Background:
If you’ve been reading my blog or following my tweets for a while, you may know that I’m a huge fan of dim sum and that one of my favourite restaurants in London for dim sum is Pearl Liang (the others being Yauatcha and Yum Cha). As my last dim sum post on Pearl Liang was well over a year ago, I thought I’d better revisit it to see if it was still as good as I remembered. With me were two dim sum fanatics and the husband.
What we ordered:
The usual suspects were ordered and the not so great dishes avoided (see last post).
- pan-fried turnip paste (£2.50) – the best turnip paste I’ve had in London has been at Yum Cha. The Pearl Liang one wasn’t gooey like some versions I’ve had, and it was nicely flavoured
- xiao long bao (steamed Shanghai soup dumplings) (£2.50) – I can’t remember whether on my last visit these came with the vinegar and ginger slivers dipping sauce or not. It didn’t come with these, but by the time we started to eat them and realised it was missing, it was too late as the dumplings would have become cold. Mine was very juicy, but the brother complained that his hardly had any soup inside
- BBQ pork puff (£2.50) – another star dish, perfect on the outside, while the barbecued pork filling was sweet as it should be
- har gau (steamed prawn dumplings) (£2.80) – not as good as I remembered. Although the filling was nice and crunchy, the skins were a little thick and sticky
- steamed prawn & chive dumplings (£2.80) – also not as good as they should have been, as they were a little bland
- paper wrapped sesame prawn roll (£2.80) – one of my favourite dishes at Pearl Liang. These are deep-fried, so that they are beautifully crispy on the outside, with a crunchy prawn filling
- honey roasted pork buns (cha siu bao) (£2.50) – I didn’t eat one, but they were good according to my fellow diners
- steamed spare ribs in black bean sauce (£2.50) – this isn’t always good at dim sum restaurants. Sometimes the pieces of rib are too fatty, or too chewy, but this version was excellent, with plenty of meaty pieces to chew off the bones
- BBQ roast pork cheung fun (£2.80) – not bad, but not as good as the prawn version
- king prawn cheung fun (£3.20) – nice fat rolls filled with whole prawns, just the way I like my prawn cheung fun
The husband, who doesn’t eat meat or seafood, had his own mini order:
- steamed spinach vegetable dumplings (£2.50) – there are very few vegetarian dim sum options on the Pearl Liang menu. This is one of them, served with spinach and sweetcorn kernels! However, it was quite tasty apparently
- gai lan stir-fried in garlic (£7.20) – the gai lan were fresh and crunchy and it was a substantial portion. I usually order this or pea shoots
- assorted vegetable fried crispy noodle (£6.80) – not something I would ever order for myself, but again, due to the limited vegetarian options on the menu, the husband was faced with very few dishes that he could eat
The verdict:
The prices, very reasonable for London, haven’t gone up, while the quality of food has remained about the same, with certain dishes being better than others. The standard of service is still friendly and polite. It wasn’t quite as spectacular as I remembered, but I do enjoy going to Pearl Liang because I’ve only ever had pleasant experiences there.
Booking a table is essential, particularly at weekends. I’ve had feedback from people who have just turned up, only to face a long wait. Not all dim sum restaurants take weekend lunch bookings, so take advantage of the fact that Pearl Liang accepts bookings, so that you know you have a table waiting for you.
My post on Where To Eat Dim Sum In London is regularly updated, so you may be interested in reading it for other restaurant recommendations (read the comments from readers for suggestions). There are also some informational posts on dim sum which might be useful, archived on the Useful Info page.
The cost came to approximately £13 per person including tea and service charge. All the food photos from Pearl Liang can be viewed here.
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:
Pearl Liang
8 Sheldon Square
Paddington Central
London W2 6EZ
Tel: 020 7289 7000
www.pearlliang.co.uk
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide
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Background:
I really wanted to like Min Jiang because I’m always on the lookout for excellent Chinese restaurants in London, particularly for dim sum. Ever since the Singaporean Chinese restaurant group of two opened a sister restaurant in London, I’ve contemplated eating there. Min Jiang specialises in Beijing kaoya (Beijing roast duck), which I also love, but I wanted to try their dim sum first. One recent Sunday lunch, I visited with a friend and dim sum enthusiast.
First impressions:
The restaurant is located on the tenth floor of the Royal Garden Hotel, with a splendid view overlooking Kensington Gardens. In the main dining area, the tables are laid out in two rows, one by the huge windows. The decor is reminiscent of Hong Kong / Singaporean hotel dining spaces, although the clientele was more mixed, with few Chinese having traditional Sunday yum cha. I was soon to discover why.
It wasn’t to be the serene and relaxed dim sum lunch I had been envisaging. Firstly, even though I had made the reservation weeks ago, we weren’t seated by the window. More importantly though, the service was terrible. I don’t want this post to be one long rant about service, but it ruined the entire meal to the extent that we didn’t leave a tip (and had service charge been added to the bill, I would have complained to the manager). It’s probably the first time since a brunch in NYC back in 1999 that I’ve not paid the service charge.
When the waiter was taking our tea order, he didn’t even wait for me to speak but walked away with just my friend’s order. He had to be waved at from where he was preparing the tea so that he could return to take my order as well. At Min Jiang, whether you share a pot of tea with a friend or order your own pot, you are charged the same amount – so if a pot cost £5.20 and you share the pot, you’ll be charged £10.40. Quite ridiculous. Which is why I insisted on ordering my own pot (Hairy Crab Oolong). And he poured the tea before it was even ready, so the first cups were just coloured water.
The service continued to be brusque, rushed and unfriendly. It became worse towards the end of the meal, when a waitress asked if we wanted to see the dessert menu but then never reappeared with it. I had to ask another one to bring it, but she also neglected to bring it. We were then handed the bill (without having asked for it!) by a third waitress, at which point I protested and demanded the menu, out of principle.
I hope the service isn’t like this in the Singaporean branches, because people are far less forgiving over there. Only in London…And for all those diners who have complained about Yauatcha‘s service, just wait until you eat at Min Jiang.
What we ordered:
- 1 pot of Rain Flower green tea (£5.80)
- 1 pot of Hairy Crab oolong tea (£4.20)
- baked char siu puff (£4.00) – three miniscule puffs arrived, slightly overbaked. They didn’t look particularly appetising and the filling was a little too sweet for my liking. I generally like this dish, but not Min Jiang’s version
- har gau (steamed prawn dumplings) (£4.20) – also somewhat disappointing, as the skins were sticky and thicker than they should have been, while the prawn filling, albeit crunchy, didn’t make me jump for joy either
- steamed crab meat dumplings (£4.50) – these dumplings and the ones below were indistinguishable apart from the fact that the pumpkin dumplings were orange in colour. They weren’t bad in term of taste, but for the price, every single dish should have been perfect
- steamed pumpkin dumpling with mixed seafood (£4.50) – see above
- xiao long bao (Shanghai soup dumplings) (£6.50) – the star dish of the meal. The skins were perfect, not too thick, not too thin, and there was a lovely burst of soup upon the first bite. Unfortunately, for the exorbitant sum of £6.50, we received a grand total of 3 dumplings. I’ve been on a quest to find the best xiao long bao in London, and although these ranked highly in taste and quality, I think they must also be the most expensive I’ve ever eaten in the entire world
- crispy Beijing duck rolls (£4.20) – I ordered this thinking that it might give us a taster of their famous dish. This was the third best dish. The rolls were nicely fried, and very big (they were cut in half and yet each piece was substantial), filled with shredded duck (a little dry) and a piece of cucumber and served with plum sauce
- fresh mango cream with sago pearls and pomelo (£6.50) – I wanted to compare this chilled Chinese pudding to the one I had at three Michelin-starred restaurant Lung King Heen in Hong Kong. It was beautifully presented and very refreshing, with tiny diced pieces of mango. However, instead of pomelo, there were tiny segments of pink grapefruit, and I had to really hunt for the sago. Overall, though, delicious
The verdict:
Regular readers will know that I’m usually fair and try to find something positive to write about when I visit a restaurant. However, the dim sum at Min Jiang is overpriced (double the price that most restaurants charge, although I don’t include Yauatcha, Hakkasan or Shanghai Blues in this price group) and I only liked three out of the seven dishes. I have no problems paying top price for dim sum, but only if it’s worth it. Even so, £6.50 for three xiao long bao is a lot of money. And the Beijing duck might be excellent according to various reviews, but I’d rather return to Beijing and have it at any number of outstanding restaurants there. Thank goodness my friend had a sense of humour, but I won’t be recommending Min Jiang to anyone based on my experience today.
Dim sum for 2 cost £44.40 without service charge. Even the total cost was unlucky (the number 4 sounds like ‘death’ in Cantonese and Mandarin)…
Here is my post on Where To Eat Dim Sum In London, which I’m in the process of updating. And click here for the set of Min Jiang photos on Flickr.
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:
Min Jiang
Royal Garden Hotel (10th Floor)
2-24 Kensington High Street
London W8 4PT
Tel: 020 7937 8000
www.minjiang.co.uk/home.php
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide
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[UPDATE - October 2009: I've returned to Leong's Legend for dim sum and it's turning into a reliable Chinatown dim sum spot for me. Apart from more xiao long bao (such good value and very soupy), I again ordered the Taiwan mini kebab with pork. It's very filling and most delicious. The pork belly rice is also highly recommended after you've had the dim sum dishes. It costs under £5.00 and for that, you get some gigantic hunks of pork belly with a sweetish sauce, and rice on the side. The classic Cantonese dishes - cheung fun, har gau etc are not as good in comparison. ]
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Background:
After I had dinner at Taiwanese restaurant Leong’s Legend a few months ago, I thought I’d never return. The three dishes I had weren’t bad at all, although they weren’t spectacular by any stretch of the imagination, but the rude manager annoyed me intensely. However, seeing as my Where To Eat Dim Sum In London post needed updating, I decided to give their dim sum a try, so feeling a little skeptical, I dragged along two dim sum veterans to help me out.
It was practically empty at just after 12.30, which was a relief, and even when we left an hour or so later, it still wasn’t that busy (perhaps not surprising given that it was mid-week). Although I kept an eye out for him, the rude manager was nowhere to be seen. In his place were calm and polite staff who served us efficiently and didn’t pull faces when I ordered tap water for three.
Menu:
The dim sum menu is small compared to other restaurants, but then this isn’t a Cantonese restaurant. There were a few classics like har gau, cheung fun, pan-fried turnip paste and char siu bao, but I was more intrigued about the non-Cantonese dishes. And of course on the menu were xiao long bao or Shanghai soup dumplings, pork as well as crab ones, for which Leong’s Legend have developed a good reputation. Having eaten xiao long bao most recently at Yum Cha (which were excellent), I was keen to see how these compared to those as well as the ones I’ve had in Taipei (the best ever so far). Xiao long bao aren’t technically classic dim sum fare, but more and more restaurants are now serving them as part of their dim sum menu.
What we ordered:
- fried dough stick cheung fun (£2.20) – my mother always orders this when we have dim sum. Both this and the roast pork cheung fun arrived in special cheung fun dishes, with the sweetened soy sauce in the sauce section rather than poured over the cheung fun, as is traditional. Because of this, the fried dough stick stayed nice and crispy. It was also perfectly fried and yet not oily-tasting. This is certainly one of the better versions I’ve had in London
- roast pork cheung fun (£2.80) – the cheung fun rolls, as with the fried dough stick cheung fun, were beautifully thin and translucent. The roast pork filling, cut into very thin slices (sometimes the meat is so chunky, it’s not very nice) was substantial
- pork xiao long bao (£5.00) – eight (very lucky!) xiao long bao arrived in a covered basket, with the dipping sauce of vinegar with ginger slivers. The skins were slightly thicker and not quite as silky as the ones at Yum Cha, and they weren’t quite as juicy. However, they were still very, very good and I look forward to returning just to have these and the crab xiao long bao!
- grilled minced pork buns (£2.50) – these sounded nicer than they actually were, in my opinion (top photo). They arrived piping hot, and the bun was light and fluffy, but the filling lacked flavour and was a little underwhelming, given their appearance
- roast duck & chestnut puff (£2.20) – a disappointing dish. The puff part was perfect, but I can’t for the life of me remember what the filling tasted like
- Taiwan mini kebab with pork (£2.60) – a stunner of a dish, although when it arrived, we had to ask for a knife to cut it into three. It’s the size of a smallish burger, with a gigantic slab of melting pork belly inside. The bread resembles the jiamo at Ba Shan, but is fluffier
- Beijing pork & chive dumpling (£3.20) – these are just boiled jiaozi (very popular in Beijing), served with a vinegar-based dipping sauce, when I was expecting steamed dumplings. These were rather ordinary, particularly when compared to the superb Ba Shan jiaozi
- wontons in spicy sauce (£2.80) – as I’d just made these Sichuan / Chengdu wontons (also known as chao shou in Sichuan) at home, I wanted to see what the spicy sauce tasted like. It was quite fiery (I know it’s all relative so you’ll have to try it for yourself!), and stronger than the Ba Shan version
The verdict:
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of dim sum at Leong’s Legend, to the extent that I’ve added it to my shortlist of dim sum recommendations. So far it’s the only Chinatown-based dim sum restaurant on the list and could very well turn into a regular haunt for me. I’ll have to return to try some of the other dim sum options, but based on what I tried, on my next visit, I would certainly re-order the xiao long bao, mini kebab and cheung fun. After a few more visits, I’ll be able to pin down exactly what to order and what to avoid, then I’ll update this post…
Click here to see the dim sum set of Leong’s Legend photos.
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:
Leong’s Legend
4 Macclesfield Street
London W1D 6AX
Tel: 020 7287 0288
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide
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The monthly summary, for May.
I suppose I’d better start with the big news! I’m very proud to announce that World Foodie Guide has been shortlisted by the Guild of Food Writers for the New Media of the Year Award, along with Elisabeth Winkler’s blog Real Food Lover and Tim Hayward’s blog on The Guardian & Observer’s Word of Mouth. Results for all the categories will be announced at the 14th GFW award ceremony on the 25th June. Until then, fingers and toes crossed!
What else? I wrote two book reviews for The Real Flavour of Tuscany (with a recipe for pappardelle with duck sauce) and British Regional Food (with a recipe for Welsh rabbit). There’ll be two reviews with recipes each month for the near future. I hope you’ll enjoy them!
From the kitchen, I made nettle pesto, zaru soba and Chinese cold noodles, all very simple and easy to prepare. The nettles came from our garden and are extremely good for you. We’ve eaten nettle pesto several times since and I highly recommend it, while both the zaru soba and Chinese noodles are cold and therefore perfect for summer weather.
In May, apart from a delicious gastropub dinner at the Fox & Anchor, all the meals out were at Chinese restaurants – a revisit to Yauatcha for dim sum, more dim sum at Yum Cha, which has made my dim sum recommendations list, and a lovely lunch of ‘xiao chi’ or small eats at Ba Shan. Finally, I attended this year’s Real Food Festival at Earl’s Court, a three day event featuring hundreds of small food and wine producers. Although I thought last year’s event was better, I still enjoyed chatting to producers, sampling endless produce and taking some goodies home with me.
Thanks as always for reading! Follow me on Twitter if you’ve recently joined – @foodieguide
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide
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Background:
Regular readers will know that I adore dim sum! I’m currently updating last year’s post Where To Eat Dim Sum In London, and have created a shortlist of dim sum restaurants to revisit as well as to visit for the first time. Having recently ticked a few new ones off the list – Yum Cha, Golden Palace and Peninsula – I thought I’d return to one of my favourites, Yauatcha. I’ve eaten dim sum there countless times, but I thought a revisit was long overdue as I haven’t been back in a year.
The vegetarian husband (always a challenge at dim sum!) and I joined three friends and Yauatcha regulars for lunch on a Saturday. I’d made sure to reserve a table on the ground floor level, as I didn’t want to sit in the basement and shout over the deafening music to make myself heard. The ground floor level provides a quieter and more serene environment in which to enjoy dim sum and a bit of conversation. After all, dim sum is an opportunity to catch up with friends and family as well as eat good food.
Surprisingly, our friends (who arrived before us) confirmed that they hadn’t been welcomed with the customary greeting of ‘we need the table back in one hour and 45 minutes’. The service was friendly and polite, but a little disorganised (one of the dishes we ordered never arrived, and had to removed from the bill) and it was occasionally difficult to catch the attention of the waitresses. Incidentally, for the first time ever at Yauatcha, I was able to take photos without fear of being stopped.
What we ordered: as we were five, I had to order two portions of some of these dishes, as most dim sum dishes contain three or four pieces that can’t be easily divided.
- chicken feet in chilli black bean sauce (£3.80) – as I don’t like chewing on toes of any description, I gave this a miss, but my Taiwanese friend loves the Yauatcha version. So if you’re a fan of chicken’s feet, order it!
- prawn and gai lan cheung fun (£6.00) – I always order this. It’s prawn cheung fun, but with finely chopped gai lan, which is a lovely touch. Yauatcha’s cheung fun is always excellent, as the rolls are silky and delicate
- three style mushroom cheung fun (vegetarian) (£7.00) – not as good as the prawn cheung fun, and one I probably wouldn’t order again as there are so many other dishes to choose from. If you have vegetarians eating with you though, it’s a good choice
- grilled Shanghai dumpling (£3.50) – rather disappointing and not that special. I used to order this regularly, but I’ll give it a miss next time
- vegetarian grilled Shanghai dumpling £3.00) – the husband thought my home-made ones were better!
- baked venison puff (£4.50) – a twist on the classic char siu puff, but made with venison. The filling is slightly sweet, but delicious, and the pastry was perfectly light and flaky. One of my favourites and highly recommended
- Chinese chive dumpling (vegetarian) (£4.50) – the presentation wasn’t great and the dumplings fell apart easily
- prawn and enoki dumpling (£5.00) – I must remember not to order this again! I keep forgetting that it’s not very nice and for the price, there are much better dishes, such as the fried prawn and date dumplings, which I really recommend!
- bean curd roll with enoki and cloud ear (vegetarian) (£6.50) – this is among the better of Yauatcha’s vegetarian dim sum dishes, but it wasn’t quite as amazing as the version we had a year ago. The outer bean curd layer was slightly overfried and oily, however, it’s still worth ordering if you haven’t had it before and particularly if you have vegetarian friends.
- salted and century egg congee (£6.00) – it may sound pricey, but it’s a large bowl and can be shared between several people. I only had a taste of it, but could tell that it was good. Our Taiwanese friends wolfed this down!
- bamboo mooli dumpling (vegetarian) (£3.50) – again, as with many vegetarian dim sum dishes, somewhat bland and disappointing
- sweet black sesame balls (£3.00) – a lovely way to end the meal with these glutinous balls filled with a warm black sesame paste. I must try making these one day…
The verdict:
The dim sum at Yauatcha isn’t as spectacular as it used to be, so I’m downgrading it one point from 9.5/10 to 8.5/10. When I last visited, Alan Yau still owned the restaurant along with Hakkasan, so I wonder if the sale of his restaurants (and planned expansion of the brands) has affected the quality of the food. I was slightly underwhelmed by this lunch, and a few dishes weren’t as I remembered them. There are some great dishes though, if you know what to order and what to avoid. Yauatcha is a good central location for meeting friends, and tea and cakes in the afternoon is still a special experience. For now, it remains one of my top three dim sum recommendations in London, along with Pearl Liang and Yum Cha. However, as I have many more restaurants to try, this may change by the end of the year, so keep checking the post Where To Eat Dim Sum In London for updates.
Lunch for five people cost just under £95.00.
The entire set of Yauatcha photos can be viewed here.
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:
Yauatcha
15 Broadwick Street (on the corner of Berwick Street)
London W1F 0DL
Tel: 020 7287 8484
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide
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Background:
As part of my goal to update last year’s post Where To Eat Dim Sum In London, I’ve created a shortlist of dim sum restaurants to revisit as well as to visit for the first time. Over the last six weeks, I’ve managed to eat at Golden Palace and Peninsula and return to one of my old favourites Yauatcha (review published next week). tasty treats! recommended Yum Cha in Camden Town, so I decided to meet Chris from Cheese and Biscuits there for dim sum one Friday.
First impressions:
Despite having the benefit of Google Maps on my iPhone, the restaurant wasn’t that easy to find. The front of the restaurant was occupied by tired tourists having a drink, but there were only a few other diners apart from us. The interior is basic and wouldn’t win any design awards, but we were there for one reason alone – the food. Apart from dim sum, Yum Cha (which literally means ‘drink tea’ or what the Cantonese refer to as ‘going for dim sum’) also serves rice and noodle ‘one meal’ dishes. Both dim sum and these ‘one meal’ dishes are available for lunch and dinner.
We ordered the following: (each item cost £2.40 apart from the cheung fun, which was £3.00)
- prawn cheung fun – another classic to test the quality of a restaurant’s dim sum. Three rolls (thin and translucent, just the way I like it) arrived filled with large, crunchy prawns.
- har gau – ordering classic prawn dumplings can be a good test of the quality of dim sum in any restaurant. These were a little on the small side, but the skins were thin, translucent and non-sticky. Delicious
- beef tripe – Chris had this all to himself, as I don’t like tripe. He approved (I’m assuming, as he left the dish empty!)
- pan-fried turnip cake – this was the absolute star of the meal. I don’t think I’ve ever seen or eaten such a perfect example of pan-fried turnip cake anywhere in all my years of eating dim sum, and would fight through Camden’s tourist crowds just to eat this again
- Chiu Chow dumpling with peanuts – Chris chose these dumplings, which were twice the size of the har gau. The skins were soft and a little glutinous, while the filling was a mixture of meat and peanuts, as far as I could tell. I’ve not had these before, so it was nice to try something different
- baked char siu puffs – these looked slightly over-baked on the outside and the pastry wasn’t as flaky as I like it, but the filling was good
- Shanghai dumplings (xiao long bao) – Chris hadn’t tried these before, so after a quick lesson (How To Eat Xiao Long Bao), we tucked in. I have to say, these were among the best I’ve had in a long while, whether in London, Hong Kong or Beijing (Taipei still ranks highest for me). The skins were perfect, not too thin, not too thick and didn’t tear, while the filling contained just the right amount of soup
- mini egg tarts – I was relieved to see that these were made with flaky and not shortcrust pastry, as I really dislike the latter. Chris was kind enough to let me have two!
The verdict:
Despite Yum Cha being located in an area of town that I rarely visit these days, I would definitely return for more dim sum, particularly the sensational pan-fried turnip cake and the xiao long bao. I really didn’t expect much when I arrived at the restaurant, which goes to show how first impressions can be so wrong. Based on this initial visit, Yum Cha ranks amongst my top three dim sum destinations - Pearl Liang and Yauatcha being the other two – and it will be most certainly be added to my Where To Eat Dim Sum In London post. I’m glad I made the effort to visit and highly recommend it to dim sum fans!
Yum Cha offers 25% off dim sum during lunch from Monday to Friday, as well as Monday and Tuesday evenings. It’s an ongoing promotion, but do call the restaurant if you want to confirm this before visiting.
Lunch for two cost £21 with service charge and after the 25% discount.
The set of Yum Cha photos can be viewed here.
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:
Yum Cha
28 Chalk Farm Road
London NW1 8AG
Tel: 020 7482 2228
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide
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Background:
I recently decided to update last year’s post on Where To Eat Dim Sum In London. As part of my project to visit and revisit some of London’s dim sum restaurants, I wrote a short post asking people What’s Your Favourite Dim Sum?. During a Twitter discussion on this subject, a Sunday dim sum trip was planned. So Helen from Food Stories, Chris from Cheese and Biscuits, Lizzie from Hollowlegs, Charmaine from tasty treats! and I trundled off to North Greenwich yesterday to Peninsula at the Holiday Inn Express. It’s Lizzie’s regular, and Charmaine has also been before, but it was my first time.
First impressions:
Lizzie had already warned us that it would be loud and noisy and full of Chinese diners. She was right, although it wasn’t quite as overwhelming as I expected, probably because the restaurant is huge (with 400 covers) and the tables are not packed next to each other. Peninsula doesn’t take reservations for dim sum, so we turned up at 11.30am when there were still quite a few empty tables available. By the time we left at just after 1pm however, a sizeable crowd had gathered by the entrance waiting to be seated.
What we ordered:
We let Lizzie take charge. At Peninsula, there is a dim sum menu with photos, but you have to tick items on a dim sum order form, which is in Chinese only. I’m not sure whether they have an English form (we weren’t offered one), but if you can’t read Chinese, you can order off the menu and the waiter will fill the form in for you.
- har gau (£2.30)
- siu mai (£2.20)
- beef balls with greens (£2.20)
- pork and prawn bean curd rolls (£2.20)
- steamed tripe with ginger & spring onions (£2.20)
- squid in satay sauce (£2.30)
- lor mai gai (glutinous rice with chicken) (£3.60)
- fried dough stick cheung fun (£3.00)
- prawn cheung fun (£3.70)
- char siu cheung fun (£3.00)
- turnip paste (£2.20)
- yam croquette (£2.20)
- roast pork puff pastries (£2.20)
- char siu bao (£2.20)
- spare ribs in black bean sauce (£2.20)
- paper wrapped prawns (£2.90)
- cold jellyfish (£6.50)
- egg tarts (£2.20)
- coconut mousse (£2.20)
- mango pudding (£2.20)
It does seem like an extremely long list now that I’ve written it up, but in order to satisfy five foodies, I suppose it was necessary and we did manage to finish nearly everything! Most items cost about £2.20, which is cheaper (and better quality) than most Chinatown establishments. Not everything was amazing, but I’ve found more and more that certain dim sum dishes are always better than others, and you really need to know what particular ones each restaurant makes best. And that you’ll only discover from regular trips…
For me, the paper wrapped prawns were excellent, as was the fried dough stick cheung fun. It’s hard to get the latter right, but Peninsula managed it. The fried dough stick inside the cheung fun should be crispy and fresh, as opposed to soggy and chewy. I also loved the jellyfish served with a mildly spicy sesame dressing.
The har gau wasn’t as good as they could have been, as the skins were a little sticky and the filling not so flavoursome. There also wasn’t enough char siu filling inside the char siu cheung fun, although the proportion of prawn to cheung fun in the prawn cheung fun was good. The char siu puff pastry lacked the beautiful glaze on the pastry and looked a little burnt when they arrived, although the filling was tasty. I’ve also had better mango puddings (this wasn’t as light and silky in texture) but by then, I was too full to care!
The verdict:
I think Peninsula is worth the trip for dim sum, and certainly thousands of Chinese diners every weekend seem to think so. They offer a wide selection of the classics, and a mistake here and there isn’t going to break the bank at an average of £2.20 a dish. It’s also a good choice for a family get-together and I think my relatives would like it (close to home, free parking, good value dim sum, what’s not to like?!). Dim sum is served daily until 16.45.
Dim sum cost £15.80 per person, including tea and 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:
Peninsula
Holiday Inn Express
85 Bugsby’s Way
Greenwich
London SE10 OGD (it’s about a 15-20 minute walk from North Greenwich tube station)
Tel: 020 8269 1638
www.mychinesefood.co.uk
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide
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Background:
I’ve been thinking about dim sum a lot lately (see my recent post What’s Your Favourite Dim Sum). After a five month hiatus, I am firmly back on the dim sum trail and have decided to work hard on updating last year’s post Where To Eat Dim Sum In London. I chose Golden Palace in Harrow as my first restaurant to visit out of a long list of about ten dim sum places. Quite a few people have recommended it for dim sum, so I was keen to try it out, despite its non-central location.
First impressions:
At the weekends, the restaurant opens at 11am. They don’t take reservations for dim sum, but you can call ahead to put your name down (I didn’t really understand the difference, to be honest!). We arrived at 11.45 for our noon ‘reservation’ and there were still quite a few empty tables. It soon filled up however, and the next wave of diners arrived at just after 1pm, although the queue was never that long.
The decor won’t win Golden Palace any interior design awards, but then we didn’t travel all the way to Harrow for elegant decor. The restaurant is large and airy, and even full of diners, it never felt too crowded or noisy. And I very much appreciated the friendly service.
Menu:
There is a substantial dim sum menu, with photos, that took me a while to study, as well as a weekly specials menu. A surprising number of vegetarian dim sum items pleased the husband in particular. Golden Palace is also well known for its vegetarian dishes, including mock (gluten) chicken, pork and duck, although I think the main menu is only available on weekdays and evenings at the weekends.
What we ordered: (unless otherwise stated, each dish costs £2.50)
The vegetarian dishes -
- vegetarian wontons (deep-fried) – a little greasy, but not bad
- vegetarian dumplings in spicy soup – too oily
- ‘Northern’ style vegetarian dumpling (steamed) – this consisted of just rice marinaded in something, and very filling (not in a good way)
- vegetarian curry flour balls (steamed) – appalling gloop, avoid at all costs
- steamed monks’ vegetarian buns – the best out of the vegetarian dishes that we ordered, light & fluffy and very hot
Non-vegetarian dishes -
- wor tip (grilled pork dumpling) – huge sized dumplings, very meaty and garlicky, served with dipping sauce of vinegar and ginger slivers
- prawn dumpling in spicy soup (£2.90) – not bad at all, but avoid if you don’t like oily dishes (although I never drink the soup)
- dried shrimp cheung fun (grilled) (£2.90) – I haven’t come across this anywhere else in London (though there is a plain version at Pearl Liang). More dried shrimp and slightly more grilling would have made this perfect for me. The hoisin sauce was preferable to the peanut/sesame one
- prawn cheung fun (£3.60) – the disappointment amongst the non-vegetarian selection, with a very unseasoned filling, although the prawns were fresh and crunchy
- har gau (steamed prawn dumpling) – very good quality, with a perfect skin that was translucent and not sticky
Desserts - I rarely order dessert for dim sum, as I’m usually too full by the end of the meal. However, Golden Palace has a good selection, so we thought we’d try a couple. What I really wanted to try was the sago and pomelo in mango cream, of which I had a version at Lung King Heen in Hong Kong, but unfortunately they had run out of it!
- water chestnut pudding in batter – hard to describe, I’m afraid, but this has a crunchy texture and is neither greasy nor too sweet. It’s also quite stodgy, but great for sharing
- deep fried cream custard bun or lai wong bao (literally ‘milk yolk bun’) – I haven’t had this in years, but this was delicious – a crispy outer skin, fluffy interior and sweet (but again not too sweet) filling that resembles an egg yolk. Don’t order if you’re expecting a Western style custard bun, like the husband was!
The verdict:
Dim sum for three people including tea cost a very reasonable £35 (the restaurant even offers 10% off the bill if you pay by cash). Admittedly, not everything was of the same quality, but I think after a couple of visits testing the various dishes (at £2.50 for most dishes, a mistake here and there won’t hurt the wallet), I’ll know exactly what to order. I’m looking forward to returning to try some of the other dishes, including deep fried sautéed prawn and chive dumpling, grilled turnip cake, yam croquette, deep fried Thai cuttlefish cake and sago & pomelo in mango cream.
The entire set of Golden Palace photos can be seen here.
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:
Golden Palace
146-150 Station Road
Harrow
London HA1 2RH
Tel: 020 8424 8899
Other posts you may be interested in:
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide
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I haven’t had any dim sum since I was in Hong Kong a few months ago. I think I ate so much Chinese food during those two and a half weeks in Hong Kong and Beijing that I thought I’d take a prolonged break. But now I’m starting to crave dim sum again, and am planning a few trips to various London restaurants old and new to see what’s out there. I won’t be repeating last year’s research where I tried far too many dim sum restaurants in order to write Where To Eat Dim Sum In London, but on the other hand, it does need updating! Over the next two weeks, I’ll be eating at Golden Palace in Harrow and at Peninsula in Greenwich, neither of which I’ve been to before.
Now that I’m planning dim sum trips, I’m naturally thinking about what I’d most like to eat. I’ve always loved har gau (prawn dumpling), but it’s got to be perfectly crunchy inside, with a non-sticky and translucent skin. Cheung fun is also a must, whether char siu or prawn. Again, this shouldn’t be sticky! Recently I’ve started ordering lor mai gai (glutinous rice with chicken and lap cheung wrapped in lotus leaf) and paper wrapped prawn, which if prepared properly is delicious and not too greasy. Finally, a dim sum lunch for me has to finish with a dan taat (egg tart) or two. I like the flaky pastry over the shortcrust version, but if there’s no choice, I’ll still eat the shortcrust one! I like these served warm, at the end of my meal, not the beginning. It’s bizarre how many restaurants serve these first.
But I’m more interested in finding out what YOUR favourite dim sum are! Even if you’ve only been once or twice, you’ll still have favourites or at least preferences. One friend’s absolute favourite that she always insists on ordering is fried dough stick cheung fun. It also happens to be my mother’s favourite, while my brother loves prawn and Chinese chive dumplings. And a colleague obsesses over char siu bao (barbecue pork buns).
I conducted a quick Twitter poll (I’m @foodieguide) and received the following responses:
- wor tip (grilled dumplings), beef balls, squid in curry sauce, jellyfish, har gau (prawn dumpling), fried dough stick cheung fun, steamed tripe with spring onion & ginger, ma lai goh (dessert of steamed sponge cake). I have to point out, all these favourites are from Lizzie over at Hollow Legs!
- wu kok (yam croquettes), cheung fun, har gau (prawn dumpling) , egg tarts, lo bak goh (pan-fried turnip paste), lo mai fan (glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf) and tofu fa (dessert of sweet tofu) – from Su-Lin at Tamarind and Thyme
- har gau, prawn cheung fun, turnip cake, beancurd skin rolls in oyster sauce, chicken feet, lor mai gai and dessert of tofu fa or coconut pudding – from Charmaine at tasty treats!
- wu kok, siu mai (especially with quail egg on top!), fried or braised stuffed tofu skin – from Gary Soup
- prawn cheung fun & char siu bao (barbecue pork buns)
- prawn dumplings and fried dough stick cheung fun
- venison puffs at Yauatcha & grilled dumplings
- venison puffs at Yauatcha
- char siu cheung fun (barbecue pork)
- char siu bao
- sesame balls (sweet or savoury filling)
Thanks to everyone who responded on Twitter! And I look forward to hearing about your favourite dim sum!
Other posts you may be interested in:
Check out the Useful Info page for more informational posts on Chinese food.
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide
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This is the fourth in a series of Postcards from the recent Hong Kong, Macau and Beijing traveleating trip. Rather than writing up each food experience in separate posts, which would have taken me up to Christmas, I thought it would be more fun to outline the trip in diary form, to include travel and sightseeing tips as well as food recommendations.
Day 4 highlights:
- dim sum at Lung King Heen
- dinner at Granny’s home
Dim sum at Lung King Heen:
Lung King Heen (Update: December 2008, it was awarded 3 Michelin stars in the 2009 guide, and is currently the only Chinese restaurant in the world with 3 stars) at the Four Seasons survived the restaurant culling session just days before the start of the trip. As a result of the credit crunch, the husband had asked me to ‘review’ the restaurants I had booked, in case some were too expensive.
Having heard that Lung King Heen serves some of the best dim sum in Hong Kong (and dinner too), I had high expectations and therefore kept it on my list. An additional reason for keeping the reservation was the extensive vegetarian menu with unusual dishes, perfect for the vegetarian husband. Lung King Heen in fact turned out to be one of the lowlights of the foodie trip, not that far behind Yung Kee in fact.
A tip if you’re going there – Lung King Keen can be accessed via the IFC mall, rather than making your way through the Four Seasons carpark in a rather undignified manner. With reservations (as it was Sunday, I didn’t want to take any chances), we were shown to a window table with a view of Hong Kong harbour and Tsim Sha Tsui. The interior was elegant and muted, the service polite and attentive. It’s just that the dim sum wasn’t that great. The dim sum menu lists about 20 items, and there is an extensive à la carte menu for lunch and dinner.
After some deliberation, I ordered steamed Shanghai pork dumplings with fresh crab meat – xiao long bao (HK$48), steamed shrimp dumplings with bamboo shoots – har gau (HK$48) and steamed pork dumplings with shrimp and perigord truffle – siu mai (HK$48), for myself. The husband wasn’t feeling that hungry or inspired by the vast organic and vegetarian selection from the main menu, so he chose the sautéed gluten with green peppers and onions (they can prepare half portions too, so this cost HK$90 instead of a whopping HK$180).
I did point out more than once that he had ordered the wrong dish, and was I right when it arrived. It looked like a portion of takeaway food, and didn’t taste much better either. The dim sum presentation, on the other hand, was immaculate, and I loved the fact that each xiao long bao came on its own mini tray so that it wouldn’t stick to the base of the steamer. But they were very bland.
I’ve also eaten far better har gau in London, where the skins weren’t gooey and stuck to the base of the steamer like they did at Lung King Heen. Even though I don’t normally order siu mai, these were in fact the best of the three items, and nicely flavoured. However, the miniscule shard of truffle on top of each siu mai contributed zilch to the overall taste.
I was feeling somewhat despondent until the waitress handed me the dessert menu and I ended up choosing what she later told me was their best dessert – chilled mango pudding with sago cream and pomelo (HK$45). This was pure heaven in a bowl. I couldn’t believe my luck after the dim sum I’d just had. Fresh mango pudding is delicious anyway, but the addition of the pieces of sago cream and tart pomelo segments turned this into a truly spectacular dessert.
The waitress felt sorry for the husband because I wouldn’t share it and so he was served a complimentary dessert, which was a lovely gesture. Perhaps dinner at Lung King Heen is different, but based on what I had – three dim sum classics – I probably wouldn’t eat here again, particularly at these steep prices (the bill came to HK$431 including 10% service charge, £34), despite the mango pudding. The vegetarian dim sum at Lock Cha Tea Shop was so much better!
DInner at Granny’s home:
A few hours later, it was time for dinner at another location, my grandmother’s house in Yuen Long, New Territories. After a journey involving two MTR lines, the West Rail and a bus ride, we finally made it. Naturally, some of the relatives were playing mahjong when we arrived, but two hours later and the mahjong table became part of a very long dining table (along with one other mahjong table and the normal dining table) to accommodate more than 20 relatives!
As it was Shanghai hairy crab season, there were plenty of these to be had. I couldn’t really see what all the fuss was about though. They’re small and extremely fiddly to eat, requiring way too much work for not a lot of meat in my opinion. I had more of the prawns, which were much easier to peel, and plenty of the incredible steamed fish (from the sole family, and a very rare fish that most restaurants don’t even serve). With both my grandmother and mother feeding me morsels all evening, it was hard not to over-eat, although if you’ve read my posts on Chinese food etiquette, you’ll find that I should have been serving them the best bits instead…
N.B You’ll find all the China Postcards under Restaurant Reviews – China, and the entire set of food photos on Flickr.
CONTACT DETAILS:
Lung King Heen (they accept reservations)
4/F / Podium 4
Four Seasons Hotel
8 Finance St
Central
Hong Kong
Tel: 852 3196 8880
www.fourseasons.com/hongkong/dining/lung_king_heen.html
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide
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