I had one bad take out order after many dine in experiences. The dine in was slipping, month by month. The chicken got smaller and the veggies fewer. The plates seem to get smaller too. But this final time I ordered his food was the worst.
When I opened the package at home, I was shocked and disappointed. I called him and said "What is this? What have you done to me? He apologized over the phone. Right then, I should have taken the time to bring the food back, but I was very angry. I was also entertaining a guest which I couldn't just walk away from. So instead, I wrote a bad review.
I was already a regular customer of the Royal Wok (eat in). That's what offended me the most. He knew that I (had) loved his food. But he ripped me off, because it was take out. He thought I would just go home, and open the containers, and say "What's this".. ahhh, the hell with it, I won't be confrontational. I won't complain. But he was wrong.
He was not busy that night, and I even called it in before I came down. It was around 5 pm. I always ordered General Tao Chicken but what I got in this take out order, was not what I paid for. It was reheated left over rice that looked like dry greasy chicken fried rice. I had ordered the white steamed sticky rice as usual. There was two pieces of reheated broccoli, when there is usually about 8 fresh steamed pieces. And there were two wet soggy spring rolls. The chicken itself was small dry bits covered in batter and it was tough, not juicy and plump and fresh as usual. It was left over chicken, dried out little chunks. Then he took some watered down Tao sauce and poured it over everything. What a disappointment.
What really made me angry, was that his food was the only place that showed promise in Salmon Arm. At first it was great, but every time I went there, the plate got smaller, the chicken pieces got smaller and the broccoli got less and less. But now, the dish was unrecognizable. It was a bunch of microwaved rice and tough bits of dry chicken. Hardly any chicken at all.
The thought that he would do this to me on the take out order, really hurt. I took it personally. After all, I went there every two weeks or so, and felt like we were friends. He had charged me extra on each order (as usual) because it was his "special dish", the Tao Chicken. Then he looked me right in the eye and handed me the food and took my money. It was betrayal. He had me believing we were pals, but he was laughing at me.
He knew it was not a good order, and by handing me this food with a smile, he was really saying, "Here you go round eye, you don't know the difference anyways, you are stupid, and you will probably just be polite and say nothing, I just ripped you off and you don't even know it. And even if you do know it, you won't say a word!"
I was steamed.
Now I realize, that you, the readers of this, are probably thinking that I am making a mountain of a molehill. But if you had tasted this guy's food when he first opened the doors, it was excellent. His Col Tao Chicken recipe came from the Bronx of New York City where he worked in another restaurant. That's where he learned to make it. WOW! And to watch him get worse and worse month after month was a heart breaker. I had finally found a good meal that I loved in this town, and now it was going going gone. Plus the guy stuck a knife in my back and broke my heart. I guess things are different in Asia, where there are millions of hungry people lined up for your food.
But I am supposed to forgive him, not write bad reviews. I should be forgiving, and not bitter. So I decided to remove the bad angry review, and replaced it with this careful explanation.
I loved his food. This chicken was stickey and gooey and spicy just like Montreal. BETTER than Montreal. I told him it was amazing. He was so proud of it. But he soon found out that Canadians wouldn't complain. He chose to go cheap and lazy like all the other "Chinese" food places, and now he is heading down their road to mediocrity. What a shame. Soon he'll be no different than the Jade Palace or the Wing place.
Perhaps he will try again to rise up. But judging from all the terrible reviews I have read about him online, I think he's made his choice to just settle for being like all the rest, a very poor representation of the great tradition of the Asian cooking. So sad.
By the way when you see all the short glowing reviews, look at the dates. They were all written on the same day.
You broke my heart kid!
I can't wait to visit Montreal again, or Vancouver, and eat well. read more
