China Boulevard

The sheer enormity of this vast riverside eatery, coupled with its glitzy, undiluted Chinese persona, can be a tad intimidating if you’re not used to such things, but it’s well worth taking the plunge. A full dim sum menu is available at lunchtime (cheap as chips during the week), with ‘legendary’ items that venture well beyond cheung fun or steamed prawn & chive dumplings into the esoteric world of chicken’s feet & shark’s fin for those who crave such pleasures. The main menu also covers a lot of ground, from stir-fried Dover sole or lobster in herb salt to gai-lan with wind-dried pork, via a plentiful choice for vegans & vegetarians. There are also accessible, scaled-down set menus for those who find it all rather bewildering. Either way, it’s good fuel for wannabes who fancy trying out their X Factor talents in the karaoke rooms.