Guangzhou Caidian Restaurant: My RANT! Seriously, AVOID THIS MAJOR PITFALL!!!
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Ah, friends, I need to share with you my "food-seeking" experience in Guangzhou, especially my visit to the trendy dim sum restaurant, “Caidian”. This is something that caught my attention and deserves your careful listening!
Preparation before Arriving
- On April 20th, before leaving Guangzhou, I had been eager to try "Caidian," which many people recommended as authentic Cantonese dim sum dining.
- I scoured XIAOHONGSHU (an app where many young people share their experiences and travel tips) for highly recommended dishes, building up great anticipation!
- Prior to the visit, I even pre-booked a table on MEITUAN (similar to Yelp or Dazhongdianping, an app used to book tables or order takeaway).
Experience at the Restaurant (When Misfortunes Began!)
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Upon arrival at the restaurant, it took us about ten minutes to be seated.
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Chaos in Service:
- Once seated, no one tidied up our table immediately (given it was busy, we tried to understand).
- It took around five more minutes with still no sign of service, nor menus given. Unable to contain myself, I asked the waitstaff who replied, "Just wait, someone will bring the menu shortly."
- Another five minutes went by with no interaction. Moving across to seek assistance from another attendant, I received the same response.
- It finally occurred to me that I would not be able to bear this further! The servers seemed overwhelmed yet focused elsewhere, ignoring our table. Realizing I might miss my train departure at half-past six, I directly approached the staff who led us there, requesting help. At this point, a neighboring table arrived after us and already had their food served.
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Tea Brewing Drama:
- When ordering, we requested Pu'er tea (a commonly offered fermented black tea served during early morning meals in Guangdong). The server threw the tea bag onto the table and walked away without filling the pot.
- (As a first-timer, I didn't know this restaurant’s teapot could be refilled automatically by pressing a button!) I nearly picked up the tea bag to attempt soaking in a small cup instead.
- Ten more minutes passed until a waiter detected the absence of tea and guided us on how the automatic function worked.
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Order Errors:
- After completing the order, it took three minutes for the table's order slip to even catch the waiter's attention. I decided to deliver it myself.
- Five more minutes waited till the order slip was returned after confirmation. Checking then revealed my ordered porridge was left off! It took nine more minutes to get the revised order slip with corrections.
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Mystery Dish Switch:
- Our first dish was labeled “Imperial Chicken Legs.” I recall only ordering one set of these crispy texture chicken claws, a classic feature of Cantonese early morning meals, typically steamed and presenting a wrinkled tiger-skin finish.
- As per the menu image, I expected tiger-skin styled chicken claws, yet we were presented with smooth-surfaced legs. In jest, I joked about the phrase “Pics may differ.” (At 35 yuan for four pieces, it wasn’t cheap!)
- Post-dinner with a subsequent serving of beef belly black fungus intestine, it emerged that my order was incorrectly adjusted to “Soy Sauce Glazed Chicken Feet,” leading to the earlier discrepancy.
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Adrenaline Rush Leaving:
- Halfway through, realizing I would never make it to the train, I rushed to settle the bill and package uneaten food.
- The original orders of chicken claws and shrimp dumplings weren't among what we packed initially. With a plan to cancel those, things spiraled when the server returned them after the payment settled—a clear disregard for our prompt requests!
- No choice but to pack everything again, which added another delay, and caused me missing the train.
My Grievance
- Despite our tight time schedule (entering the seating area at 4:40 PM for a 6:30 PM train), more efficient and error-free service ensured would have allowed additional time buffer post-meal.
- You can clearly see the high operational faults rate here—out of just a few dishes ordered, multiple errors and hitches pushed back our timetable, misplacing our train and costing additional fare adjustment fee. “Caidian” bore significant responsibility for this outcome.
Food Taste (Objective Review)
- That... (To keep suspense and a cliffhanger, this section might be detailed later by the author.)
️Lessons learned from this incident / WARNINGS & TIPS ️- Treat Trendy Cafes with Caution:
- Even with extensive internet recommendations, inadequate service could present itself.
- Especially during peak hours with crowded clientele.
- Carefully Select during Time Crunches:
- If you have critical deadlines like catching a train or flight, we strongly recommend adding an extra buffer time of at least 1-1.5 hours or rather chose a more efficiently run restaurant instead.
- Always Check Orders:
- Upon receiving the order from the server, ensure the quantity and types of prepared dishes are matching your confirmed order sheet, preventing any further complications.
- Proactive Communication when Faced with Service Issues:
- If wait staff respond with "Wait just a bit" but ignore repeated waits, take it upon yourself to request attention or contact higher authority personnel.
- Unfamiliar Utensils? Consult Confidently:
- Like the self-refillable teapots common across establishments, always ask waiters for instructions if unsure how to use them properly.
- Attention During Packing/Cancellation:
- During packaging or cancellation of certain dishes, maintain alertness and verify actions taken by staff match your request, avoiding situations similar to the unexpected return of dishes cancelled during your process.
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It feels like these are specifically designed to rip off tourists. You know, those Guangzhou restaurant posts that keep popping up on your feed? They're all just marketing hype, targeting people who haven't really experienced dining in Guangzhou.
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Yeah, that's what I was saying. The taxi driver also told us that most of the well-known, authentic yum cha places pretty much taste the same.
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Caidian actually offers decent value for money, and the prices aren't a rip-off. However, their biggest issue is how slow the service is!! The food often arrives lukewarm, which totally ruins the taste. So, among all the tea houses offering around a 50% discount, I'd rank this one last.
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It's not even the slow service that bothered me; I actually thought the food came out at an okay pace, at least within my expected timeframe. What really got to me was how they just left us hanging after we were seated, and then on top of that, they made so many mistakes with our order, which wasted a ton of our time.
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Overall, if you have plenty of time, it might be worth a try. When I was in a cab, I asked the driver (a local), and he mentioned that for authentic Guangzhou yum cha, you don't necessarily have to go to Caidian; places like Taotaoju (and another one whose name I forgot) are also good. I only went to Caidian because I saw it hyped up so much on Xiaohongshu and just had to check it out.
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It's a classic case of 'you get what you pay for.' If you want good service, go to Taotaoju; if something like this happened there, you could definitely complain. But Caidian caters more to the local neighborhood crowd. As a local myself, I'd say if you go to places like this, you just have to be extra vigilant, allow plenty of time, and don't expect anything beyond cheap prices. Those online recommendations for Caidian are often wildly exaggerated for clicks – the restaurant might not even be paying for that marketing. It's best to take those posts with a big grain of salt.
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Okay, a quick word on the food itself (no hard feelings here!). The beef brisket in the rice noodle rolls was tender, but some pieces had such a strong, unpleasant gamy taste it almost made me sick. The noodle rolls themselves were bland (I don't think they were tossed in any sauce), though they were steamed soft and you could taste the rice flour. The soy sauce chicken feet were meaty and firm, and the soy sauce was quite flavorful, probably specially seasoned. However, the toenails on the chicken feet were black, which was pretty off-putting to look at. Luckily, I don't eat the toenails anyway!
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The crispy taro paste bun was really good. The crust was perfectly crispy, and since it was freshly baked, it had this wonderful, fragrant milky aroma. I thought the taro paste itself tasted quite fresh too.
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Hey dear, next time you should try Hengbao! I spent a day in Guangzhou before heading to school and made a special trip there. It was about 30 RMB per person for my sister and me, and we were stuffed. The food was pretty good, and the staff were super friendly and quick – clearing tables, handing out menus, taking orders efficiently. Their siu mai and chicken feet are delicious, and the Tzai Zuk (boat congee) is good too. The only miss was the red rice noodle roll; it was cold when it arrived, so maybe skip that one. We didn't get to the shrimp dumplings because we were too full. We ate about five or six dishes between the two of us and were completely satisfied.
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I'll check it out if I get the chance.
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I went there today too. It was alright – good for a bite or two, but it gets a bit rich if you have too much. It's probably best to go with a group of four, so everyone can just have one of each item.
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The annoying thing about the takeout was they only gave me gloves—no spoon or chopsticks! I wonder if trying to eat congee with my hands will make me look like a complete barbarian.