Plaza Balti in Cherwell

It annoys me to have to leave this review as this restaurant used to be so good but it has gone down hill rapidly within the past 6 months. Too many times have things been missed off our order, with us only realising once back at home. The food is now mediocre at best with poor quality meat being used and varying amounts depending on which day of the week you order. Be prepared to have your order accepted by the restaurant and receiving a pick up time, but when you arrive you can bet it won’t even of been started. This is not the first time - yet the silly excuses come pouring out again and again. If you are looking for a reliable Chinese restaurant with top quality food, this is no longer the one to go for. I hope they sort it out and get back on track, but until they do I would avoid at all costs to avoid disappointment and wasting your money. Also £6.90 for crispy seaweed… come on!

Very friendly, good price and dog friendly. Nothing was too much trouble and great central location. We loved the pies and canal walks.

We decided to visit Shan Shui during a shopping trip to Bicester Village to celebrate my wife’s birthday. Instead of our usual grab-and-go from Pret, we thought we’d enjoy a nice sit-down meal given the occasion. Since the restaurant has been around for years and we’re big fans of Chinese cuisine, we thought it would be a great choice. Unfortunately, we were very wrong. We ordered a few starters and some dim sum, and the food was absolutely terrible. My wife actually had to spit out the chicken dim sum because it was so bad, something we’ve never had to do at any Chinese restaurant before. The taste was awful, and it left us questioning how Bicester Village could allow such a poor-quality restaurant to occupy such a prime location, especially in a shopping centre with limited dining options. We ended up returning the food and leaving without ordering anything else, as we didn’t want to let the bad experience ruin my wife’s birthday further. We didn’t even complain because it was meant to be a special day, but I wouldn’t recommend anyone waste their time or money here. We’ll stick to Pret or Itsu next time, and I strongly advise everyone to do the same.

Went for Sunday lunch and had a great experience all round. Food was great and value for money, as was the service from the staff. We even got a friendly wave from chef as we left after our meal. Will definitely be going here again.

We’ve always enjoyed visiting the cafe, unfortunately today we made the mistake of booking a table for lunch. The cafe had plenty of free tables, but we were made to feel very uncomfortable when we asked if we could move to another table? We were told they get very busy over lunch and because we were a couple we couldn’t sit on a table of four? Interestingly no other customers were asked to move and subsequently couples entered the cafe sat wherever they wanted!? We were asked when we left if everything was okay, we raised the situation with the member of staff, she just tapped her wrist? Totally spoilt our visit, made us feel undervalued, unwelcome and ruined our experience. Might benefit this particular staff member to undertake some customer service training? The food was exceptional, the environment is wonderful. Unless you are a larger group, don’t book a table just arrive early!