Reviews of Tai Tip Mein

We went to Tai Tip Mein on Saturday. We had previously been a few years ago and have been many times to their sister restaurant, Tai Won Mein in Greenwich, where we have found the food and service to be consistently good.

We arrived at 7:30 p.m. and did not get off to a good start. The floor to the men's toilets was deep in urine and had obviously not been cleaned at all during the day. The women's toilets were simmilarly messy (my wife used them!) and had black bags of rubbish dumped in there.

We ordered food - I had noodles with beef in blackbean sauce and my wife had noodles with fried beef and curry sauce. We shared a portion of spring rolls. Price: £17 - not too bad.

Service was very, very, dismissive. My food arrived 15mins before my wife's. The waitress was really rude to my wife, when asking whether my wife's food would be long and, midway through conversation, just turned and walked off, to return 10mins later, banging the remaining plate on the table.

My wife's food was inedible. The 'beef' had a strange smell and had clearly been re-heated throughout the day. The spring rolls were okay. My dish was not particularly good, though edible. However, I was very ill with stomach upset etc throughout the rest of the night into Sunday. My wife was fine, having not eaten her dish.

We went on the basis that, when we went a few years ago, the food was nice and it was good value for money. They obviously still offer this at their Greenwich restaurant, where the food is tasty and the restaurant clean. However, Tai Tip Mein at E&C is dirty and smelly (check out the toilets), the 'service' was non-existent and the only consistency with the food was that it was bad. Just my opinion, but I promise I have been fair and objective in my review.

This is a marvellous Cantonese style Chinese restaurant. Downstairs is an 'all you can eat' buffet which costs around £6 (sorry to be vague, but I am only interested in the upstairs section!).
So please climb the stairs and you will find a modern, clean albeit basic no-frills restaurant. Huge choice of dishes, none of which cost more than £4.50
Payment will be asked for when your order is taken. Wine, beer, fruit juices, etc are available. The helpings are ENORMOUS, but above all the food is delicious and fresh. GO NOW before they close, move or whatever!!!

That is the Cantonese translation of the restaurant's name. There are 2 different dining experiences in the one restaurant - a cheap & tasty noodle bar, and a all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. The noodle bar was a great favorite of the SE1 Lunch Club because for £3.50-3.95 you could get the most gi-normous pile of stir-fried noodles, fried rice, or bowl of soup noodles ... all very tasty. The fresh juices are very good as well - carrot & apple is my favorite. I have also eaten at the buffet, which is very good at 12 noon when the kitchens open because the food is at its most fresh. They have a good selection of starters, couple of soup choices, and many old favorites such as beef in green pepper, sweet & sour pork, roast duck, fried rice, Singapore noodles. Good value for £6.95 which is the evening price.