full at the time; half of it was closed off, and the half that was opened only had like 5 occupied tables, plus a few occupied VIP rooms. I would have overlooked all the shortcomings if it was jam packed, and they were struggling to cope.

So think twice about going to this restaurant when you feel like splurging some serious dough for a lavish dinner.