Bright Courtyard

Never let me down. The shanghai signature dishes are always my favorite. Now they even invite pianist on site during the weekend which makes the whole restaurant more elegant. The staff are always helpful. Will come again definitely.

Fantastic! Thank god an outstanding alternative to the impersonal public food hall that is the Royal China Club!

Shanghai born polish head waiter is outstanding! Excellent food recommendations and knowledgable wind recommendations. It just knocked Nobu of my favourite Asian restaurant position.

Thank you for the excellent service, comfortable, tasteful environment and intelligent caring service.

It was my third visits here in a month and they never disappoint. Their modern approach of the Chinese cuisine blended with classic Shanghai dishes are just outstanding. Staff are friendly and knowledgable. Ask for the Wine Gallery dinning area for more intimate atmosphere.

Worth a visit, Chinese but with a modern twist/shanghainese influence. Food was very well prepared, good service. Not cheap.

Bright Courtyard stands on the sight of the not at all lamented West 55, a hotchpotch of a restaurant that mixed too many styles with absolutely zero substance. Bright Courtyard advertises itself as a Club, maybe to keep up with the Royal China Club directly opposite, but there is nothing clubby about the operation, which is housed in a glass fronted modern reincarnation of the horrendous sixties M&S head quarters on Baker Street. Like West 55 before it, it is a bit of a hotchpotch – lots of Cantonese, mixed in with sashimi. Why sashimi? And, if there is a valid answer to this, why no sushi? The Japanese were last seriously in China in 1945, and then only in Guangdong in the immediate vicinity of Hong Kong, so can hardly have left a legacy of sashimi.

We only went here is the Royal China couldn’t seat us for an hour, and maybe this will be BCC’s saving grace: given its situation, it will get the cast-off crowd from across the road.

The food is perfectly ok, but no better than the Royal China or a dozen or more places in China Town, and certainly nowhere near as good as Ba Shan. It says something when the standout dish was pea sprouts and garlic, but that really was a lovely dish. But thirteen quid? For a side dish? That is just rude.

Service was perfectly ok, although, whether by accident or design, the wine that I had asked for was replaced by another bottle. Ok, a nice bottle, and my fault for not questioning, but when the bill came, it seems that the cheap bottle that I had thought I was getting had morphed into a stupidly expensive one. In fact, when the bill came, I thought that there had been some mistake: a couple of starters and mains, the aforementioned pea sprout side dish and a bottle of wine in a Chinese anywhere in the world should not come to this much. Or, if it does, it had better be at one of the fancy Michelin three star places in Hong Kong.

I really had wanted to like this place, not least as its forerunner was so poor, and any competition to Royal China should only make them up their game, which has slipped a bit on complacency recently. Alas, it was not to be: for the sort of money they are charging, I’ll go to Defune and have real sashimi, in a great atmosphere. Or have three meals at the Royal China. And keep the change.

Without a booking on a Saturday evening, we were driving along the Baker Street feeling a little forlorn when we decided that Bright Courtyard was perhaps new enough that it may not be all booked up. And we were of course pleased when we were not only welcomed but shown to a prime corner table overlooking the Baker Street through the restaurant's full length glass facade.

Service is attentive and tables are well spaced so that the conversation that ensued was allowed to develop unhindered, given we were discussing an involved blend of work, personal and business this evening.

We ordered pak choi, stir fried chicken and a sea bass all to be taken with our staple of white rice and had chinese tea with our meal. It was well presented and reasonably tasty. I noticed one of the principals or head waiters from Princess Garden down the road, had taken up a new role here and we made as if old friends had found each other. I guess we received a bit more attention than one would normally, and a complimentary dessert of fresh fruits was probably the result of this pleasant exchange which was very welcome at the end of what turned out to be a pretty full dinner.

Satiated, we left walking out to our parking directly outside the restaurant, which is always an added privilege in an increasingly crowded London.