May's Chinese Restaurant & Takeaway in Cornwall, Isles of Scilly

Food was served quick and fresh, and May was a really nice person too. Will definitely come back. Too bad wasn’t able to take pictures as we were hungry

Have ordered multiply takeaways from here, and eaten in once. Always nice food, and good customer service, a great Chinese restaurant.

The waiters are attentive, the restaurant is very clean. But I didn't like the food. We ordered duck in plum sauce, beef with pepper, tom yum soup and vegetables in garlic sauce. The vegetables were good. The duck is sweet, I didn't feel the taste of that duck at all, the taste of the plum sauce too, sugar, just sugar, the same with beef, the soup was with a lot of ginger, but compared to the duck, it was normal. Now I'm worried that my love for Chinese food won't pass.

Nice food and atmosphere, quick service, especially given that it was at a busy time. Only criticism was that the prices on the online menu were a little bit off, with the total being roughly £5-10 more than expected.

I ordered sweet and sour chicken balls egg fried rice chips and chicken chow mein and all of it was cooked fresh and tasted amazing the chicken quality in the balls was better than most but the rest of the food was much nicer than most Chinese places They do eat in or takeaway and the staff were extremely happy and friendly

Really good simple well cooked food. The service is really friendly and prices are reasonable. Recommended. 😁

Good service. Excellent food. I have known May for many years and have never been disappointed with the food or service. The restaurant is very clean and pleasing

Best Chinese in Penzance. Absolutely delicious. Very friendly and professional service. Highly recommended.

First, and probably last time of using. I cannot agree with the glowing reviews. Vegetable Pancake Rolls- we were clear we did not want mini rolls. If these are full size I wonder what the minis look like. They were so small and thin there was very little filling. King Prawns in Oyster Sauce- the best of the dishes we ordered but the flavouring could have been stronger. Good number of king prawns King Prawn Balls Sweet and Sour- little flavour and small King Prawn Chow Mein- very small for king prawns and lacked flavour

Wonderful place to have a piping hot food

Restaurant must run on takeaways

I really liked Chicken chow min. Amazing service & good food.

Has got to be the best Chinese in town now by far fast delivery great customer service and the food was amazing

Fantastic food fantastic service friendly staff and very welcoming. Can't fault them would highly recommend

Delicious food, and the staff are all lovely!

Don’t Go. Don’t have home delivery. Ordered off their on line menu £25 to be told the price was £36. Old menu, sh*t food. Chips,old re fried,rank. Since when does special fried rice (half tub) come topped with all types of meat/prawn in a type of black bean sauce? Chicken chow mein, had much better else where. Kung Po chicken way way too hot. Curry sauce I’ve made better out of a packet. Didn’t even try bbq sauce. All for £36. I’d still be writing this even if it was £25

Got a takeout from here after reading the generally good reviews, however we were somewhat disappointed in the end. While the chicken and rice were all well cooked, as were the spring rolls, we felt the sauces we had with the various dishes were not great. The satay specifically was a strange texture and consistency. It wasn't for us unfortunately. Can't really comment on the atmosphere as we had takeout. Staff were very friendly and service was quick.

Great food delivered piping hot and within the hour.

We had a lovely meal at this restaurant. Service was very friendly & efficient they couldn’t do enough for us. Food was hot ,tasty & plenty of it .

Went in with my daughter, food was great, good selection. My daughter said it was amazing. Still good.

Just had a meal here ,the chefs special chicken satay was amazing,in fact the food was amazing throughout, highly recommend 😄

Good food and a lovely warm welcome.

Very friendly and great service Did it as a takeaway

Soso food. Not really big meal. Don’t choose pork.

What an amazing restaurant. The staff and Ms May were so very welcoming and very polite. My service was very quick without any issues at all. The food is excellent and I would recommend this lovely place to anyone. Thanks so much!! :-)

Best in Penzance, fresh, tasty and excellent prices and service!

Love May's Chinese. Great food. Arrives red hot. Lovely, friendly staff. Huge portions. 😋

Great food and friendly service!

Amazing food plus may staff great

2 hours for food, ridiculous. Called up and said they where on the way. The trip 2 way is 20 mins tops. It 5ook them an additional 45 ontop of the 2 hours. Won't be ordering again, the food isn't waiting that long

Friendly service, priced very reasonably and nice food

Lovely good seafood Fresh vegetables

Great place for a take away. We loved the Salt & Pepper King Pawns.

Food is always great, customer service is great too

Lovely lady at the counter, very friendly.. stopped at the premier Inn 10mins away so was dubious about walking back with it as a few reviews said it was cold on arrival but got back and everything still piping hot, food was delicious couldn't fault it! If I stay here again I know where I will be going!

Our usual was closed, so we tried here and we were unfortunately very disappointed. We went to collect when told and were made to wait another 10 minutes. Got all the way home (in a village outside of Penzance) and one of the main dishes for two members of the family was missing. No real apology, no refund on this one dish and had to go and collect it, back in to town, whilst the rest of the family ate their food and the side orders went cold. Food overall was well below any standard we would expect, loaded with msg so my husband had an instant headache and I felt very nauseas. The chicken balls we had gone all the way back for were very greasy and not at all appetising. Very disappointing and won't be returning here.

AMAZING! food was the best chinese iv had and iv eaten at a lot of places! they let us in tonight as a last min call on xmas eve and were lovely! food is amazing prices! merry christmas 🎄

After calling to get a meal delivered I was informed they didn’t cover the address Flyer stated 3 miles we are exactly 2.1 miles away, Drove to collect the food and I use the term loosely. We had the set menu for 2, I’m finding it hard to say anything positive about the food …. It was still hot when we dished up would be about it. Shocking genuinely the worst Chinese I’ve ever eaten.

Nice Chinese in the centre of Penzance, large portions and a free bag of prawn crackers as well. Just be aware that there are a steep flight of stairs as they are above another shop.

For anyone looking to dine at May please know this… these photos tell no lie they only tell the disappointing truth of May’s pour quality chinese cuisine. Luke warm food delivered by a grumpy driver that took an hour and half to turn up. Duck was good but sauce way to thick.

High quality food and fast delivery. Food was always hot on arrival and extremely flavourful.

Orederd food to be delivered at 8 15 now 8 50 not arrived very bad service don't recommend

We had shrimp hor fun and beef fried rice, both were excellent and great value for money. Fast and friendly service, too

Nice food, but it took 2.5 hrs to be delivered less than a mile away. Won’t be using them again. Shame for lack of communication. Only giving 1 star because I have to to post.

Brilliant food and the most friendly staff. Would definitely recommend.

Everything was delicious, didn’t seem to be generic deep fried freezer stuff - nice and fresh. Service was lovely and the ambiance was nice. For eating in, would definitely recommend. Did not try take away.

Delicious take away. The chicken fried rice was great.

Food was good nice and hot plenty of food and price was not 2 bad ,staff nice ,enjoyed my meal at Mays

Have started to come along with a friend every few Saturdays and we leave more than happy! Outstanding service and food - everyone is very friendly and accommodating! Will definitely be returning 😊

Fabulous meal tonight at May's. Perfect! ❤️

Excellent food at very reasonable prices cannot fault them while recommended give them a visit

Very quiet on Wednesday but as always the food and service were excellent

Nice people, food is good but prices are a bit high. I did like the lo mein.

Without doubt the best Chinese in Penzance I order food delivered but have frequently used this restaurant previously

We have been very loyal and regular customers of mays Chinese for 3 years now ever since we moved to the area. The food has always been amazing on time and piping hot and worth the money. I hate to write this as every experience has been great but the past 2 orders I have hard recently have been absolutely appalling prices have hit sky night and the food is rubbish. About a month ago I paid £35 for an order that was over 2 hours late also turned up extremely cold none of the food was enjoyable. Tonight I decided to order again which was a big mistake ordered at 5.45pm and recieved at 7.45pm again 2 hours late. Tonight the food was ok except the chicken balls & the chips. I was disappointed with the food I recieved tonight as my 2 year old will only eat chips and the chips were for him which he could not eat they were freezing and looked old…. Really not nice we ended up reordering elsewhere. :( so unhappy with my recent orders and sadly I won’t be ordering from here ever again. Photo of the horrible chips below ….

Take it from someone who’s lived in Penzance all of his life, May’s is a great place for takeaway, the food is delicious, the customer service from there is the best I’ve seen from a takeaway, I go there when I fancy a some beef in black bean sauce 5 star no doubt!

They lady owner is lovely and friendly. She was so welcoming and was happy to serve us. The food was cooked well and very tasty and the menu was good. The portion sizes were just right. The prices were not too dear.

Good food, nice atmosphere but a bit pricey for dining in. Takeaway is much better value

An excellent affordable Chinese takeaway in the heart of Penzance. May herself is the loveliest person in Penzance too and always greets us with a smile and asks us how we are. The food is always delicious, especially their chilli salt chips. We've tried a few places in Penzance and May's has come out on top each time so far. Would recommend!

Worst Chinese food ever. Sauce was grey color and tasted the same way. Not even that inexpensive so no saving grace there. As the other couple eating there left we heard the woman looking at the bill and using very colorful language to describe the terrible food. She took the words right out of our mouths. Oh, and cash only without telling us. 🤮

The food was excellent we was on holiday it was recommended by a local resident witch us all ways good

first time having a Chinese in Cornwall and its was very tasty, cooked well and service was out standing, very friendly made us welcolme, would really recommend it :)

Wonderful service and food from the most friendliest owner. The lady could not do enough for us. The food was just perfect and the welcome so warm and friendly. If we lived closer, it would be a regular restaurant for us. You will not be disappointed if you go here. Thankyou for a lovely evening.

Fantastic food, my favourite dish is crispy beef and I've had this in various locations but bever had better than I have at May's. Will definitely return next time we're near Penzance.

Brilliant food, lovely service from all the staff! A good old fashioned Chinese restauran! (Take cash they don’t accept card!!)

Best Chinese easy to order good hot food delivered

My partner and I fancied a Chinese takeaway while in the area, May's was recommended to us and I can confirm we were not disappointed. The food was lovely, wonderfully cooked and adequately priced.

Excellent food - Prawn toast, prawn balls, duck chow mein, crispy fried beef, egg fried rice. Excellent service - May is very friendly. Good price. £25.55 for the above.

Delicious food, kind staff and great service! even better than Chinatown in London, the only one I will come back again in Penzance. Strong recommend

Very professional, helpful, relaxing & welcoming we all enjoyed our meal. We found out which options are the gluten and dairy free ones. It definitely helps that there are gluten free staff. Definitely go back again. Prices are very good too.

Good choices and friendly service

This Chinese was not good, hair found in the rice and missing items on the order. I’m glad we didn’t dine in as it was outdated and cluttered

Great, attentive service from May with tasty food – I especially enjoyed the hot and spicy king prawn served on a sizzling skillet plate. While everywhere else seemed to be closed at 9pm on a Monday, we still managed to get a table for 6 to eat in at May's which saved our evening. Would recommend!

Love May's chinese, always really good food and exceptional service from May! May gives such a warm welcome and makes a delicious chinese. Best chinese in the penzance area.

Cash only without telling you before ordering. A staff was eating on the guests table for dinner, drinking a beer, chewing with loud noise and burping loudly which was seriously disgusting. The guest’s knife and forks were all the way on the table and he ate on top of them, after just left without changing them for the customers. Our plates were dirty and have a hair inside, with some food sticky on it. It’s pretty dirty. You can imagine this person can be the chef who cooks, or the person who handles your food with his hand, but he has a pretty low hygiene standard as a restaurant staff and this is just scary during the covid time. Of course no masks wearing. Disappointing.

What a nice lady , we been there in a rainy day whit a bags for travelling and we find amazing person inside really smiling the lady take our orders , food was nice and the cost was onest ,not expensive if i will have the lucky yo go again in thet area i will return for sure

Lovely takeaway, lovely prices, lovely food. Thank you.

May is so nice and she makes sure that everything is perfect for you, I left that building with a warm heart because of her kindness.

We had no problem booking a table at May's and had a lovely meal with very attentive staff. Even though they did not have lemon chicken on the menu they were very happy to make it for us. Lovely atmosphere and food came quickly and was served hot.

May is so lovely she looks after you :) lovely authentic food. Would definitely recommend for nice Chinese food.

May is always so friendly and her and her staff always attentive, oh did I mention the food there was great and not overly expensive.

Ordered for delivery. Rang about 6pm so we could recieve the delivery when we arrived home after an afternoon out and our taxi was booked for 6.30. They said delivery would be about 7 however we asked for delivery for 7.30 to give us plenty of time. 7.30 came and passed. Rang them about 7.50 and was told they were really busy it was on its way. Rang again about 8.10 and was told it would be about 20 minutes (funny it was on its way 20 minutes ago) 8.30 came.and went so rang again, and was told it would be a few minutes. Finally it arrived at 8.45. No apology No discount. The driver said we had to pay full price or it came out of his wages. And to be fair it wasn't the best chinese I'd had. An hour and 45 minutes late and it was mediocre at best. Wont be ordering from them again

Lovely food. Lots of vegetarian options. Friendly staff.

Lengthy delivery food was gloopy and inedible the noodles with sha Suy didn’t seem to have any meat at all I cannot recommend this takeaway

The food was cold. The main meals were thick and gluey and in edible the noodles with meat contained hardly anything other xand the noodles and the rice dish was just rice and noodles.very disappointed.

Sometimes there can be a bit of a wait but more than ok with this given the friendly service, May is always around and lovely too! Food almost always spot on, and if anything is ever wrong they'll happily fix it asap for you.

Ordered Chinese which they said would only take an hour, two hours later the food arrived only to be full of onions and chicken curry was definitely not chicken. Was cut into cubes and tasted of nothing. The sweet and sour chicken was also very very sour and tasted horrible full again of too many onions and sickly which isn't right for a full size meal. We also ordered last time which they made a mistake on and offered a discount on next order but this never happened. Never ordering again. Both myself and my father are unwell. Horrible!!

Best Chinese we’ve had in a while! Myself and my partner are from London and I wanted to compliment the customer service from May’s both over the phone and in person. The food was fantastic and it arrived early. Thank you to the team at May’s 👏🏼

Over 2 hours waiting for food cancelled an went new Hong Kong.

Food was lovely and tasty could be abit more hotter was only nuke warm when I received it also was overcharged for items i never ordered some staff was rude would return just could do with some improvement price little expensive could be more reasonable

Fantastic delivery service. Food always arrives hot and well packaged. Great Chinese takeaway.

Amazing, ordered yesterday and great service for delivery. The lady was super nice who answered the phone and food was here in just over an hour. We got loads of food for around £75 and it was super delicious. We will 100% order from you again

Had a take away from Mays last night, the chicken was really hard as if reheated in a microwave and I've had an upset stomach ever since. My husbands was OK.

Had several, all very nice, hot and delivery drivers fab.

Really enjoyed this place. Staff were friendly and food really tasty. Would definitely come back here again.

Really nice service polite and friendly staff great food😊😋

Food was awful to fine we had missing dishes or changed and then to call up and say they would replace missing or wrong items of which then other items would be cold never buy from here again

May is a wonderful Hostess. Nothing is to much trouble, she makes you feel like you are family. The food is excellent, definitely the best in town and being local i have tried them all. The restaurant is always immaculately clean and has a great atmosphere. She also does the most amazing special banana fritters, completely different to the soggy syrup coated ones of other restaurants.

May's Chinese Restaurant the best for miles we came down from London to see the mosehall and Newley Christmas lights the food was excellent very large portions the ribs were the best l have ever tasted Mrs May looked after us personally and was very attentive nothing was to much trouble ,the buffet was of the hights quility as we were early we ordered off the menu before the buffet was put out and lets us order what was on the buffet and cooked it accordingly best food and of the highest standard and quility

A very pleasant experience, authentic Chinese food, delicious and not expensive, name and praise 👍 For 13 pounds, you can have a buffet, you can eat whatever you want, very nice!