The Good Earth, Esher

As a new years treat, myself, my sons and partner went to the Good Earth for dinner. We don’t live together so we were really looking forward to a delicious meal and a good catch up. We were a little put out when we were seated and then ignored. We had to stop a waiter and ask for some prawn crackers and then again to ask to order food. When the food began to come out it was piecemeal with long gaps between and I urged everyone to start as it was rapidly getting cold. We were surprised when the duck appeared pre-shredded on the table. Normally you are shown the duck which is shredded in front of you. As I say, we were surprised but let it go since they were obviously having problems “backstage”. The meal was very expensive and not particularly wonderful, but we had enjoyed each others company and chalked it up to a bad night for the restaurant. 2 days later I was feeling sick. Really sick. I mentioned this on our group chat and my son said he and his girlfriend were also feeling very ill, and that his girlfriend had actually thrown up during the day.. and then my troubles began. Over the course of the next six hours, I threw up violently eight times. I couldn’t keep water down. I felt like hell. This was apparently mirrored at my older son’s house, where he and his girlfriend were also violently ill and feeling terrible. My younger son was sympathetic was feeling okay… Until the next day when the bout of Good Earth enteritis hit him. Unfortunately, he was at work and had to rush home in between bouts of vomiting. He subsequently contacted the good Earth to let them know this had happened to us. We had compared notes and realised that the only thing all four of us had eaten was the duck and then we remembered it had never been shown to us and that made deeply suspicious. My son contacted the restaurant to let them know that they may have a problem. Whilst the reply was polite, it took no responsibility at all that this could possibly have happened and in fact implied that we were making it up. My son assured him in the return email that it certainly had happened and his only reason for contacting them was so that they could check to make sure it didn’t happen to someone else. Again, he was told that this could not possibly have happened since they source their ingredients from the most reliable suppliers and they are all excellent quality. Whilst I don’t doubt the excellent quality of their raw ingredients, I also know that bad management of those excellent ingredients can still cause illness. I didn’t appreciate the implication that we were grifting for a free meal. I didn’t appreciate the implication that we were liars. I am also deeply concerned for the level of complacency that was shown by the management that this couldn’t possibly have happened in their restaurant. It did. So we won’t be going back to the good Earth. We won’t be raving to our friends about how great it was. We will however urge anyone else going to make sure that they see the duck before it shredded and wish them good luck.

Expensive meal offering poor quality food and cooking execution . Go elsewhere, pay half the price and I’m sure you will have a better eating experience. This used to be a great restaurant, what a shame .

Best Chinese food we have ever tasted. Nice atmosphere with a friendly and competent service. We will definitely be back.

I went twice in person, in advance, to book a table and check booking, to ensure my birthday celebration would be special. On the day I was told the table I had booked was not available and was given another one by the front entrance door, on its own, away from the rest of the restaurant! The waitress insisted that we had to sit there and it was 4 degrees, so extremely cold every time the front entrance was used. The restaurant was busy so the entrance was used frequently. I had to complain several times and was told ‘not to stress’ before we were moved to a corner with peeling paint. Don’t worry if you are white you will be prioritised. I feel very disappointed as this was a special occasion and ruined by the way we were treated. We have come on several occasions in the past and been loyal to Good Earth , recommending it to family and friends. Shame on certain members of your staff ‘Good Earth’

Have been to the Good Earth a few times and have been very impressed with the food and service. Tonight the service was excellent as usual but the main dishes were average. It had Kung Po Prawn which was ‘nice’ but the Chicken in Cashews was horrendous. It has actually made me feel quite ill. The chicken was fatty with large pieces of yellow flabby fat. The chicken was thigh meat and inedible. I was not charged for the dish and was asked if I wanted a different main but I couldn’t eat anything after that. For £25+ for this particular dish I would have expected a lot more than fatty chicken. Everything else including the starters were great. But I can’t get past the chicken.