Oxshott, Chinese Restaurant Guide

The “only upmarket Chinese in the area” – and part of an eight-strong, otherwise London-based, chain; admittedly the “menu hasn’t changed in decades” (this location opened in 1980) and they don’t tend to treat diners to specials, but reporters “love it” all the same – and “the outstanding team match the quality of the food”.

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”.

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”.

2023 Review: “Top-class Chinese food, served in canteen-style surroundings” has arrived in Balham with the pandemic-delayed opening of this first solo project from Chi San, former right-hand man to Alan Yau of Yauatcha and Hakkasan fame. The relatively short menu is filled with standard dishes from the Cantonese culinary canon, modernised through the use of high-quality produce, and there’s an interesting selection of beers, wines and teas.

“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”.

“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.

“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.

Chelsea Malaysian whose menu mixes and matches Chinese dishes and other Asian inspirations. It’s survived ten years on a site (off the King’s Road) that was previously something of a restaurant graveyard, due to its straightforward if not earth-shattering virtues: “friendly service, good food, nice interior”.

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”).

“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”.

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”.

“Course after course of utter deliciousness!” – comprised of “Chinese tapas that never ceases to impress” – has won renown for this Pimlico veteran, whose “very different 18-course tasting menu is tailored in terms of spiciness and dietary preferences” in discussion with the staff. It’s a formula that’s served the Peng family well for over 40 years (although their personal service is not quite as intrinsic to a visit as once it was). “As other authentic Chinese cuisine has become available across London”, it is perhaps no longer the leading destination it once was, although all diners feel “the food deserves its excellent reputation”. “The venue does not create much in the way of ambience” however and it is often noted in feedback that a meal here has become “very expensive now”. Top Tip – “don’t eat all day before you go”.

2022 Review: Amidst the glossy boutiques of Beauchamp Place, this beautiful, luxuriously decorated Chinese opened at the end of 2019, and – aside from a favourable review by Fay Maschler – has never really had the chance to make waves. It specialises in hot pots, and the menu features much in the way of seafood and wagyu beef to accompany or incorporate. It’s listed (without a star) by Michelin, who typically list only extremely expensive, culinarily ‘safe’ Chinese restaurants: you can view that as either a positive or negative.

“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”.

2021 Review: The very acme of dining glamour when it opened in 1968 – the late Sir Terence Conran once hailed it as a breakthrough in restaurant design – this expensive Chinese stalwart in Knightsbridge is now showing its age. “I used to love this place but the food is now old-fashioned and hasn’t kept up with the times” is the politest of the last survey’s feedback. Other reporters are blunter: “remarkable it continues to have any customers…”

Now in its fifth decade and almost 30 years after Ken Lo’s death, the Victoria venture he founded to showcase his brand of Chinese cuisine continues to feed a loyal (if now, perhaps somewhat ageing) band of regulars. All rate it well, although it can seem “pricey even for somewhere on the edge of Belgravia”.

“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.

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.

“Without a shadow of a doubt the very best Chinese restaurant in town” – Andrew Wong is “such a talent” and his “genius” cuisine inspires unending superlatives regarding his Pimlico HQ (previously run for decades by his parents as Kym’s). “Exceptional craft is on display” in the preparation of the “exquisite dim sum” and other “clearly Chinese dishes” (“none of your fusion nonsense here!”) and for some reporters it is “one of the most extraordinary culinary experiences ever”. But since the award of a second Michelin star (the first ever for a Chinese establishment) a meal here risks becoming “prohibitively expensive”, with minimum spends for lunch and tasting menus only in the evening. On most accounts it’s “worth it despite the high cost”, but the equation is more evenly balanced now, and the levels of service and ambience have struggled to keep up with the “hellish” bill. Even so, “there’s scarce table availability even with the extension into the outer terrace”.