First and foremost PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS REVIEW BEFORE CHOOSING TO PLAN A PARTY HERE. I had high hopes for this restaurant that left my husband and I very disappointed.
I decided to celebrate my grad school graduation party here mostly because it was able to accommodate a large party of 50-70 guests. I had previously celebrated my undergrad graduation here in 2014 and had a positive experience that made me willing to go back. My husband and I walked into the restaurant to make the reservation and choose the dishes about one month prior to the celebration date.
After asking if the restaurant was available on the specific date, the lady at the register said "oh, you're lucky because a previous party had that date reserved but they switched it to another date." I was so happy to hear this news and was under the impression that my party would be reserved in the inner part of the restaurant (furthest away from the entrance). While the rest of the restaurant would be open to the general public for dinner dining.
The initial reservation was made for 5 tables of 10 people. And was assured that adding additional tables later would be no problem. I wish they would have told me to reserve the absolute minimum amount of guests prior to the event and if needed, on the day of they can add a table on the fly (with a modified menu).
We chose nine dishes: Fish ma soup, Crab, Honey walnut shrimp, Snow pea leaf, Salt and pepper squid, Fish fried rice, Bird nest seafood, Clams, Bo luc lac.
After choosing our dishes, we asked the lady if she thought this would be good enough. Her response was, "This is about $325/table and the other party had about $500/table. I think it should be good." It would have been helpful if the restaurant recommended their current popular dishes.
My husband and I put down a deposit and left the restaurant. But we kept wondering if we should have ordered more food/different dishes because of the lady's response. But after asking my mother in law, she thought this was a sufficient menu for our guests and we decided to make no further changes.
Three days prior to the event, my husband received a call from the restaurant. They were asking if it would be possible to move our party earlier in the day because they will be having another party coming in at 8pm. Also, if it would be alright that our party is moved towards the entrance of the restaurant.
This made me upset because (1) we made our reservation a month prior to, (2) we had already invited everyone with a set time and (3) we were promised the area away from the entrance of the restaurant. Out of frustration, I made another trip to the restaurant to sort things out. THIS RESTAURANT LACKS PROFESSIONALISM. And in the end I was ready to completely cancel the reservation.
Although after further consideration and unwillingness to make it a bigger inconvenience for myself, family, friends and another restaurant - I decided to put my feelings aside and keep the reservation at Gold Garden. After all, they were willing to add two more tables to my party on very short notice. I wish they would have prioritized my reservation in a first come, first serve basis but instead it felt otherwise.
What ultimately motivated me to write this negative review is what happened after the entire celebration.
The final reservation was made for 7 tables of 10 people and less than 60 guests arrived. Although this was an unforeseen event, we were still charged for ALL 7 tables. We wished that we could have not been forced to pay and take the 7th table's food to-go but rather get restaurant credit.
I believe that the most fair situation would be for us to pay for the excess speciality dishes such as the crab, clams, etc. Although there were several other dishes that was not made yet, that could have saved us a little extra money. We ended up having to pay for the full UNOCCUPIED 7th table of food PLUS 15% gratuity (even though we didn't use/need it).
Additionally, we were expecting to pay about $2400 with alcohol drinks included. And they ended up over charging us by $300. Instead of planning costs around $ amount per table, it would have been helpful if a TOTAL estimated cost (+alcohol drinks, gratuity) was provided while we made the deposit during planning for the reservation.
In general the quality and taste of the food was on the lower end of mediocre. It is clear that this restaurant does not focus on the quality of the dishes they serve. Their overall standards have gone down tremendously since my last experience here.
In the end, my husband and I were very disappointed. Clear communication was lacking in this situation. Additionally, my guests also felt like the food was not up to par. I was embarrassed in choosing the Gold Garden restaurant. We will sadly never come back to the Gold Garden restaurant and strongly advise others to think twice before trying it for themselves. read more