Royal China Club (Chinese) – London, England (6.5/10)
Apr 24th, 2008 by admin
Royal China Club was on my list of Chinese restaurants to try, as part of my ongoing research on Where To Eat Dim Sum In London. I wasn’t actually that keen to go, as I’m not that impressed anymore with the dim sum at the standard Royal China branches. Once an exciting place to go and have delicious dim sum, its standards and service have, in my opinion, dropped in recent times (plus it faces stiff competition elsewhere). But as I’d read that Heston Blumenthal had ordered practically everything on the dim sum menu, I thought I’d better investigate.
Heston and I clearly have widely differing tastes in dim sum. He might be a Michelin-starred chef, but I know my dim sum, and I struggled to find anything that could be defined as innovative, for my seasoned dim sum eating colleagues and I to try . I certainly wasn’t about to pay £6.80 for Pan Fried Lobster Bun in Cheese & Sweet Grass or £5.80 for Deep Fried King Prawn in Thousand Island Salad Sauce, both listed as ‘Chef’s Favourites’.
What I ordered:
After much scanning of the menu, I eventually ordered the following for three people:
- Fried dough in plain batter cheung fun (£3.50)
- Chive & prawn cheung fun (£4.80)
- ‘Char siu’ pork cheung fun (£4.20)
- Pan fried duck breast French-style (£4.80)
- Sesame paper prawn roll (£3.80)
- Prawn dumpling & yellow chive (£3.80)
- Crispy char siu pork puff pastry (£3.80)
- Fried ho fun noodles with veal (dry) (£8.50)
The presentation of certain dishes was admittedly different to that of standard Royal China restaurants – for example, the cheung fun was pre-cut into smaller pieces and laid out on a long, narrow dish. The duck breast was delicious, arriving in large pieces on a plate, although I wouldn’t have classified it as dim sum. And the use of tender veal in dry fried ho fun noodles (it’s a classic served with often chewy beef) was a nice touch, while tea was topped up frequently without having to ask.
Apart from myself and one other person in a business meeting, there were no other Chinese customers. The restaurant also lacked any kind of atmosphere. The decor wasn’t particularly worth mentioning, and was probably not that dissimilar to that of its sister restaurants. Overall, I really couldn’t see how the high prices can be justified.
The verdict?
Although there’s nothing wrong with the dim sum at Royal China Club, I would pay a little more and eat in style at Yauatcha or Hakkasan, or travel a bit further to eat at Pearl Liang. All three serve far higher quality dim sum, whether classics or creative items prepared with unusual ingredients.
Dim sum cost £17.50 per person, including service charge.
10 – Perfection, 9.5 – Sensational, 9 – Outstanding, 8.5 – Superb,
8 – Excellent, 7.5 – Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 – Average
All the London restaurant reviews on World Foodie Guide
Contact Details:
Royal China Club
40-42 Baker Street
London W1U 7AJ
Tel: 020 7486 3898
www.royalchinagroup.co.uk
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide
“where to eat dim sum in London”. That should be a good post to wait for – my diary is marked for the 8th of May. Although I for one can only wonder at your ability to be so precise. If did commit to a specific date for a post, I would be sure to miss it out of sheer nervousness! I am not a good ‘deadlines’ person.
Oh dear, I hope I haven’t raised your expectations too much now! At the beginning of this year, I started to set myself publication dates for posts, so that I wouldn’t panic if I hadn’t posted in a while. Now I can refer to my schedule and know what’s planned. Bit too regulated for some, but it works for me!
And a correction – I changed the date to 5th May…