In the past I have posted many reviews on eateries in three towns area.
We are blessed with many great places to go for a meal in this area, even though some of them struggle to survive and some have closed down in the last couple of years.
The reviews I have written have been overwhelmingly positive.
Mrs Fester and I had heard many people recommend Nikki Ip's in Deganwy, but we had never ventured there ourselves. Sadly we cannot write a positive review on this occasion. Nikki Ip's was very disappointing in many respects.
On arrival, despite having a table booked, we were left waiting in the bar area, without any service for what seemed an eternity.
Then we were told a table had just become free, which was strange because when we were shown to it, there were lots of empty ones. Sadly, we were then seated in a pokey little corner, against a wall, with precious little elbow room.
A funny thing is, when you are 'shown' to your table, you must leave the bar via the door to the chilly street outside, and walk three-doors down to the restaurant 'proper'
I was expecting a large choice of quite different and exotic cuisine, given the reputation, but the appetisers and main course choice is not that extensive.
Certainly nothing you wouldn't find in a standard Chinese restaurant, but the prices here are much higher. An average £7 for a starter, and approx £13.50 for a main course.
When I go for a meal, I like to be able to fancy quite a few dishes on the menu, and have to rule some out.
In the case of Nikki Ip's we both struggled to find anything that we couldn't resist ordering. So rather than leave, we settled for something and ordered.
When our food arrived, two teenage waitresses placed it down on the next table and had a good giggle whilst they tried to figure out what it was. They failed, and it all seemed very amateurish.
At this point, it became clear that you don't get rice or noodles with the basic dish, you have to order them seperately on top. So, I had to spend extra to get some noodles, otherwise I would have had a plate of just slices of duck in soy sauce!
To be fair, the quality of the food was above average, In fact it was good. But certainly not THAT much above given the disparity in price versus comparable eateries.
Yes, food verdict GOOD... but certainly not special.
The decor in the upstairs restaurant is a mish-mash of different coloured chairs, around those little square aluminium tables. All in all it is very reminiscent of the kids play area in McDonalds.
Toilets, reasonable, if you don't mind wading past plastic chairs stored haphazardly, and avoiding the kids high chairs propped up adjacent to them.
So, having waited many years to try Nikki Ip's, (supposedly saving the best until last) we were pretty disappointed.
There are many local eateries which deserve our custom more, and at a substantial discount to the prices at Nikki Ip's.
If anyone has a different experience of this restaurant, please make your comments heard here, because it is very important that reviews are balanced.