The Old Cathay in Harlow

We had a takeaway from here. The rice was like boil in the bag rice, the Mushroom were hard, the chicken was rubbery and the prawn balls we're disgusting.so it's a big Big NO from the Long family for now on. No where near as good as Golden Dragon.

Had never used this restaurant before, last minute decision for takeaway. Food was delicious and ready very quickly for collection. Would definetly use again

Lovely experience. Staff are very friendly and approachable. Food is good The only one downhill is that everything tasted bit sweet for our tooth, but still good. Food was prepared fresh and hot. Recommended as price was very good. Xxx

Very friendly staff and cheap food, quality of food is good. My kids love it, big car parking for customers.

Visited tonight for the eat as much as you like menu. Food was freshly cooked, hot and extremely tasty. Service was quick, friendly and polite. Fantastic value for money, will definitely be back, the salt and pepper chicken and King du ribs were to die for!

I have been ordering from this restaurant before the pandemic and found it fantastic! Since moving to Sawbridgeworth before Christmas i was so exited I can still order from here. I use just eat. I hadn’t ordered from here in a long time though. My mum said she had ordered from here for the first time however, she was not impressed, i was shocked. She said the crispy chilli beef was soggy and bland and the noodles where dark. Never have i ever had this experience. Today me and my partner ordered from here. We got mixed hor dorvs which always tastes nice apart from the stuffed mushrooms which are normally covered in sauce and are juicy, this was dry and sad. Crispy chilli beef? Soggy and taste of old oil no flavour at all! The noodles? Legit soaked in Dark soy!? No flavour! Come on you guys, letting your people down at the moment! Would like to hear these guys bring back the love with their food and not let themselves down. Yours faithful

Always believe in giving second chances, so after our first delivery was 20 mins early on NYE (booked specific time as cooking separately for the kids), I thought i'd give a second chance as it was NYE and the food was actually alright. Second experience though even worse. 15 mins late, 2 dishes incorrect (ordered through Just Eat so could check order)and they do not answer the phone or return answerphone messages!!

Complete waste of money. Food was awful.Tired after a day out, ordered a delivery. Wish we never bothered. 🤢🤮🤢🤮🤢🤮

This was a great buffet for 12 people on a sunday afternoon. The food was outstanding buffet topped up regularly and the staff were great. Thanks for a brilliant afternoon. Even dropped balloons and a cake of for my sons 16th birthday that they were happy to put out for us.

The absolute worst food I have ever tasted. My fried squid was more like mash and my sweet and sour fish was like water. The tempura prawns were soggy and my rice was cold. The lady on the phone said, it's because I ordered instead of picking it up. Absolutely disgusting, never gonna order from here again

Half my order delivered the rest watery crap I’ve had better Chinese food from a Jewish bakers Absolute crocodile poo

Never had the buffet style meal, always go for freshly cooked choices from menu. Excellent meal, great and friendly service and wonderful company. The food came up piping hot and so tasty. Steamed prawns, mixed curry, sizzling beef, rice, chicken chop suey, great hors d’oeuvres. Coffee and liqueurs to follow. Couldn’t ask for more. Won’t be long before our next visit.

Took my relations who are on visit from S'pore recently. The restaurant is very nice and clean. Table cloth and napkins are freshly laid out on the table. It has a very nice ambiance. The owners Swee and her husband, David, have always been very welcoming, accommodating and cordial to us whenever we come here to eat on Sunday lunch time. Food is always freshly prepared and cooked to our satisfaction. There's ample free parking outside the restaurant should you prefer to drive there. We certainly give it 5 stars and would certainly recommend it.

No real complaints about the food, but if your a picky eater like myself, and only like a few of the courses (and would eat them over and over again at a buffet) then if it’s quiet and your with a small group or a couple this may not be the buffet for you.. Several times I’ve eaten it all and given up waiting for a refill and moved on to the (limited) deserts... that being said a couple of times I was asked if I needed anything cooked up which was good.. like I said overall the food quality is always good, and it’s freshly cooked in small portions, hygiene seems good and the restaurant large and tidy.. staff are friendly. As mentioned previously the drinks CAN be a little pricey but I think that’s the same with all Chinese buffets 🙂 I’ll still return regardless, as it’s within walking distance and the kids love it there..

I have been ordering a take away from this place for 10 years but I have to say that the service is getting worse and worse with things now often missing from my orders. As a very good customer of theirs when I complained today I got a very rude reply that they would bring my missing items and suggested I microwave the rest of my now going cold meal because they are “very busy”. Being busy is not my problem when I order food I expect it to be a complete order. I explained this to them and they didn’t seem to care so I will never use them again. I have just returned my food to the delivery driver and have ordered my food from the Golden City who I am sure will appreciate the amount of money I spend on Chinese food per month.

We have used this restaurant numerous times over the past few years and have generally found the food to be of a reasonable quality, not exceptional but certainly not poor quality either. I went there this evening at 5.30pm to have the buffet. On arrival all the buffet trays were empty. I was asked what I wanted and explained that I'd intended to have the Buffet but that it didn't seem to be open. "How many of you" I was asked "just me" I replied. I was then told that the buffet probably wouldn't be open till about 6.30pm. When I asked why the restaurant advertised it as being available from 5pm I was curtly informed that they weren't cooking for one. Whilst I can appreciate the rationale behind this I take exception to being treated rudely and abruptly without any justification and was irritated that I'd wasted a trip on the basis of inaccurate advertising.If anyone else fancies their buffet it might be an idea to ring ahead to check as clearly the 5pm Opening time is no guarantee ( as evidenced by a previous reviewer ). Personally I shan't bother again as there are reasonable quality alternatives in the area and I've no intention of rewarding rudeness with a second chance. Silly people, strange way to run a business.

Hands down the dirtiest and most unhygienic restaurant I have been to, the carpet was also dirt and very smelly. You served the rice yourself directly from the rice cookers and the sauces were stale and tasteless. To top it off the staff acted like they were doing me a favor. Not recommended..

Terrible restaurant Bland stale food not worth the money haven’t been here for years and want be going back again

Food arrived on time ,duck was not cut up laziness in my opinion, chow maie no where nere enought meat but was good portion and very nice ,duck rolls great .all in all nothing special would happily go else where as price was high and charging for delivery and a service charge when paying cash is a piss take ,so I vote with my feet.

This place is in the oasis hotel that hotel has the worst reviews I have ever seen as it is full of drug dealers and scum .

I went their at 9.15pm it was late i was told the buffet is finished i have to have a- larte only. I decieded to go for Ho fen that is chinese noodles with sea-food and it was nice . i would recommend that.My friend had plain rice with beef and vegetables it was ok but i must say the amount was a fair amount.

very strange experience. Walked in at 15mins after opening for buffet which I was excited to try all day in fact since 2 days ago as was in hotel nearby.

I ordered a delivery on New Years Eve. It arrived just about on time. The delivery driver couldn't find my home and appeared to have trouble following my simple directions. I didn't really mind that too much as I have eaten in before and it was really good (it was a while ago) my food was OK, it was piping hot and the portions were good. The only real downers were the fact the sweet and sour vegetables were very lemony and not really sweet and sour and the crispy beef was quite grey although tasted OK. Really nothing to write home about and I do t think I'll be ordering or visiting again.

Everything tasted like it had been there for a week. Rock hard stale chicken balls under cooked. Avoid at all costs. They said they would refund us straight away and nearly 2 hrs later they came (10pm) and gave us not even half back.

Visitamos esta tarde y a pesar de ser sólo nosotros dos en el restaurante (para llevar estaba muy ocupado! El equipo de cocina) fueron muy atentos en asegurar que había una amplia variedad de comida buffet. Esta fue nuestra primera visita y nos quedamos muy impresionados. Algunos de los platos cocinados perfectamente, como fideos y brotes de soja, pollo y dulce de chili. La sopa estaba genial y me gustó que pato y arroz en vaporeras, mucho caliente! La decoración no es moderno pero no afectó nuestra visita!

I have never eaten here in the restaurant but always get my take away from here. Never disappointed !

Went on a Saturday evening and was surprised how empty it was, only 1 other person. Seated q hi ckly,buffet explained, Guy was attentive ad made sure we were catered for. Good selection

The food is great! The "as much as you want" buffet is great value and delicious. The staff are very friendly and welcoming and the atmosphere is relaxed and informal. My wife and I eat here regularly.

En enfoque parecía bastante agradable, aparte de los dos tíos que estaban borrachos y deliberadamente saltando delante del coche y ser abusivo.

La comida es de calidad y el sabor genial. Una amplia selección de platos y siempre reponiendo ellos que nunca un plato vacío. La única razón por la que no es 5/5 es porque es un poco caro, pero si te comer lo suficiente, que sin duda vale la pena.

Llevé a mi esposa allí en lo que fue un martes por la noche tranquila. Para empezar, éramos los únicos, finalmente seguido por otra pareja, y un hombre por sí mismo. Como eran tan tranquilas, sólo había una pequeña cantidad de cada plato, más que...

We visited early on Saturday evening , we were seated quickly and the buffet explained to us. The food was of an average quality. .but very plentiful. Not outstanding, but not awful.

My friend and I have used this take away many, many times as the food is good. However, after our experience tonight we will never use them again. We made our order via an app. It was delivered to the door and as we unpacked it we realised one of the dishes was missing. We called them up. The person who answered the telephone made us feel like we had the problem! She asked us to count up and tell her how many foil containers there were, TWICE (!!), and how many plastic, etc. She then said "you haven't mentioned the prawn dish". Duh! That is why we are calling you! She put us on hold, came back on the line to tell us that the chef had cooked it. Yes but just because he cooked it doesn't mean it was delivered! She said she would check with the staff and call us back. No return phone call was received. The dish eventually turned up half hour after we finished eating. Yes at least it turned up eventually but an apology from the rude, accusatory staff member and perhaps offering us the option of a refund or to have it delivered, would have perhaps been better customer service? As it was, it turned up too late.I get that some people try it on or lie to get refunds but she even said my friend's name when she called up, suggesting they store 'phone details. A cursory check of previous orders would tell them my friend is a regular customer and nothing has gone wrong before. I suggest before the delivery person leaves your door, or you leave the take away, check that they have given you everything you ordered beforehand because they just do not believe you!

We order takeaway from here everytime we have Chinese. I find most Chinese in harlow greasy but The old Cathay is always delicious. It arrived hot and in good time. Their duck is particularly good. Will order again.

What a wonderfull restaurant.Food is very tasty. Very fresh, a real tast from China, and oriental. What a cozzy and clean place with friendly clients

Used to live in Harlow and went to Water Margin for great Chinese buffets. Was visiting area after 8 years away. WM closed. Where can we go?Found this on the internet.Restaurant dated in appearance. Saturday night around 7.30 and we were the only diners for at least an hour.Buffet was a single heated cart with many small portions of food to chose from.They have a great takeaway business - drivers and customers coming in and out all night. Didn't do much for the ambiance though. Had there been more diners it would've been better.That said, food was great and staff were attentive. Tried most of the food on offer and all dishes were good.

We used to go here often but have not been for a while. I went last month on a Thursday with a friend who had never been before. I was quite embarrassed after telling her it was pretty good. There was not the usual selection, some of what was on the buffet did not look appetising or taste it. The service was not great either, I think she must have had a really bad day as I felt like she had preferred we had not gone in there. It seemed like a chore to serve us or put food on the buffet. The selection was quite minimal to my past visits and we did not enjoy the meal at all. I it was really poor. I will not be returning and neither will my friend.

They told us 45 minutes. We called after an hour and were told 5 minutes, it was on the way. This happened twice more before finally arriving after 2 hours. The third time we called the food still needed to finish cooking?! They gave it to us for free in the end. The food was actually really nice, but the unfortunately the service was appalling; especially since they lied several times.

Thinking it was a Friday evening so they would be busy gave them longer than the quoted 45 minutes, after over 1 hour called to find out where the food was and told that it was being driven here now, 30 minutes later still no food, they sounded confused at the other end and only after I said I wasn't happy at all and wouldn't be returning the said the food was free, it still took another 30 minutes for it to actually arrive so 2 hours in total, a little ridiculous! The food was fairly nice when we got it but wasn't happy that the lady on the phone tried to pass it off as our mistake and then admitted ther they'd accidentally lost the ticket! Won't be returning, shame as the food was pretty decent

Been here a few times and had off the menu rather than buffet. The food is average but can work out quite expensive if not doing the buffet.The place is in need of a serious makeover and location isn't the best, never used the loo as I'm too scared!

When we first moved to stortford 10 years ago we came across this amazing buffet style restaurant. She couldn't do enough for her guest and constantly making improvements and being a good hostess. This was like this for years but recently gone down hill. Went in there tonight and we have all come home feeling sick and disappointed. The food was dry, old and discusting. The lady was inattentive and more interested in answering the phone and talking to her employees all night gran getting our drinks. Food wasn't being filled up. She literally couldn't be bothered with us. It was an empty and very miserable atmosphere. Cheap skate!!! Not worth the money. Will not be returning.

My wife and I fancied a Chinese so we thought we'd try this one out,big big mistake,we turned up got seated and ordered our drinks then we saw the food,well all I can say is I wouldn't even feed my dog(if I had one) that food,it looked absolutely awful,everything looked as though it was days old,dried noodles dried ribs the old lady there looked liked she had been slapped with a dead fish either that or she's tried the food so we paid for our drinks and left.

Never had a bad experience here... Always eaten off the menu, not the buffet.Service and food always fine and I haven't experienced anything even close to the negative reviews. The lady owner has always been really pleasant as have the other staff. Had a really good dinner tonight and will return.

I should have seen it coming really.... a takeaway that also does buffet food. So ordered a £20 meal and opened up the noodles that looked dry, curled and tastless! The chilli was not chilli and had long lost its strength.So what I seemed to have was the top layers of what was not eaten in the day and should have been thrown away - all sourced from the buffet. I absolutely will never buy from them again, that £20 would have been better spent on the ready made food from the shops.

We went for the buffet on a Sunday evening. There were only 5 customers. The hot plate area was very small, about the size of an average desk. It was crammed with small dishes for the food, half of them empty. If there were more than 6 people on a table, the food area could easily be cleared in one go. The waitress said she would top dishes up, but she didn’t make a huge effort. The rice was kept in old, tatty looking slow cookers. There was nothing to say what each dish was (not helpful for vegetarians). We never did identify what one of the things we ate, it was tough and tasteless. The desserts consisted of two types of jelly, a pathetic looking cake and ice cream. None of looked appetising. The waitress kept pushing us to have the duck pancakes, something neither of us eat. When we pointed this out, she didn’t seem to happy and walked away. We never saw her again until we wanted more drinks.The toilets were in the same area as the door to the kitchen. It was propped open with airers drying the napkins. Not sure how hygienic this was.I was hugely disappointed with the whole experience. It certainly wasn’t worth the sizable bill we paid.

We popped in on Saturday around half seven and although the car park was rammed the restaurant was fairly quiet.We got to chose where to sit and a very friendly waitress took our drinks order. Full buffet was available,have found previously that there can be less choice when its quiet. Drinks were out of date but they were changed with no issues when we mentioned it. Food was lovely as usual especially the beef in black bean. Wish hadn't sat so close to bar as the phone was ringing off the hook with orders! At one point a group came in and the manager shouted across the room to a waiter and the group left shortly after,probably could of been a bit more discrete. Came to 32 quid,we were there for a couple of hours and didn't feel rushed.

We decided to go out as a family of 4 for a meal together last Saturday.The old woman in the resturant really needs some lessons in how to be towards and around customers.My daughter had a nosebleed, so I was seeing to her. The old lady made a point of tutting and leaning across us to pick up plates.In the middle of eating (what food was edible and available) there was some crumbs of a prawn cracker on the floor not caused by us I might add! The lady came over muttering with an old sponge from their sink, and said my children had got icecream all over the floor.We hadn't even had any icecream!!And the sponge went back into the sink!!I had a plate with rice on it, but there was no curry, so I sat at the table and waited for some to come out. After 10 mins we asked, and was told the kitchen was busy with takeaway orders and we would have to wait.We did wait for a further 20 mins.When I did eventually get my meal it was ok, but the lady made a point of saying to us when we left that we waisted too much food!The only food waisted was the rice from waiting half an hour for their curry to be put out.I will never be going back again!!Very very rude woman should be kept in the kitchen and let other members of staff be front facing.

Food half cooked ,chicken tasted as if it was rotten left it on my plate and was told by the old woman that I was wasteful so I said you eat it at which point she snatch the plate from the table and left muttering under breath,I waited 20 mins for new food to be told by the old woman that they had orders to do and I could wait .I now known why we were the only people in there at 6pm I would never step foot in that place again in my life time do your self a favour don't eat there.

Cheap and cheerful Chinese buffet. Friendly staff, but wasn't waitered on - had to go over to them on a few occasions. Some music may have been nice, as the restaurant was empty. Good (3/5) food hygiene rating. Nice for a group of friends, but it's not some where I'd take my girlfriend.

It's a buffet restaurant with dishes being served in small containers so food is freshly topped up regularly. Service is always good too. We always have a take away delivered and it is always lovely. Last night 14 of us went for my birthday at the last minute, at the end of our meal I was presented with a huge chocolate cake....... The owner had sent a member of staff out to buy me a birthday cake ! Not the most impressive decoration and not the nicest area but worth it !

Great buffet. Plenty of choice . Friendly staff . Great atmosphere.Ideal for meeting friends there. Good for family get together. Cosy corners for couples !Customer parking.Would definately recommend

Had to give 1 star otherwise would of not given 1 just thought i would warn u we got a take away from the old cathay in old harlow and got pink chicken inside the balls! Not only that they were very rude & we received no apology!On the plus side fast delivery hence the raw chicken!

Having previously lived in Harlow. We often went in this restaurant and it was always pleasant, jolly and cheap and the food was always top notch as well. Well as we were staying over in Harlow this weekend, we thought that we would give it a try for old times sake. Well to say that we were Dissapointed was an under statement, I was so worried about eating anything what so ever just in case it gave me a bad belly. The buffet food that was offered to us was dry and stone cold and there wasn't even that much food out, I asked a waitress to take my plate of cold food away as I really couldn't face eating the cold and rubbish food. We were then told that they had just had a large party in and so that is the reason that there wasn't that much food on offer and when we said it was also cold we were told that is because the door is constantly opening and any way there was plenty of fresh food out at 6.30 so we should have come then. We arrived at the restaurant at 2100 and didn't think that this was too late, but they didn't bring any fresh food out for us. After complaining to the Manageress, we were eventually even though it did seem grudgingly, asked what we would like and they would cook it fresh for us. This was ok but by this time all that we wanted to do was pay our bill and get out of this place. We would never ever go back to this place again and am just happy that we never got food poisoning from there.Very very Dissapointed and gutted that this place had gone down the pan so muchOur visit was Saturday 19th Jan 2013

we have started using this old cathay with a large group of friend for a take away . we have found this take away to be very very good . arrives in good time and is still very hot . we have all found the food to be very tasty. well done to all . keep up the fantastic work.

Eat here quite regularly, and the atmosphere is somewhat lacking - primarily due to the fact that the place is almost always empty. Never had cause to complain about any of the food there, and the buffet is always being refreshed. I gladly recommend it to friends and family.

Having eaten here several times over the years, The food has gone down hill. Tasted more like packet meals than authentic chinese. Have had better meals from Iceland, packet by choice and not passing its self off as fresh authentic chinese.

The price was ok, food was ok, service was ok...... hotel setting and location was random so I dont think I would go back! Bit too "OK" for me!!

I have eaten here for years, and there is nowhere else in the area that i would go for a chinese buffet. They have a wide range of dishes which are constantly being topped up, and the staff are always friendly and chatty. The food is good quality and very tasty! It is a fairly small place but i prefer that and it's also great value for money - you never feel rushed and pay your bill at the end of your meal unlike some other buffet places in harlow. All in all this is a great little place to go when hungry!

I always head here when back in the UK ( i live in Spain and the chinese restaurants out here are truly awful) They have a GREAT chinese buffet every night ( or a la cart if you prefer) with at least 40 delicious dishes including hors d'oeves, soups and crispy duck with pancakes. Eat as much as you like for around 15 GBP per head inc drinks. Situated in the Old Cathay hotel in Old Harlow along the main road that connects Harlow and Sawbridgeworth.