NEW ORCHID GARDEN RESTAURANT LIVERPOOL – MINI REVIEW!
If there is one thing I dislike, it’s establishments that do not keep their word…and treat customers like dimwits! How about you? Well the New Orchid Gardens restaurant seems like a great place to celebrate anything, or that’s what we thought…
A bit of a back story….
We have been to this restaurant when it was under a lovely couple Stan and Gill. Nothing was ever too much for this lovely duo. Sadly they have passed on since our last visit. The new management are something else, yet still...
So we had a celebration to plan as you do, and we were looking for a Suitable location that has the swag. We wanted a private space with ambiance, free or affordable parking, good food and of course the space to handle at least 14 people maybe more.
We usually head to the Liverpool Docks area, as the views are fab…This time we decided to stick to somewhere more local. And The New Orchid Garden won the lot, we liked it, and we thought it would be great for our party…How wrong could we be… 🤔
On Saturday 12th May evening, we visited the establishment for purposes of confirming if it would handle our needs and if so, book it. We had looked at a couple of other establishments, yet we have been to most for our family celebrations. So, we felt a change was due…ohh how wrong we were!
No spoilers here so read on….
When we went on our research mission at the new orchid garden restaurant, it was in full swing. It usually was busy 6 days a week when Stan and Jane were in charge. So it wasn’t a surprise that it was busy with dinners enjoying the oriental cuisine in their general downstairs space.
I met a man right at the entrance who was apparently the new owner. He wanted to know if I had a hooking?
I explained why I was there and that I wanted to check out their function room upstairs…With a view to booking it for the next Saturday evening for a private party.
My first question was,
- Am I talking to the right person, the answer was Yes.
- Was the function room available for a private party the Saturday of Prince Harry and Megan Markel’s wedding Again I was told YES.
- Could I take a look and see if it was a good fit for my intentions? To be honest I knew the room is well decorated and laid out. See images below…
But of course, he said…
He asked me why do you want the room, why here? I found that a bit weird, but hey, he was the boss. See, we wanted to have a party at the New Orchid Gardens from the first time we had a meal there and noticed the upstairs space! …I replied that it has the right look, semi private so it may suit my purposes…Of course I had other options, yet, I felt this was the right time for this establishment! How wrong I was, how I miss Stan…
You can imagine my excitement when the “manager” confirmed that I could book it for our private party. He also confirmed that No one else had booked it for our desired date/time. So, all I had to do was make a deposit, confirm date, time, be aware that we cold only order form the Banquet Menu and that’s it!
I made my booking, paid a deposit and he insisted on a specific number of people. I explained that I was expecting 14 maybe more or less.
He insisted on a number and advised that it was for planning purposes and also setting the place. I reiterated that I would confirm during the week but that we could go with 10. By Wednesday, I would have the full number and let them know, just to set the pace…
Now, I thought all I had to do was confirm our party numbers and let the management know. We even talked about delivery of the cake & Balloons for extra zing to the party & the surprise…
So I thought that all that’s left is prepare my glad rags for another episode of TRHWOL ….
Sadly it was not to be at the New Orchid Garden…
DON’T LET APPEARANCES DECEIVE YOU – New Orchid Gardens Shock #1
The next Tuesday I received a call from a woman asking exactly how many people would be joining us? And was it okay for our party to be moved to the downstairs public, open space? She said she had an inquiry for the same date/time by a larger group in the same space…She was just asking… Frankly that was okay, after all she was inquiring…or was she?
Remember I had made it clear from the get go that I was only interested in the upstairs private space for our own private do. Unknown to me, I had spoken and booked with the Restaurant owner himself!
I had also made sure we were the only booking for the day/time
I had put skin in the game with a deposit…
Don’t you think it was preposterous of them to call suggesting I could be interested in holding our do in the, public restaurant space? After I had made it clears we were only interested in the upstairs for a Private party!
The woman said it was just an inquiry and its okay, she was just checking to see if we were okay with moving or sharing the space with another group! She assured me our party was safe…And how many people were coming again? I told her 14 people, but could be more…
She went, well you booked for only 10… I told her no, 10 was the number the manager wrote to make the booking. It wasn’t my definitive number.
Guess what, the games continued. The next day Wednesday, a couple of our guests stated they were coming with their children. I thought, the more the merrier, for business as well…And I made the confirmation call to let them know the final number of expected guests…
Oh My Goodness, I opened a hornet’s nest… The woman I spoke to, got a bit hedgy and said I cannot confirm that number…I Was like no I am confirming the number, there is more than enough room upstairs for 22!
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Well shock #2.
So, when I called the New Orchid Garden restaurant to let them know the exact number of people I was expecting as 22 including our friend’s children. This is when I got to learn the duplicity of the management! They had unknown to us booked a second party in the same space, same day, and I bet they had hoped to get away with it on the day… Looks like the other party had 20+ people…
Don’t get me wrong, we are business owners and who doesn’t want more custom…? Apparently this restaurant…
The woman I spoke to pretended she needed to confirm if it was okay to have ax extra 8 people…In my mind I saw no problem after all the space could sit 35 people easy. Plus there are easy chairs and tables so more seating! Of course I didn’t know about the double booking … Next I was speaking to a man who got into a tirade about how I was causing a problem, I had put them in a fix, I was being unreasonable increasing my party numbers by 8 extra people… WHAT?
Unfortunately, he tried to lay all the blame on me. In his words from 10 to 22 over 100% increase is being unreasonable, Unrealistic, and Unfair… 😳😱 WHAT?
He too tried to get our party moved downstairs. I wasn’t having it…. I had been assured we were the only booking for the day. And ours was the only entry in the diary because that’s how it was booked. Plus I has put money down!
He insisted that the other party had booked 2 weeks before ours! NOT TRUE because, I SAW the Diary during our booking and we were the only entry in their book for Saturday 19th May 6:30pm. PLUS, the call I received on Tuesday by a staff member totally nullified heir argument. She was asking if we could
agree to be put downstairs as they had an “INQUIRY from a BIGGER Party about using the Upstairs space! Really!!!
3 phone calls later, all the while blaming me and making me feel like it was all a favour for me…like I wasn’t going to pay. This man said it was all sorted and our party was on plan …Phew! This was 6pm Wednesday, Yay…I thought all sorted…Ha, not so fast Jose….
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#New Orchid Gardens Shock #3.
I receive a call Thursday evening almost 8pm allegedly from the original person I booked with, who happens to be the business owner. He said so…🙄
He insisted I was being unreasonable adding an extra 8 people to our party. Esp. Now that I knew there was another party…So he had made the decision to move our party to downstairs. He said:
Sylvia, I will give you a bit of a discount…(Note no specific discount, after I was blamed for their debacle) He said I will make sure we lay out a nice space for you downstairs!….He goes, “it isn’t about the money…, I just cannot squash two parties in one place, it just isn’t my style. (Really after stating it was free for just our party.)
I am happy to refund all your money if you are not happy with this alternative…
The cheek! The very same man I had made it clear why I wanted the upstairs more private space. The very man who had assured me it was FREE for the date and time and that we would have exclusivity! I was flabbergasted, disappointed, and sad…Na scratch that,
I was so upset. I had exactly 36 hours to Find an alternative and save my hubstar’s Birthday celebration! Your Dr Kalungi! I couldnt see us going there after the way they spoke to me and changed their word every minute…BAD Business and karma!
And, why would a business owner reneg on his word? Why would they treat a customer like a dim wit? I knew I had to share our experience…don’t ever let the cover of the book lure you, however nice it may look!
Let’s look at the overall….
Don't ever let the cover of the book lure you...
Pkjulesworld chilli 🌶 Rating for New Orchid Garden restaurant
Location by the old Alder Hey Hospital roundabout. This is not a great location, esp. with the dust coming from the deconstruction of the old hospital. Yet, in L12, it is local to us and very popular in this middle and high end neighbourhood. So we thought it would be fine. We love to support local businesses. AND we used not to mind all this with the old management!
Ambiance and amenities – the private upstairs space is on point, it has that luxury look Semi-private, that’s why we had chosen it.
The bathrooms are clean and well kept, again, why we liked it. BUT…
Downstairs CAN BE overcrowded on a busy day, which we have found on the occasions we visited. They used up every available space. Okay for general dining out. Not great for a private party.
Parking is under par….there is No parking for customers unless you call finding a space around the residential streets. Lots of double yellow lines around here, so you could find your meal up your throat with a parking ticket!
Service – well we were not served, in fact, we were treated like they were doing us a favour from the word go. Double booking is common in the hospitality industry, yet its is extremely disrespect to the customer…and on this occassion, NO!
Food -Again we were not served, this time. We have been there before and it was Really Great. According to other regulars, the service and quality has suffered greatly since Stan’s passing! Not fantastic, just okay. Many have had better…Many wont return, that’s sad!
Cleanliness, it is okay, thank goodness.
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Pkjulesworld rating 2 Chillies 🌶 🌶
WHY so low?
It really is simple! And you can be the judge…
“a brand’s word must be their bond.” They broke their word with no Apology and disregarded the client. Stan and Gill would never ever have done that!
Plus, parking is essential even if it’s paid for, if one is to enjoy their meal without worrying about busy parking ticket attendants…
Nuff said.
So while the New Orchid Garden private space still looks nice, the NEW management ruined the restaurant for us. We’ll never trust their integrity again and we wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else for a private event!
Unless you wish to be squashed up with some strangers or worse still, told you were unreasonable etc etc…
We won’t be returning our custom any time soon. And on checking Trip Adviser reviews, looks like we aren’t the only ones who miss the good old Service and amazing food. BUT, You are free to visit though, because different strokes for different folks!
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Dr Pauli & Julie Syl Kalungi
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Such an honest review – it’s so important to hear these kind of stories to not get fooled.
Thanks Lima, we keep it real ad grounded over here at Pkjulesworld! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
I’m shocked to be reading this. What an awful way to treat customers especially when you had prebooked, paid money towards it, they had the space and had no other bookings either initially. I doubt they will last long treating clients in that way.
We hope for their sake as business owners that they change their attitude and fix the problems hundreds of reviewers are pointing out too on Trip Adviser Melanie!
I hate when things get double booked. It’s my huge pet peeve!
Thats our travel Pet Peeve too Rosey 😉
Wow sounds like a terrible experience. That doesn’t bode well for their future in hospitality.
Exactly Michael and We hope the get their act together and fix that attitude fast!
Oh my gosh! That’s horrible. I live in small city and we have lots of homegrown Bacolod restaurants. But when we book a function room, we are always informed if there is somebody booked on the same day so we can look for an alternative. If we are going to reserve the place temporarily, the management would call us to confirm because somebody is interested.
Clearly the management is the wrong here. They were much too greedy and not educated on customer service. Grrrr…. what a joke!
Thas the thing Sigrid,
They were two faced about the whole booking and went ahead and booked a second party all the same, and hoped to make us believe they had made the booking 2 weeks prior. Customer Care is Kind!
Wow, that is insane! After working in social media for so long, I shake my head in disbelief when I hear these types of stories. Don’t businesses understand that word of mouth and reviews can make or break any business?
That is the word Trina. Some businesses treat customers like they are some kind of dimwits and that right there is the end of the Lifetime Value of that Client to the Business! !
I am actually fuming for you, it is unbelievable how the staff treated you and that they turned their back on their word by claiming you were the one being unreasonable and not them. They definitely need a course in customer management because clearly they have no idea as to what they are doing!
Thank you Anna,
We felt that they definitely need some training, sadly the OWNER was the ring leader! We hope they will find this resource and up their game on customer care!
Horrible. These types of people still get away with it. I hate their kind. I just wish we had some kind of recording system where everything is recorded, noted and jotted down.
Wow what a terrible experience. Have you posted on Yelp? We hope the celebration was great at the new location.
We shall post on yelp as well! Thanks for the tip Twinspirational! 🙂
What an experience! Any business owner so lacking in people skills and in integrity will surely not last long.
Very baaad! I’d definitely go mad with such a treatment. For sure, nothing sucka like a place that doesn’t meet its expectations, and not because the management can’t but because they are lacking! First thing: customer service is always essential!
Many restaurants get into trouble when they double book, it’s no wonder that restaurants continue to do this because it often ends in a disaster. I’m sorry to hear about your poor experience.
Thank you Elle,
We hope the New orchid Garden and other restaurants pick a leaf from this! 🙂
I tend to be decieve by the cover of anything, however I am aware of the bad habit. Thank you for reminding me to be more open.
You are welcome Betzy!
Customer Service is such an important part of the experience. I wish more restaurants really took that seriously.
Exactly Holly, and we hope the New Orchid Garden restaurant learn this lesson! 🙂 We now can share our experiences digitally…so one’s pain is no longer kept local!
That’s alarming! How disappointing, it’s a business and he should know how to deal with customers better so that it can keep growing. I’m sorry you had to experience that. Terrible.
Exactly Carol,
New Orchid Gardens needs to remember that customers make or break a business. And that there are numerous Oriental cuisine restaurants in much better locations.
Anyway enough of that. We hope they get their act together! 🙂
I love the decor of the restaurant but that is just not right. I am so sorry to hear this!
Kate, that is exactly why we thought we could get away with a great day here. Despite the drop in service we had noticed we felt the ambiance would make up for it.
Thats why we said dont judge a book by its cover!
I totally agree!
Thank you Kate
Ugh well that is just no fun. I am so sorry you had such a negative interaction with them!
This is a horrible experience. Unfortunately, many restaurants have become very unprofessional. I’m glad you shared this with us, to save other people from this experience.
You are right Jelena, we had to share to help the restaurant also change if they get the message. We hope they do. Because they took over a good old business! 🙂
Oh no! This is so annoying and completely unfair on your party and plans, so upsetting! Did you even receive an apology at least? Wrong way of doing business all together!
Hey Amalia,
We got what they thought was an apology when we picked up our deposit. Otherwise the telephone conversations were the worst I have had in customer service yet!
So sorry to hear about your awful experience. I’d probably go berserk if something like this happens to what supposedly was a well-planned party. 🙁
Wow! love the decor in this restaurant! looks just gorgeous!
Sounds to me like greed got in the way. His short-sightedness will cost him big time in the end.
Thats the thing John,
Greed can be such a joy killer. we hope they change that before its too late!
I don’t get deceived often, but I certainly have in the past!! I remember being in Vietnam with my family and we went to the second city on our agenda and our tour guide met us and recommended “the best restaurant in Da Nang”… Yeah, IT WAS ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING – the most vial food I have EVER eaten in my life. OMG I can’t even think about it without wanting to vomit! lol
That is such an unfortunate experience, I’m so sorry to hear that! I hope they find this and take it to heart.
Bad service can ruin a great dining experience, even if the food is tasty. Restaurants need to remember people go out to eat for the entire experience, not just the food.
Thats the thing Cindy! glad you understand our predicament!
What terrible customer service this is, I am flabbergasted to hear how poorly you were treated! I hope you managed to find somewhere in the end.
You can imaging Elizabeth. It was shocking!
Well, you couldn’t really control those people around you. This serves as a lesson. Thanks for the honest review.
Hi Hannah,
Indeed We couldn’t and neither could we abandon our children at home just so we could keep the numbers to their convenience..as they were suggesting lol!
I am so sorry you had such a horrible experience trying to book it for your party. Maybe next time you could ask for an email confirmation or paper confirmation? That way your have a legal paper trail documenting what they actually said and promised.
Hi Tayler,
I had a Receipt with the booking details and I was physically present as the booking was made in their DIARY! With no other booking on the same day! Yet they had the audacity to claim another party had booked 2 weeks prior!
We have had less confirmation and had a great time for a simple Birthday Party! 🙂
Looks like a wonderful place. Too bad you had a bad experience.
Exactly Blair…thus he title! Don’t be blinded by the cover! 🙂
This sounds like a nightmare from start to finish. I probably would have been done way when they asked if you had a “booking”. Unprofessional and if I ever run across this establishment I will definitely avoid.
It was a nightmare by Wednesday and I should have looked for an alternative then, yet I trusted that we had made a deal and this time It was sorted…ha! Anyhow, all is well that ends well Victoria! 🙂
It is always important to provide good customer service. I can see why you are not recommending this place.
Thank you Christina and we hope to raise awareness not to bring the business down, rather to help them raise their game and serve the people that bother to bring our monies to their business so they can grow and we can be served. everyone happy!
Its okay to have multiple bookings, as long as you dont double book a specific space and then make one feel like they are kinda unrealistic just so you can keep the bigger booking and also try to keep the undermined customer’s custom! 🙂
That’s enraging! I mean you booked it first. The management here is truly terrible for allowing this to happen. If at all they should have booked you for 15 and then decreased from there just to make sure they didn’t overbook.
Thats the thing Heather.
When I counted the available seating space on the booking day and took the images in this post. I knew we could have 30 people and we wold still have room to breath! But hey, its their business, we wish them better management style, minus our custom!
I am a sucker for good customer service. The food could suck, in my opinion, but if I was treated nicely then they’ll get a good recommendation with a reasonable recommend on the food. Doesn’t sound like management has their act together.
We are the same Brandy.
We can always take the hit on food, if the customer service is spot on. And so we were shocked at the New Orchid Garden Management lack of it. The venue looks okay, they need to get their act together! So many people miss Stan and Gill!
We have had that happen at a local establishment here. The prior owners were exceptional, they were family. Then they had a falling out, the place shut down and new owners recently opened it up under the same name. It really is not a welcoming environment anymore and the town is very upset about it. I haven’t dared go in with all of the negativity surrounding the place. I would rather keep my good memories of going there with the prior owners. I also had an experience at a place about two hours away from me, while on the road traveling, they were a $90 per plate place. Delicious food, but the service was so bad, the hosts or servers made me feel extremely uncomfortable. It’s so weird to me that people would work in this type of industry and not enjoy it. I assume that’s how poor customer service happens {not doing something they enjoy, just trying to pay the bills}.
Ohh my goodness Brandy Sorry you had a similar experience. We definitely wont be returning to the New Orchid Garden Very soon. Customer service is the key to A business success!
We must make it happen!
Jules
Aw, I’m so sorry you had such a negative experience! That’s awful.
It is well Ashley
We found our mojo and had a ton of fun at ChungKu. So New Orchid Garden’s Management style did not manage to steal our joy!
Wowww all the drama. I hate businesses who conduct themselves like this. I hope they learnt a lesson. Well done for keeping your cool!
Hello Eboni,
We sure hope the New Orchid Garden Restaurant Management change something big time! Thats why we wrote this Review!
This sounds terrible! I hate when things like this happen. Hope you found a nice alternative in the nick of time!
Hi Ann,
We sure found an alternative thank God and we loved our do, we stayed till late and they treated us like Loyal customers are treated at ChungKu restaurant.
So New Orchid Garden’s loss for sure.
When I opened this post i thought like other posts it would be like how great it is. I was shocked to read about their duplicacy moreover their hypocrisy. After reading the history of that place I thought it might b great but….. I love the way you explained word by word.
Hey Moni,
It was sad indeed how they behaved and acted like it was my fault for Asking to be their loyal customer. A lesson in how not to treat clients! Now we know better and we hope other people hear about this!