Watford, Chinese Restaurant Guide

“Sunday dim sum lunch is always full of happy families” at this popular Cantonese group with 1980s-nightclub decor – an occasion for which they “cannot be beaten” for many diners: so “arrive around 10:45 to join queue for 11am opening”. With the closure of its Bayswater branch a few years ago, Baker Street and Canary Wharf are its preeminent spots (and SW6 can be “disappointing” by comparison). All feedback is about the lunchtime service – “the evening offering is a bit ordinary”.

This well-known family-owned quartet of “upmarket Chinese” operations – in Knightsbridge, Mill Hill, Wandsworth Common and Esher – are “longstanding favourites” for many reporters. “The menus may not excite any true aficionados of Asian cuisine, but its consistency excites us!” And even if it’s “never cheap, it’s always worth the price”.

“The Oriental food hall of your dreams” – this gastro-warehouse in Colindale offers a vast choice. “The quality ranges extremely widely between the various stalls”, but choose carefully and you’ll be well fed.

One of North London’s more consistent and interesting culinary success stories: Hendon’s kosher Chinese restaurant “continues to operate at a very high standard”, with “tasty and authentic cooking” and “a great ambience”. It takes its name from a Chinese city with an ancient Jewish community.

An all-you-can-eat buffet – with options at breakfast, lunch and dinner – is a longstanding feature of this no-frills veggie veteran: a family business that started out as a market stall in 1984. It also offers an à la carte menu, which includes a significant Indo-Chinese section. No alcohol, so knock yourself out on the array of milkshakes and lassis. (It also has offshoots in Hatch End and Kingsbury).

“The venerable kingpin of Chinese food in this part of west London is not giving up its crown easily” – opened by the Lou family in the outer reaches of Acton in 1976, it has served “exceptionally tasty Peking-style cuisine” with “considerate service and warm atmosphere” for almost 50 years.

This “typical local Chinese” amidst a parade of shops in Swiss Cottage has put in more than 50 years’ service. Why? “The food is relatively good and prices reasonable”.

“This place has not changed in 30 years, thank goodness!” – a Swiss Cottage “stalwart” that “packs ’em in every night” (“it gets very loud”) with “slick service and consistently good cooking” from “an excellent range of Chinese and SE Asian specialities”, all at very “reasonable prices”. Top Menu Tip – “laksa is a favourite”.

“Some of the best dim sum in London” and “outstanding, delicious Peking duck” is an unexpected find in this anonymous modern hotel dining room overlooking trafficky Shepherd’s Bush Green. It’s “good enough to impress visitors from the Far East” and has built a sufficiently strong reputation in its 10 years to be extremely busy at times.

“Authentic and sensibly priced dim sum, a cut or two above the quality of many traditional Soho joints” (and with “some stand out dishes”) has carved a good reputation for this Cantonese basement, below the shiny new towers of Paddington Basin. (Its ratings, though, are not as high as once they were; and one or two reporters feel “it still hasn’t fully recovered its shine post pandemic”).

This classic Cantonese in Queensway specialises in “delicious dim sum” and roast meats; and though “there are better venues in the area” you may still face a long queue at busy times. It also has a Chinatown sibling at 45 Wardour Street, London W1D 6PZ.

“It’s worth the spartan interior and mixed service to eat the roast duck and/or char siu pork” at these Cantonese canteens, where “the best roast duck in the world is the claim” – from no less an authority than The FT – “and it must be up there” with “meat and crispy skin so well done (no pun intended)”; and don’t forget “the crispy pork belly – an especial fat-lover’s treat!”. Launched in Queensway 34 years ago, the group now has three venues around Chinatown plus the new Chop Chop nearby in the Hippodrome Casino. Further afield there are outlets in Colindale’s Bang Bang Oriental food hall, Oxford and Leicester.

“The lobster noodles are as legendary as ever” – “best in the world!” – chorus a legion of fans for this 45-year-old Queensway institution that’s “tops for Chinese seafood in London”. It’s a “buzzy family restaurant” too, with “really lovely friendly staff”, even if it’s “a bit too brightly lit”.

This “reliable old-school Chinese” near Baker Street tube is “great for big family lunches” – with its sheer scale, traditional décor and eight menus, “one could be in Hong Kong of old”. It’s also “pretty good value for money” for its address.

This “stalwart neighbourhood Chinese restaurant” on the fringes of Richmond (as you head to Kew) is well known after more than 30 years for the “consistently good food” that means it’s “usually busy”.

“Fabulous Peking Duck and dim sum comes with one of the best views of any restaurant in London” at this luxurious Chinese venue, which continues to break the normal rules applying to anywhere with a decent outlook. On the top of a five-star hotel overlooking Kensington Gardens and Palace, it’s “very popular and deservedly so”: service is “spot-on” and it’s “just lovely”.

With its “delicious cheap ’n’ cheerful Chinese food in an area of overpriced restaurants”, this “brisk” family-run spot on Kensington High Street is “always popular and rightly so”, including with “many Asian clients, which tells you everything you need to know”. (“I’ve been coming for almost 30 years, and they recently updated the interior while remaining true to their unique concept of barstool dining tables”).

A “big Chinese restaurant” – the London outpost of a Shanghai group – which serves Cantonese fare that’s “really good and not too pricey”. It occupies part of an office block near Portman Square in Marylebone – a setting that “can seem a bit sterile”.