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2008-09-23
I've been a fan of Xi Yan Sweets since its Wing Fung street location opened a couple years ago, and have had numerous enjoyable, if not spectacular, meals there. As a fellow resident of Wan Chai I had no hesitation in recommending it to friends looking for Chinese food that's a little off the beaten path. Not so anymore. In the past month I've had 3 seperate meals there - a dinner and 2 lunches. The quality of its food and service steadily deteriorated from mediocre to downright atrocious. A
In the past month I've had 3 seperate meals there - a dinner and 2 lunches. The quality of its food and service steadily deteriorated from mediocre to downright atrocious. At about $100 per head, I'd expect something a little above soggy overcooked ramen, tasteless soup stock, and microwave-reheated dishes - but that's precisely what we got during our lunch there. Considering we arrived at 12:15pm and were the first party to be seated, there was absolutely no excuse for the poor quality of the food. I can't even imagine what'd happen to the food during peak lunch hours.
Worse yet was the service. Before we were even seated the manager-lookalike obnoxiously asked if we could hand over our table by 1pm. It was already 12:15 so I promptly told him we came in for a meal, not a race. He said nothing more, and bitterly led us to our table with a constipated face. The food arrived within minutes of ordering (a tell-tale sign that they were simply reheated), and our obvious verbal and facial signs of dissatisfaction about the food were conveniently ignored by the waitstaff. They also made an issue with my friend's briefcase sitting on a chair next to us, despite the fact that the table was unoccupied. Half an hour later at 12:45, with food still remaining in the dishes, a waitress hurriedly assumed we were done and proceeded to take them away. We were pissed, but felt no need to tell her off as there was little to be missed about the food. In fact the attitude there was so horrible we were glad to have left promptly.
Even an $18 bowl of 車仔麵 across the street would've been a much more satisfying meal. And there're legions of superb restaurants at all price points in Wan Chai, particularly the Star Street precinct to choose from. They'd be fooling themselves if they think they can survive in their current form.
Back when they first opened, Xi Yan had found an interesting niche in the restaurant business with their nouveau Chinese cuisine and accessible price points. Fast forward a couple of years and after numerous substantial price hikes, the passion and quality just aren't there anymore, and it's officially entered my black list for avoid-at-all-costs restaurants.
A pity, really.
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