Min Jiang at the Royal Garden Hotel

Food with a view

Having always been a largely ground-floor and subterranean diner was poor preparation for today's lunch, which was the highest I've yet had in London. I need to do this more often. Great views of Hyde Park, a pleasant airy room (in an unprepossessing building), crisp linen and being the only bloke on a table of four was a cracking start to (yet another) working lunch.

I'm a fan of Chinese food, but have always been a bit suspect of “posh” Chinese restaurants, as most of my experiences have been along the lines of “same grub as the cheaper place down the road but at twice the price”.

Obviously, there have been exceptions to this, but Min Jiang really stands out. Everything we had was better or bigger or different to anything similar I've had before.

We started with a selection of dim sum, grilled dumplings and sticky tofu with honey & sesame (oh that's truly special), followed by the wood roast duck. Your veggie correspondent felt it was incumbent on him to park what few principles he has ever had and try the duck. Glad he did – very nice, but not enough to set him back on the protein path any time soon. Never mind, the chorus of satisfied noises from the rest of the table was enough to prove that they were more than enjoying it.

Then there was a main course. No, really. We had more – tofu with morels in black bean sauce, egg fried rice with edamame, noodles, a chicken dish (OK, I'd stopped concentrating) and the duck came back for a second serving, diced on a teeny lettuce “wrap”.

Service – cracking: not to intrusive, but always there. Wine – that's a hell of a list, with some pricey numbers on there, but worth an exploratory journey.

All of which makes me realise that there's more to Chinese food in London than Gerrard Street, and I should certainly be dining up as well as out more often.

For a change a hotel restaurant which benefits from its location with fabulous views (top floor overlooking Kensington Gardens). Great food with the duck being a must have and highlight (check you might have to pre-order) but try out the rest of the menu which is very good as well

I was incredibly disappointed with this restaurant. The place itself is beautiful with spectacular views, which are a treat, but the rest was not enough to compensate.

It started well with the veggie spring rolls, which were tasty, not oily and nice & crispy. However, the rest of the meal went downhill. They brought the second starter entirely separately and then rushed out one of our mains whilst we were still eating it. I did ask for it to be taken back as it felt like we were suddenly being rushed.

The rest of the meal was tepid and mediocre. Right down to the overcooked chilli broccoli. Such a shame as I had such high expectations. For the extremely high price per head (without alcohol) I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

This is a truely special restaurant – the food and the views are great and it is rare that places offering such views to really deliver on the culinary front. What is also great, is that the service is truely taught about the high-end Chinese cooking, so one can learn a thing or two The attention to detail is quite amazing, the meats are sources with an incredible dedication. Booking however is a must.

Food was good, staff could however be a bit more attentive?
NIce drinks and great view!

Love Ming Jiang.
Been several times and the amazing view over Hyde Park makes the bill worth it. It feels like a very special restaurant but make sure you ask for a window table if you can.
Excellent duck, slightly limited selection of food but everything the prepare is done well.
Great selection of Chinese teas.
Good service.

On the 10th floor of the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, Min Jiang offers a fabulous view across the park and over London that make you completely forget the drab exterior of the building outside. This is definitely posh Chinese and the welcome and decor are a million miles away from the usual Chinatown fare.
So is the food. I like this place for dim sum best. The menu is not extensive but the dumplings are delicate and tasty. Excellent hand-pulled noodles too. At a push, I would probably still prefer the dim sum at Royal China, but not having to queue with a million strollers and screaming children in the serenity of this restaurant clearly makes up for the marginal difference. It is, of course, more expensive though. And the staff have rather irritatingly been trained to try ramp up the bill in a way that often seems just a bit too greedy. Wine glasses are filled up again even when they are already full. The waiters probably need to be told that it is not too pleasant having a glass of wine that looks ready to spill over the top. Ditto the bottled water.
The real draw here is meant to be the duck. Not to my taste. Too much fat with the neck skin but am told really authentic. Others like it!

Brought a group of very fussy VIP diners there on Tuesday for lunch. We had a table arranged at the window so enjoyed a fantastic view over London on what happened to be a sunny day. Service was great, and I'd like to say a special THANK YOU to Segolene for bearing with us and doing all the complicated ever-changing arrangements for us – you're a star!! Food was excellent, a good rival to our favourite China Tang, but in a much nicer setting! Won't comment on any particular dishes, as we ate soooo much, but everything was perfect! We'll definitely be back soon!

Min Jiang along with Nahm and a few others have been on my City Oriental list for some time. An evening table for 12 Jan 10 was reserved and speciality duck dish pre-ordered.

We arrived shivering and early with expectations of both an eye-ball and taste-bud treat. Starting with the most positive, we appreciated the mood set by London lights with the movement of traffic reminiscent of twinkling festive lights, so we didn’t feel too deprived of the daytime park scene. The décor was glossy with Oriental touches; loos were immaculate and equally glossy. With well-placed seating, most diners are able to have reasonable window views, so better planning than Rhodes 24.

Being so cold, I restively waited for my hot sake which arrived cold. The young waiter couldn’t resist saying (softly & wrongly) that I hadn’t requested hot, but as he swiftly scuttled away to rectify his mistake, I saw no need to challenge his ungraciousness.

As the food was served, it was nice to see alongside the usual cucumber and spring onion to go with duck and hoisin pancakes, the more interesting garlic paste, radish and tientsin cabbage accompaniments. Pancakes were the best textured, though I found it a bit odd that they were larger than the plates, and disappointing that not enough duck fat had been rendered down, resulting in barely crispy skin with a thick layer of soft fat beneath. Rice dishes and noodles were pretty good as was the tender chicken in sesame and chilli. This was all helped down by comforting Sake cosily kept in a hot water bath.

Service was a lottery from one very cheerful and helpful soul to the dour, but generally attentive. Overall sufficient positives justify returning, but this could in part be owing to the dearth of good Chinese restaurants on my patch.

Unfortunately it was dark when we arrived, so didn’t get to enjoy the park vista, but is probably worth getting there before hand for cocktails and sunsets.

Possible my only quibble for the evening was that we sat in the bar waiting for the last of our party to arrive, it took just too long for the waiter to give us the drinks menu and subsequently take our order and deliver the drinks.

Once sat at our table for dinner however, there were no complaints for service. We ordered a dim sum platter, which was very good tasty filling and not too gloopy skins. We went for the squid and soft shell crab in salt, pepper and chilli where were very good.

Next came the Peking duck, pre-ordered at time of booking or it is a 45 min wait, which was deftly carved at the table. Very authentic and very similar to that I’ve had in Beijing. The carcass and remaining meat is then taken away and cooked as a main.

For mains we had the remains of our duck stir fried in ginger and spring onion, crispy sea bass in soya, tofu with prawns and scallops and a forgettable chicken dish. All well cooked and tasty.

The food part of the bill came probably close to £200 for the four of us, which given the quality of ingredients and expert cooking was fair value. However, I’m not sure it is different enough from my local Chinesse Restaurant (which is very good) to really want to race back unless out with clients.