Carpenders Park, Chinese Restaurant Guide

This well-known Cantonese group retains a large fan-base praising “still among the best dim sum in London”, presented in “comfortable surroundings” by “amiable (if overselling) service” (although feedback on the evening offering suggests it’s a matter of “fine dining prices for indifferent food”). As damaging, though, are the company’s multiplying legal problems, with diners complaining of “no alcohol licence!” at the Baker Street branch, which was stripped of it in 2024 and fined £360,000 for employing illegal immigrants, and in March 2025 its Royal Gourmet division, which produces wontons, steamed buns and roasted duck at a facility in Park Royal, was fined a total of £113,000 by Uxbridge magistrates after pleading guilty to 11 serious failures in food and hygiene safety – including rodent droppings. Royal Gourmet also paid £332,000 in fines for breaches of the Water Industry Act back in 2019. As one reporter comments: “Oh dear, what went wrong over the last decade! A bit shambolic… , and the quality of food has definitely worsened” in recent times.

“Reliable dim sum” ensures that the conventional Cantonese restaurant on the ground floor of Colindale’s Bang Bang Oriental Food Hall is “always busy” – offering a “great” alternative to the hit-and-miss kiosks upstairs. It has a twin in Chinatown (see also).

“You’re never short of choices” at this cavernous Oriental food court in Colindale, whose 25 stalls offer “a great variety of Asian cuisine” from Mumbai to Tokyo, while there’s the more conventional Green Dragon Chinese restaurant downstairs. But it pays to be careful in your choices: “certain stalls are definitely better than others” (and “some are really not worth the money”).

“Reliable, high-quality Chinese fare” is the hallmark of this family-run operation now in its fifth decade, with five outlets in well-heeled parts of the capital. “Not all the food is authentic Chinese cuisine, but it is all immaculately prepared and as fresh as you like”, and comes with a “polite welcome and attentive service”. “A cut above – prices are to match”. Holland Kwok opened the original on Chelsea’s King’s Road in 1979, closely followed by branches in Esher, Mill Hill and Knightsbridge, then Wandsworth Common in 2011. He now runs the company with his son Andrew. Top Tip – “weekday lunch is exceptionally good value”.

Andrew Hung quit a career in architectural engineering for this “polished” Colindale passion project: a glossily spec’d out unit at the foot of an apartment block serving high-quality cuisine that fans say is “faultless: perfect for lunch or supper” (with dim sum to the fore for the former). The worst critique this year? “Good, but didn’t quite live up to Giles Coren’s review”.

All-you-can-eat vegetarian Indian buffet with a “good selection of dishes at reasonable prices”. Based in Wembley, where it started out 40-odd years ago as a family-owned market stall, it now has spinoffs in Harrow, Kingsbury and Hatch End (the latter à la carte only). Signature dishes include bhel puri, crispy bhajia and chilli paneer, washed down by a selection of soft drinks.

Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, this “excellent” (if “slightly expensive”) Chinese in Hendon has ploughed an incredibly consistent – and unique in the UK – path as a venue for kosher Asian cuisine. “A great place for a family celebration or business meeting”, it takes its name from a Chinese city on the Silk Road which hosted a ‘lost’ Jewish trading community for more than 1,000 years.

On Golders Green’s main drag, this well-established kosher-Asian is mostly known for its Chinese dishes. It has a clean-lined modern interior and – typical of its genre and area – is often judged “generally good, if a little ovepriced”. (A similar business under the same name in Edgware is apparently under separate ownership).

Celebrating their half century this year, three generations of the Lou family have been an “always reliable” source of “consistently tasty and well prepared Chinese food” for local Actonians since the 1970s. Lawrence, who runs it these days, pretty well grew up in the restaurant and makes sure that “service is always friendly”.

An “old favourite” that’s impressively popular for somewhere tucked-away in a distant Swiss Cottage shopping parade, and that has “stayed the same for decades”, serving an “original mix of dishes from China, Malaysia and Singapore” in a “civilised atmosphere”. The Times critic Giles Coren’s favourite restaurant (he claims to have eaten at least 1,000 bowls of its signature laksa), fans in our annual diners’ poll say it serves “better chicken rice than in Singapore”.

A Swiss Cottage institution for more than half a century, this local Chinese venue (est. 1972) is in the classic (for London) Cantonese mould and still dependably well-rated on the food front.

Fans “absolutely love the food” (dim sum in particular) at this well-reputed, modern Chinese restaurant in a Hong Kong-owned hotel overlooking trafficky Shepherd’s Bush Green. “Service is much improved but still hit-and-miss” (on occasion, it can be “very slow”). The venue takes its name from the western-influenced ‘shikumen’ architecture of pre-revolutionary Shanghai.

“The dim sum never disappoints”, with “V.G. examples of all the classics” at this Cantonese outfit in Paddington Basin, set in a large and modern basement that looks “stylish” to most diners, if “cold and boring” to a few critics. “Great for lunch with family and friends”, it also “copes well for a party of 20 in a private room, with efficient service and an excellent set menu”.

“Excellent Cantonese roast duck and dim sum” have earned a solid following over 20 years for this “authentically rushed and hectic” Queensway spot (and its Chinatown sibling), despite “typical Chinese-restaurant ambience and service – crammed… loud… perfunctory”.

“Still a go-to if it’s roast duck you’re after” – see them hanging in the window of this 35-year-old Bayswater Cantonese and its Chinatown offshoots, which offer “consistently excellent” roast meats (pork as well as duck) in “a pretty basic environment that’s noisy and crowded”, along with “charmless service” – “bad enough to make you think twice about even going!”. A more positive way of looking at it is that “they don’t waste money on decor and service: it’s a reliable no-frills comfort-food experience”. Further outlets include Chop Chop at the Hippodrome and Colindale Bang Bang Oriental food hall (see also), plus three Little Four Seasons.

Almost everyone has walked past this 30-year fixture next-door to Queensway tube station at some point. Those who have dropped in for a meal have found “delicious and authentic Cantonese food”, including roast duck and seafood – “but don’t expect friendly service”. Top Menu Tip – “beef with black bean sauce and crispy noodles”.

“Known for the most delicious lobster noodles” – a dish which has earned it widespread fame, and which “remains a must-eat” – this “old-favourite Chinese with great seafood” in Queensway “has returned to form” after “seeming to lose its way at one stage” (a revival reflected in the food ratings). It’s well worth exploring the menu further: “they also have the best roast duck”. The cavernous, ’70s-tastic interior is either an essential part of its nostalgic charm or dire, depending on your tastes.

For more than 35 years, this “reliable” family-run outfit on the Kew side of Richmond has offered “familiar British-Chinese food, very well executed and with great service”. One recent innovation is a dim sum menu. Top Tip – the set midweek lunch is a snip, starting at under £10 for two courses.