Acceptable wait time for a Chinese takeaway

  • Crikey.. I've ordered a Chinese Takeaway at 19:00 and it got delivered at 21:00

We were blumming famished.

Oh.. It consisted of..

  • Chicken Chow Mein x2
  • BBQ Spare Ribs in BBQ sauce
  • Chicken Foo Yung
  • Beef with Cashews in Yellow Bean Sauce
  • Chips
I am a fat barsteward !!
Actually that was for four of us.



Cost £26 + £1 tip

Actually that delay only ever happened once. They usually say "45 mins" and turn up in 20 mins.
We now ring up at 18:00 and ask for it to be delivered at 19:30 and without fail, to the minute it's delivered.
 
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LeeUK said:
Chinese takeaway food is mostly precooked and chucked into a very hot wok when someone orders hence why it only takes a few minutes.

Not like I order from any round here, they are all disgusting rat infest hovels.
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even when it isn't pre-cooked some diced chicken, prawns etc.. doesn't take long

though throw in some big orders or have people ordering stuff that isn't just fried up quickly in a wok and obviously there will be knock on delays, especially on a Friday/Saturday

the core menu items are super quick to cook (pre-cooked or not) - I've seen a few small places run like a mini-production line... one guy running the till another guy behind a glass screen cooking... menu kept super simple with choices of different noodles/rice, different sauce, chicken, pork, prawns etc.. you just make your selection, take a ticket and the guy moves to the next person in the queue... few minutes later your number is called and you get your order - so quick for the guy cooking as all the prep has been done, he just needs to grab handfuls of the relevant prawns/chicken/whatever chuck in veg if required and fry it up then scout out some noodles/rice into the box and chuck in the contents of the wok on top

obviously the typical takeaway Chinese out in the provinces is one with a larger menu and run more like a so called "mom & pop" business - with a mixture of dishes that can be prepared easily and dishes that might only be ordered infrequently and presumably involve rummaging in the freezer or something...
 
People shouldn’t presume all Chinese take away are run like a factory, since almost every single one are independent and thus have been doing things their way forever so if they are generally fast then all of the sudden it’s 2 hours I can understand it’s annoying but if they always have a waiting time of an hour then don’t suddenly expect it to be 10mins.

Taking your expectation of another place to a new one is your problem. "Well, they can do it” attitude is replied with “why don’t you go there then”. It’s likenive had customers say “my local Chinese at X(100miles away) served Y item!”

I want to reply with “well, unless you are mistaken, you are not at your local Chinese.” Lol but of course I just apologise and say we don’t have X and Y item.
 
Raymond Lin said:
People shouldn’t presume all Chinese take away are run like a factory, since almost every single one are independent and thus have been doing things their way forever so if they are generally fast then all of the sudden it’s 2 hours I can understand it’s annoying but if they always have a waiting time of an hour then don’t suddenly expect it to be 10mins.

Taking your expectation of another place to a new one is your problem. "Well, they can do it” attitude is replied with “why don’t you go there then”. It’s likenive had customers say “my local Chinese at X(100miles away) served Y item!”

I want to reply with “well, unless you are mistaken, you are not at your local Chinese.” Lol but of course I just apologise and say we don’t have X and Y item.
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Almost every single fish and chip shop is independent too but they all have similar wait times. I know it's because it's far easier and everything deep fried but that isn't a point on it's own to justify wait times.

Fresh food takes longer to cook. You get the same issue even in mc donalds which is a fast food chain if someone orders a fillet of fish or a veggie burger. those need to be cooked fresh from frozen or however they are stored so end up taking 10 minutes instead of the 30 seconds it takes to knock out a big mac.

Anyway it can all be cleared up by him just phoning up before hand. anyone doing it any other way is wasting their own time. Call up and order a collection. The place will let you know roughly when it will be ready and all you need to do is turn up then pay and leave with your order. Any other way of doing it is just wrong unless your plastered then you can order a delivery.

the reason why i'm against delivery is it could be sitting around for ages before you get it. it could be sitting in the takeaway then sitting in the drivers car whilst they deliver 3 other orders before yours. all that time means it's not as fresh or as hot which spoils it. for example a lot of starters don't taste as good when they have been sitting for 45 minutes neither do chips, tandoori chapatis, etc.

the guy who says his local place is 200m away. you should be ashamed for ordering deliveries tbh. i bet if you picked one up even walking you will notice a difference in freshness if it's a busy night as your order could have been sitting there waiting on the driver to come back for half an hour.
 
I'm really surprised at those claiming 10-15 minutes. From phoning up to order to receiving it? Do you live opposite or something?
 
FARGO said:
I'm really surprised at those claiming 10-15 minutes. From phoning up to order to receiving it? Do you live opposite or something?
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Again, like I said earlier, those will be the ones just heating pre made stuff and churning it out or are dead quiet and will be poor in comparison with good ones.
 
FYI, I stood on the street in a queue for a bowl of ramen last week in Tokyo, good food is worth waiting for. I rather wait a bit longer for good food than pay the same and get it in 10mins and terrible food. Unless you are in a hurry, then which honestly, just get some toasts or something.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
the guy who says his local place is 200m away. you should be ashamed for ordering deliveries tbh. i bet if you picked one up even walking you will notice a difference in freshness if it's a busy night as your order could have been sitting there waiting on the driver to come back for half an hour.
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I think you're talking about me with my local curry house being 200m away. I meant I phone up to order a collection, rather than standing there like a lemon for 40mins like the OP :)
 
Scam said:
I think you're talking about me with my local curry house being 200m away. I meant I phone up to order a collection, rather than standing there like a lemon for 40mins like the OP :)
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40 minutes? As previously posted my expected waiting time is 10-15 minutes. After 20 mins I'm getting fidgety and the one time the 30 minute mark was reached I began questioning the staff.

FYI another man chipped in saying they should say so if a long wait is expected, I responded by saying that if it's much longer I'll cancel and request a refund. A reasonably attractive woman queried what would I do as an alternative to which I replied I'll have to go home and make beans on toast. She laughed.

Just then the food came out and for both of us and we chatted about local takeaways walking out to our cars, then we went our separate ways after wishing each other bon appetit. Would that have happened to an ultra organised phone orderer? I don't think so.

Another FYI to those who scoff at me for not having the organisational capability to arrange a delivery: Once or twice per month on the way home from work I get the urge for a dirty takeaway. After a long day and salad for lunch I just rock up at the Chinese and ask for some food, I don't have their phone number and don't want it.

It appears that many people nowadays can't differentiate between takeaway and delivery and a long wait means that the provider is cutting down bamboo shoots and peeling prawns to order!
 
bainbridge said:
40 minutes? As previously posted my expected waiting time is 10-15 minutes. After 20 mins I'm getting fidgety and the one time the 30 minute mark was reached I began questioning the staff.

FYI another man chipped in saying they should say so if a long wait is expected, I responded by saying that if it's much longer I'll cancel and request a refund. A reasonably attractive woman queried what would I do as an alternative to which I replied I'll have to go home and make beans on toast. She laughed.

Just then the food came out and for both of us and we chatted about local takeaways walking out to our cars, then we went our separate ways after wishing each other bon appetit. Would that have happened to an ultra organised phone orderer? I don't think so.

Another FYI to those who scoff at me for not having the organisational capability to arrange a delivery: Once or twice per month on the way home from work I get the urge for a dirty takeaway. After a long day and salad for lunch I just rock up at the Chinese and ask for some food, I don't have their phone number and don't want it.

It appears that many people nowadays can't differentiate between takeaway and delivery and a long wait means that the provider is cutting down bamboo shoots and peeling prawns to order!
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Rainman.txt
 
Collection: 10-15 mins
Delivery: 30-60 mins

Anything more than an hour and I’ll be annoyed. It’s also fruitless to call to ask where it is because the driver is always “on his way” :p
 
EVH said:
Collection: 10-15 mins
Delivery: 30-60 mins

Anything more than an hour and I’ll be annoyed. It’s also fruitless to call to ask where it is because the driver is always “on his way” :p
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Exactly. Plus many Chinese takeaways are cash only and I've found that on a couple of occasions when I did ring ahead they only start cooking it when I turned up to collect. Maybe they'd had instances of people ordering, changing their mind and not nothing to turn up and pay for the food.
 
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