Madame Wu - Eagle Street, Brisbane CBD
November 15, 2018
Trying to find a modern Asian dining restaurant is not that easy here, so when searching for places to hold our engagement, there was limited places to choose from. Not wanting a typical Chinese restaurant with chandeliers and the interior, but wanting something modern, classy providing good quality food was what I wanted. Then I found Madame Wu, located on the top of Riparian Plaza in Eagle Street Pier, it boasts the views of the Brisbane river as well as a glimpse of the Story Bridge. That could work, I thought to myself, and so I decided to enquire and book it.
Due to the size of our group, we were advised that we were only allowed to choose to banquet menu of which I wasn't very keen on at first as I knew that we all would eat quite a lot and the usual way of dining in such a big group would be ordering many main dishes and sharing it with everyone on the table. However, since I asked whether there was a way for an exception of this to happen due to the event that was being held, they rejected and declined and said that only banquet menus were allowed to be ordered, nothing else. Although I did advise them that I would be spending much more doing that rather than paying for the banquet menu.
But they still rejected the offer.
So be it then.. I guess they'd rather lose money and not let us order more.. which would've been a benefit for them. They said that 'it puts a large strain on the kitchen' and 'it is very hard to get these meals up together' even if we did pre-order for the whole table for a la carte.
Also, the private dining room.. I don't even remember anymore why we weren't able to use it. Despite the fact that I did tell them we have older adults that would not appreciate having to be sat down on high tables and high chairs due to inconvenience. They were not able to cater a big group like ours anywhere else, it seems. As they did not have a normal table for our group size. Mind you, we were only a group of 10.
Not a very good experience from the start. Also, we tried to book in a time to come in and dine to try the food and see the interior first but they weren't able to accomodate even if we tried to book a table of 3 or 2 in advance.
The food came quite a while after we sat down, they were served in plates and bowls placed in the middle of the table. They did not however advise us that it was for everyone and each person was having 1 item each out of every dish placed down. So for example, a bamboo steamer had 2 or 4 steamed duck buns, that was for one per person. So basically, you don't get much despite the price you pay. A long plate of Tang Sui chicken ribs, was also for one each. They were sweet but juicy and had a slight crunch as the rest of them was soggy.
Crispy pork hock, stir fried kimchi and apple was an interesting dish however, it was another sweet dish but had that tang from the kimchi and apple but it was quite dry.
Stir fried wok green topped with house made oyster sauce and shallots.
We were wanting to also order a noodle dish as the banquet did not come with it at all, a tradition of chinese heritage, a noodle dish means a lot and prosperity as well for such an occassion. However, they were not able to cater this as well even if the restaurant was not full at all. They said that because of the time of the year, they were not able to do an additional noodle dish. Even if I requested nothing complex, even just with simple vegetables or some sort would suffice.
Would I come here again? Not when it is a big group but it's a maybe if it's a date. It's not convenient overall and ruins the whole experience and quality of the whole restaurant when they are not able to cater to your needs nor make an exception nor try and sit you elsewhere or let you order more? Which seems a bit dumb, when you are willing to pay for more, but somehow, not allowed to? This could be further improved to allow a smoother experience into line with the food and dining especially with the high end pricing for both food and wine.
*Please note that this is a delayed post, hence the menu may have changed since this visit. As we felt that the images should not go to waste, a written review has been made despite the delay.
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