East London Restaurant - Paddington

Definitely going back. The food was brilliant and the atmosphere is probably one of the best in Chinese restaurant around Sydney. The duck pancakes were great.

A first timer to this restaurant and would go back. Lovely Chinese food served on great crockery. full depth to the dishes without being too peppery and spices. the wait staff had a great understanding of the menu and recommended a great wine to go with our chosen dishes.

Ate dinner here on a friday night... got in at around 6.30 to find ourselves as the only people. Ordered drinks while we checked the menu which came quickly however once we had decided on the food we waited for 10 minutes to order while we were ignored by the staff. We were the only people in there yet they were too busy folding napkins and cracking jokes to come to the table and take our order... I had to get up and walk over to get their attention.The food was nice however... the dumplings and san choi bou were great, the pork a little bland but still decent, and the cocktails were nice and inventive. Decent food let down by bad service.

Don't get me wrong - it all should work. Trendy decor, and the food is actually reasonable. It's not outstanding but at these prices, it doesn't need to be.The waitstaff are friendly if a little inexperienced, but they make up for it with great personality.But the real issue is the management / chef / owner.We were a party of 5. The menu has dumplings with 4 per serve, so we asked to increase it to 5 (and obviously pay for the additional). This was refused, and when we asked why (what restaurant doesn't want to sell more food!) we were told that the chef refused to do it. And when we asked again, the manager told us that the owner also did not want to change the rules.Let me say that again: the owner and the chef do not want to sell more food. They have their 'rules' and as a customer you follow their rules, full stop.The chef proudly says that he worked at China Doll before moving here ... guess what? At China Doll they sell you extra dumplings if you want them, and cater to the size of your party. So anyone reading this review who wants Asian food, go to China Doll!As a consequence, we only ordered main meals, one bottle of wine and then went up the road to Ten William, where we ordered lots of nibbles, dessert and several bottles of wine (that cost over $100 each). We had planned to stay at East London, but were essentially told that we weren't welcome so we took our business elsewhere. We spent three times as much money at Ten William.Let me also say: we were very courteous and were not rude at all. We were very shocked by this attitude (and the arrogance of the manager). The rest of the staff were very pleasant. As a restauranteur, I understand how a kitchen works. The food cost is based on the 4 piece serve - fine. No one is suggesting that they should sell by the piece, but the economics are simple: selling more food is the goal. Why are these people running a restaurant if they don't want to sell food? I bet in their monthly P&L review they are all talking about increasing sales ...Our party are all locals; we won't return. And we will tell everyone we know not to dine there.My title says it all ... the restaurant was dead (there were only 3 other tables there - funnily enough, all odd numbered parties - none were just 4 pax!) so the disdain shown for the customers seems to have an impact on their popularity.

It is not for lack of effort by the wait staff but the reality the food is terrible I'm sorry to say. I would highly recommend you don't come here. I would be surprised if the chef has any Asian heritage as it tastes more like an RSL buffet. The dumplings were great but then it went downhill. Hopefully we just got it on a bad night with a replacement chef.