Sammy.D's Reviews

I've been going for dim sum to Royal China at least once or twice a month for the last 12 years and there's never a flicker of recognition from any of the longer-serving staff. But no matter, you're not here for the service — tho it is a lot better than many Chinatown places — nor are you here for the decor unless your most treasured cultural reference is Jackie Collins' “The Stud”. You're here for what is probably the best dim sum in London. The queues, however annoying they may be, are testament to that. Go for a weekday if you can because the weekend rush is not for the fainthearted. You go in, get a number and then wait in a small area by the bar with loads of people who have never heard the word “orderly”. They'll probably have a stroller in tow too. The food makes it worth the 40-minute wait. Sesame paper prawn rolls are just right, not greasy at all. The same is true for the Roast Pork Puff and the steamed dim sum like prawn and coriander or prawn and chive explode with fresh flavour. All for about 15 pounds a head. Things can get more expensive in the evening when the whole place becomes much smarter (in its black and gold kind of way) but the food — mostly standard Cantonese fare — remains top-notch and well worth seeking out among Queensway's many Chinese restaurants.

Uli is a fabulous neighborhood restaurant. I've been going there very regularly for the best part of a decade and have always had a great time. Most restaurants on All Saints Road don't last but Uli is proof positive there's no curse and that the right place can work in any location. Host and owner Michael must take a lot of credit. He is charm personified, and has an amazing memory for his guests. The food is very good too. Faves are the Malay Lamb Curry, the steamed dumplings or the soft shell crab. Their hot and sour soup is also just what the doctor ordered when you're stuffed up and blue. The tiny room may not look like much but the restaurant does have a life of its own and come the summer there is a delightful little outside area. David Cameron is a regular but don't let that put you off — his table manners are excellent. Obviously, those Bullingdon days of tearing up restaurants are a long way in the past.

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!

This place on a quiet street a few minutes away from Edgware Road tube station is a real find. It is tiny. There's a small sushi bar upstairs taking perhaps five seats and then a few tables in the basement. Despite this it works and reminds of you those places in New York where every bit of space is used to the maximum.
And the food is definitely top-notch. The sushi is really good. Generous slices of the freshest fish on perfectly done rice. There's usually a very good selection every time we've been with an intriguing array of specials. Last time I was there, the chef had clearly managed to get a lot of good sea urchin in and these were presented in all sorts of ways. There is often a lot of excellent king crab and very good otoro. The only thing not to my taste is perhaps a lot of the specials sometimes use truffles — which I don't like with sushi — or can sometimes be overpowered by yuzu so that you lose the taste of the fish. But other people don't seem to mind.

I used to really like this place and have been going there for years but standards have really plummeted. It still has a great cosy room with plenty of atmosphere but the food is now beyond awful. Service has also suffered. my wife got food poisoning on a recent visit after eating one of the worst porchettas that can ever have been made. Truth to tell, the dish looked dicey when it came, containing mostly of chunks of liver and this for a princely sum of around 22 pounds. My food was not much better. The gratin dauphinoise appeared to have been reheated a million times and was just dry and brittle. The total bill was more than a 120 pounds for two and this was after they removed the cost of a glass of champagne which had tasted like nothing of the sort. Avoid this place until they get their act back together.