Bayswater, Chinese Restaurant Guide

“The roast duck is extraordinarily delicious and just melts in the mouth” (and the rest of the menu is worthy of exploration too) at these “squashed in” Cantonese pit stops in Bayswater and Chinatown, which waste little energy on interior design or customer service. (A new branch ‘Chop Chop’, is set to open in the basement of the Hippodrome casino, near Leicester Square, over summer 2022).

“Who would order anything but the lobster noodles?” (“the best way to get the most out of a crustacean, and surprisingly good value!”) at this “unbeatable Cantonese classic” in Queensway: a “chaotic, crowded and noisy”, if “efficiently run” stalwart (est 1978) which sells more lobster than just about any other restaurant in the UK. If you do, there are other delicious seafood dishes to try (scallops, crab, razor clams…) and the Peking Duck’s not bad either.

“You’ll likely find yourselves among Asian customers” at this classic Cantonese restaurant in Queensway. While perhaps “not the best Chinese food London has to offer”, the cooking provides “the real thing”, with roast duck the most recommended dish here.

With its “superior dim sum”, this unusually spacious modern basement venue in Paddington Basin is often tipped as “better than the Chinatown options”. From the main menu, the “great Cantonese cooking” comes in “generous portions”, with pretty much “everything of an exemplary standard” – while service is “particularly accommodating and cheerful”.