Royal China, London
This place is highly recommended by lots of bloggers, Janet is particularly enthusiastic and as a native Hongkonger, I trust her taste in dimsum. So this restaurant was quite high-up in our list of the must-visits. I was further delighted to find out that this place is in the neighbourhood of the apartment we stayed it.
Prior to sampling the dimsum, we actually had a little breakfast at Arancina so we tried to burn a little appetite by walking around Kensington Garden. We took our time in the garden and thought 10 minutes prior to the opening time at 11AM should give us plenty of time. We were shocked to see the line up of enthusiastic and loyal patrons who patiently waited outside the entrance. Good thing we arrived early. Any later, we’d have to wait for tables. I wasn’t sure if they take reservations.
Anyway, once inside, we were promptly seated and served. I love the ambiance: it screamed authentic chinese with its dim lighting from tacky chandeliers, its lacquered tables, its loud wallpapers and equally loud patrons.
Like proper chinese restaurant that it is, service is prompt and quick if not a little rushed for western standard: we were served tea in pots and quickly decided what to eat. We fired off orders: pork puffs, BBQ-pork cheong fun (steamed rice roll), glutinous rice in lotus leaves, siu mai (a staple), har gau (another staple), chicken feet (my husband’s favourite), and dou miao in garlic (pea shoots).
The filling inside buttery and not overly crumbly pastry is sweet, savoury and moist unlike some versions wits its poisonous and dry bbq-pork. The siu mai and lo mai gai were decent but the har gao was strangely not good. The skin was thick instead of pearly and translucent. The pea-shoot was… different. Pea shoots simply sauteed in garlic (I refuse to have it any other way to enhance its green flavour) range from tender, wispy tendrils to al-dente, firm leaves but this time, it was rather fibrous. I am no expert in stir-fries like the Cantonese but I thought it was interesting: it felt like eating properly matured vegetables (instead of the baby-stuff) and stood up quite well to the garlic. I liked it.
In the middle of the service, waitresses circulated with a plate of suspiciously orange baby octopus sprinkled with sesame seeds. I love them so didn’t hesitate to grab one. It was delicious! It was tangy and savoury with hints of sweetness. The subtle but nutty sesame oil and crunchy texture egged us to take another bite and then another until we discovered too late that the whole thing was gone.
The winner of the lot is actually the BBQ-pork cheong fun. The rice noodle wrapper is the best I’ve tasted anywhere (Not HK though. Have never been there). The wrapper was thin yet silky, soft and smooth with pronouncedly clean rice flavours. I am not a chee cheong fun person, preferring other dim sum to this when pressed for stomach space, but this one truly provoked a craving in me.
I love that Royal China cooks subtly without sacrificing flavours. It’s not chinese restaurant compromised by adjusting the taste to western palate: it’s one which enhances the tradition by ensuring balanced and harmonized flavours. It quickly replaces a restaurant in London Ontario (ironically) as my favourite dimsum haunt. I’m glad to find one ‘closer’ to home and glad to find such a good bargain in crazy-expensive London.
It is also a very pleasant place to be on Sunday morning (although dimsum is available all week long for lunch). At the time of my visit, the restaurant was full of families having their sunday brunch and it was not limited to chinese families. It also seems to be a popular place to meet the in-laws for the first time. On nearby tables, a Chinese guy was meeting his British-in-laws and a British girl was introduced to the boyfriend’s Chinese parents. The whole place shows the spirit of a chinese restaurant.
Royal China:
13 Queensway,
London, W2 4QJ
Tel: 020 7221 2535
Others in the London series:
Wright Brothers Oyster & Porter House, London
My Verdict on Wagamama, London
Arancina
Fishworks
