Banquet Chinese in Colchester

My family and myself visited Banquet for the first time in a while. I’m pleased to say that we weren’t disappointed, the atmosphere, staff and food remain as good as they always have been. We had a really lovely evening and thank-you for taking care of us.

I absolutely loved dining at this restaurant and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Chinese cuisine. I can confirm the presentation and quality is brilliant along with the portion sizes.

One of our all time favourite Chinese restaurants. The menu here is brilliant, unlike in every Chinese take away / resto, this beat Hutong without a doubt !!

Love this place for Sunday Dim Sum/ lunch. Really good food and good price. evening dinner is good....but not as good as Dim Sum The Sunday only specials are very good...especially the pineapple bun, egg custard tart( so yum) etc

Excellent as always, best Chinese restaurant around

The best Chinese food in Colchester !!!

Everything about this restaurant is great. The restaurant's facilities are very clean and maintained very well. The staff members are approachable and helpful. This restaurant offers the best Chinese food. I highly recommend anyone to try the food here.

The staff are really friendly and helpful. The food is amazing. Best chinese food in colchester

Appalling Experience at Banquet Chinese – A Call for Action We recently visited Banquet Chinese, 342 London Rd, Stanway, Colchester CO3 8LT, for a celebratory meal. As a group of middle aged NHS consultants we were expecting a pleasant dining experience. Instead, we were met with rudeness, unresponsiveness, and outright disrespect from the staff. From the moment we arrived, we were greeted with disdain, our requests for service were met with sniggering and dismissive behaviour when asked them to clear the used cutlery for our Auntray. Despite our patience, it became clear that the staff had no interest in treating customers with basic courtesy. Frustrated, we decided to leave after the starters, as it was impossible to get any reasonable attention. To add insult to injury: • They presented us with a bill that included a £20 service charge, despite the appalling service. • When we challenged the unfair charge, the situation escalated, creating a hostile atmosphere. • Rather than addressing our concerns or acknowledging the staff behaviour, the owner joined in and asked us to leave, which we were already doing. We felt humiliated and unwelcome—a shocking experience that no paying customer should have to endure. As professionals who value respect and good service, we have resolved never to visit this establishment again. Furthermore, we will be sharing our experience widely, leaving detailed reviews, and encouraging others to boycott Banquet Chinese to stand against such blatant mistreatment. If you believe that restaurants should treat customers with basic dignity and professionalism, we urge you to avoid Banquet Chinese and warn others. Poor service should never be rewarded, and we must hold businesses accountable for how they treat their patrons. Have you had a similar experience? Let’s stand together against disrespectful and unprofessional service.

If you are looking for a Chinese restaurant that does Cantonese Dim Sum outside of London in Essex, this is it! Decent sized, quality dishes at a very reasonable prices. Factor in free parking, a comfortable relaxed environment and attentive staff - Definitely recommended!

The selection of meals were fantastic - everything was so tasty but could have used some more spice. The service was also satisfactory - there were tons of people during that time, so it made sense that they were very busy. It was a lovely experience and would definitely recommend and visit again.

Best Chinese food I've ever had. Top notch food top notch service. Absolutely brilliant. Highly recommend. Staff nice and food was best tasting Chinese by a long chalk.

Our regular place for weekend brunch. Efficient service. Dim sum has improved over the years, certainly got better and better. Highly recommended.

I’ve been there for well over 10 times and it had never disappoint me, this Chinese restaurant is one of the top best in Colchester 100% recommend.

Have eaten here a few times before for special events or just dinner with friends and have always found the food to be delicious and flavourful. Our latest however will certainly be our last. The rice was ok, but everything else was either bland or poorly cooked. 'crispy noodles' were wet and stodgy in the middle and uncooked on the edge, topped with what seemed like bits of meat and fat and fish they couldn't use elsewhere. Prawns were clearly defrosted. Water we asked for tasted musty and had brown floating bits in the bottom of the glasses. Such a shame but for over 40 pounds a head this was just so disappointing.

Excellent food and service as usual.

Stunning in every single aspect

food was delicious, Excellent service... Very happy and satisfied definitely recommend :):)

Been here for years, always great service and great choice in recent years for vegetarians and cater for gluten free. Lovely team.

i had the soft fried noodles, egg fried rice and some pork. the noodles ended up tasting funny and once i got home i felt sick and had food poisoning.

Delicious food, busy place on Saturday evening

Great food this palce, staff and atmosphere just average.

Great Chinese food. Love this place - guess its good as its full of Chinese people!!!

Lovely food just as good as eating in!

Totally fresh and high quality Chinese food 10/10.

Great portions. Great service. Awesome food, for sure would come again 👍

Lovely dishes not badly priced and the staff can't do enough

Some dishes tastier than others, overall good.

Top notch food and service. Absolutely amazing .

Banquet Chinese in Colchester offers a fantastic dining experience! The food is savory, tasty, and has a richness that feels close to home. I loved the vibrant atmosphere, and the presentation was impressive. The staff were friendly and attentive, adding to the welcoming environment. As an African, I found the flavors wonderfully familiar yet unique—a must-visit for anyone craving delicious Chinese cuisine!

STOP CANCELING ONLINE ORDERS!!!!

Over priced by a mile. Satay chicken so overcooked we couldn't cut it and the rest of the food was just okay. Apparently the chef was off! So who cooked the food? Just reheated food and very disappointing. Horrified by the bill. Never again.

Sunday lunch, was very busy. Excellent dim sum menu, quality was top tier and service was efficient. Pleasantly surprised by the reasonable bill at the end. Couldn't fault it!

Been several times before but this will be the last , food missing waited 10 minutes for a dish after everything else had arrived massive black hair in another if the dishes , coffees cold and staff just down right miserable and at £160 for 4 I expect better .

Our go-to-place for dimsum, noodles and duck cravings! Affordable but immensely delish asian food. We always go here for the dimsum lunch. Nothing beats this place.

The food and service was of a very high standard, however, it was pricey especially considering the portion sizes. The set menu was priced per person, although the description was for a minimum of two people. Once the beautifully presented food appeared there was not enough for one let alone two. For the quality of the food ans service, I can recommend it, but if you want to be filled.up be prepared to spend the money.

The customer service level was very amazing. The food was so delicious and the atmosphere was exquisite. I will recommend this place to everyone.

First time tried Banquet. Everyone enjoyed their meals. The crispy chilli beef and chicken noodles were a big hit. Will definitely order from here again

We come to Banquet nearly every Sunday for Dim Sum and most definitely for any special occasion for over 7 years now. Food never disappoints, staff are super friendly, thoughtful & helpful, atmosphere is always incredible & our family HIGHLY recommends this gem of a restaurant ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

We have been here a few times before and the good had been good, but today’s visit was terrible, the chicken curry had no taste to it at all, overall food was very bland and tasteless. I do think it is very overpriced aswell. When we paid we explained that was wasn’t that happy with food and we got no response really . Not interested!!! We won’t be going back!!

First time visit, booked table for 730pm and the place was packed with no table available meaning a 30 min wait, no complementary drink offered. Lady who overseas the seating believe owner is quite rude and abrupt. Considering our table was not required later on in the evening and no real further people arriving past 830pm the whole process felt rushed, barely sat down and within minutes we were asked were we ready to place order, seeing the banquet set meal involves eating many dishes you really need that break between dishes coming out. On a positive note, the food truly was excellent, duck was quite fatty and the amount of hoi sin sauce provided is not enough. Some areas of the restaurant incl male toilets could benefit a deep clean (Cobwebs and stains on the walls and waiting seating area little grubby and needs a good hoover around plant pots etc. Food Price reasonable Drinks are expensive £6 pint and Beefeater Gin and Tonic is £10 exact which is pretty steep and more like London prices. Some background music that you can hear would have also been nice. You defiantly will not leave this venue hungry, very noisy so would not recommend a quiet couple type evening, all tables are round and seat around 4-5 persons..meaning your not cramped next to other public eating.

Great food but took a while to come 🫶🏽

One of the Best Chinese restaurants we have been too. Excellent service and Food was 5 stars 🌟

The food was overly sweet and sugary. I didn't like any of the dishes for this reason. For example, I remember eating the crispy pork and it felt like I was eating sugar. I was also weirded out that it was £5.50 for a small bowl of basic boiled white rice—slightly on the expensive side for a restaurant in Colchester. A decent Chinese restaurant in Central London charges £4.80. However, the ambience was lively and pleasant, and the service was good. Overall, the atmosphere is nice, service good, pricing overcharged, but the food is below average and has way too much sugar without other flavours.

Great, First time for me definitely going back for more.

The meal and service were perfect, we all had a wonderful time! Highly recommended

Fabulous food, venue and staff are lovely!!

Tried them for the 1st time and they didn't disappoint. wonderfully tasty and hot.

Fantastic food. My only complaint is you don’t offer your capital ribs unless I order the hors d’oeuvres for two.

Best delivered Chinese food I've ever had 👌

Some of the best Chinese food I've eaten, all in a wonderful setting and with excellent service. Absolutely gorgeous set menu,with the chilli garlic prawns and seafood mixed platter also great. For dessert, the custard hedgehogs are delicious,imagine a custard filled fritter.

Haven't been to Banquet for a number of years but decided to go as it was my daughters birthday. I have to say it was one of the best Chinese meals we have ever had. The quality and flavour of the dishes were superb. Service and atmosphere were also top-notch. It is expensive, but as a treat, we didn't mind, especially for what we experienced. There is a reasonable size car park at the rear with 2 disabled spaces. The restaurant is all on one level but there are stairs to the toilets. They have a platform lift for wheelchairs to lower them down to a reasonably sized accessible toilet. I would highly recommend this restaurant if your budget allows.

The food was satisfying and the reception was good, I would love to visit again

We were disappointed on our most recent visit. The seafood tasted very off / metallic, and most dishes tasted totally bland. Our mother in law was over from the Philippines so we were excited for her to try our favourite Chinese but ended up quite embarrassed. She put it down to them 'catering for the western palet'. A real shame as we had told her how authentic it was previously. We also ordered dumplings which we thought were forgotten. They came out about 25 mins after everything else. By this time we were already quite full and didn't really have the appetite for them anymore.. Not sure what's happened here, but for such high prices I can't justify going back for the poor quality we received this time.

We had the set menu, which was too much food for us. However, the food was really delicious. We would recommend this place to anyone who likes Chinese food.

Fantastic food, not cheap but definitely worth the price for the quality and portion size. Definitely advice getting the preset menu as getting to try some of a dozen dishes makes for an amazing food experience.

I went to Banquet for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed the food.The service was good, and I would highly recommend it. Although it took a while to get our orders because it was a busy day , overall, the service was good. I tried the hedgehog buns for the first time, they were great.

Quality food in a friendly Restaurant. Would highly recommend

We have been going to this restaurant for a number of years but today we were let down. We had raw food! The seafoods in our noodles tasted off. Standards have gone down hill. We were very disappointed!

We love this restaurant - everything is on point. Amazing dim sum!!

Best Chinese ever. So fresh and I don't have that feeling after that I've eaten tonnes of bad food. Really recommend it here. However second time I've kept my coat on as so cold.

The dim sum was amazing and the service great. Really impressed and I've been eating dim sum since I was born. Better than royal china

Absolutely fantastic food, service great they can't do enough for you.

Arrived at 12pm opening time, as soon as the food came in people were piling on in! Great atmosphere, and solid food. Missing the food from Hong Kong and now living in Suffolk, so this restaurant is a good place to go for any cravings 👍

Another delicious meal No din sum as chef is on Holibobs but still beautiful cooked and all staff so friendly and helpful Would recommend Another delicious freshly cooked mixture Honey roast pork prawn dumplings 🥟 Squid and more Chinese tea full of flavour Would recommend to everyone Staff all helpful and friendly

We had lunch at banquet today. We have been coming to the restaurant 15 years. Very disappointed today very first time. We asked they under staff as might of explaining of poor service. But they were fully staffed. We received 3 out of 4 starters we had no plate to eat off so had to ask as starter was getting cold waiting for to call waiter. Waited 40 mins for our main course. Asked about missing starter they cooked that we just had with main. Again had to ask for plate to then to start our main. The table cloth was paper and napkin. They always been cloth. We had to ask more tea as the tea pot wasn’t filled. The food wasn’t up to the standard we always had. Wondering it’s changed hands. Just very disappointed after coming here over 15 years. Won’t be returning anytime soon.

Wonderful as always, you’ll be hard pushed to find a better Chinese this side of Chinatown. The “Mama” is wonderfully engaging and runs the operation attentively, Dim Sum lunch is impeccable. Service is super efficient, it runs like clockwork. Go treat yourself !

First time ordering and I was not disappointed. The menu had plenty of options, many of which not often seen on Chinese menus, which piqued my curiosity. Quality was good, reasonably priced and the food had flavour. It arrived hot, and on time which is always a win.

Very nice food and staff were very helpful and polite. Reasonable prices when ordering the set menus, would recommend them Hong Kong and banquet set menus, lots of food and delicious.

Just been and picked up my food cooked in supersonic time thank you So Much for fitting us in and making the effort you guys and gals are fantastic what a credit your food is absolutely awesome ten out of ten 😀

This restaurant 😍 it's the best one that I found in 🇬🇧 Because for few years I was live in the house of a lovely Chinese lady. She used to cook authentic Chinese food, so I know Banquet restaurant team are doing an excellent job 👍 👌 I highly appreciate and recommend to everyone! Many thanks to all of you ❤️

The best authentic Chinese food in Essex.....this venue has evolved over several years and owners and is now a great authentic Chinese restaurant......the best In Colchester.

We had a lovely meal at Banquet, easily the best Chinese restaurant I’ve been to in Colchester. The Hong Kong set menu was well sized for two and didn’t leave lots left over at the end, the steamed charcoal lava buns were a nice treat to finish with. Booking is essential here, the waiters are attentive and the food is really authentic with nice décor surrounding you.

Always amazing service and food. Quick and delicious

Wonderful food, prompt efficient service -despite a very busy time. Will definitely be back

Me and my son had a lovely meal on Chinese New Year, will definitely come back.

Amazing food as always, our "go to" place for Chinese food

Lovely food but this time at end of lunch service the male waiter mis took a request for paper tissue as some sort of demand and clearly took us both by surprise with his outburst . My wife request was just to reaffirm our tea and napkin request was registered. We were polite and soft spoken but clearly the waiter had been upset by possibly other clients eating that lunch. We left after tea and napkin declining desert. Sad as this was my first lunch out with my wife alone for some time. I'm sure we will go back and eat here , I put it down to a bad staff day this time.

The food was average. The prices were not! I would not rush back.

For authentic dim sum outside of London's Chinatown, this is the restaurant 👌 And of course the menu continues. Do book ahead, and don't worry, prices are reasonable for the great kitchen and service.

Meal was amazing and service was reassuringly brusque. A very busy restaurant where we ate our weight in dim sum and a good vegan menu for my partner. I was a little nervous after some less than favourable reviews but having taken a chance, I’ll definitely be back again for the delicious food!

Great service and fantastic food, highly recommended. It has disabled parking just outside.

Delivery was quick, however for how expensive the restaurant is it was very disappointing. Over £40 AFTER discount is poor considering the quantity of food was not great. The appetisers for 2 (Costing £20) included 1 per person of the following - chicken skewer, small rib, small prawn toast, spring roll and some seaweed. Incredibly disappointing and expensive for such a small amount of food. Did not find the dishes particularly flavourful either. Unfortunately would not recommend.

My usual stop when I am back in England. The food and service is always exceptional

It was New Years Eve & they had obviously packed in a lot of people. One in & one out! The staff were extremely rushed to deal with a continually full restaurant & there were no times for any pleasantries. The set menu was good(although what we got wasn't exactly as the menu stated), but waiting staff were too harassed to mention this to ,if were there long enough to!! We felt like we were on a conveyor belt to eat, finish & go. What should have been a lovely night out was spoilt by the management being rather greedy in their bookings

I booked for my husband's Birthday as he loves Dim Sum. I searched restaurants in Colchester and picked them as he wanted Dim sum. We went to order and were told Dim Sum was sold out. We were there at 1900 hours. 1st waiter needed some lessons in customer service. The food was excellent and the other servers were kind and professional. The atmosphere was not for us. A lot of very loud groups. When my husband went to pay he said it was a shame that the Dim Sum had sold out. The girl at the till rudely shouted Dim Sum means lunch only!!!! Yet it's on the menu as a Dim Sum platter???? Then she said do you want to leave a tip. We declined and gave it personally to the 2nd waiter who was friendly.Birthday experience was not as I planned for my husband. World I go back... No!! Shame as food good but for 100 pounds for 2 I would expect better service.

Been a very loyal customer since the restaurant opened with most of our family meals costing in excess of £120 and having multiple birthday celebrations etc with yourself even hiring the private function room. I called today at 6:55 only to be told they stopped takeaways at 6:30 after explaining i’m a regular and not someone using them for one evening a year i was still declined service and find this very disappointing and feel better management would’ve really helped the restaurant out this evening.

Wonderful, authentic Chinese food. This is genuine and not your normal UK-Chinese-takeaway. You can really taste the smokey wok char on the noodles. Staff are very attentive. Best Chinese food in Colchester!

Amazing food excellent service price reasonable

Fresh tasty dim sum, staff are always friendly, family friendly

I'm extremely disappointed with this place 😞. We ordered a takeaway and the portion sizes (mainly starters) were very small compared to what you pay. The quality wasn't great compared to other Chineses in Colchester. I suggest looking at alternative Chinese this way, your get better value for money elsewhere.

Delicious food always, however long wait on delivery. Expected delivery times kept changing and delaying.

We are really satisfied by the delicious food and service at the Banquet Chinese. The dishes with beautiful arrangement and authentic taste are impressive. Definitely will come back and recommend it to friends.

The starters were expensive for what they provided - mainly deep fried and not much in the way of taste. The service was poor at lunch time.

The best Chinese food I've ever had, the staff and friendly and helpful and there is always a lovely atmosphere

Excellent food. Top delivery. Thanks

Went there for a dim sum lunch. Far too pricey…particularly on just two pots of Chinese tea (apparently they charge the tea per person on refilling the teapot with just hot water). I mean how expensive can the little tea leaves cost!? In terms of the stir fries (noodles & hofun), portion size too small compared to the price it’s charged. Quality of the food only so-and-so. Didn’t give me the buzz and definitely not as good as before.

Better than average Chinese cuisine. Good range of dishes. Reasonable prices.

Best Chinese along with yeungs in Colchester,especially when you see,many Chinese people eating in banquet,would recommend to anyone, not cheap,but worth it,

Ordered via Deliveroo, food came cold, it was not tasty, but definitely overpriced. If you’re looking for Chinese food, try somewhere else…