Royal China

Your above average Chinese in London

Royal China is one of the most successful Chinese restaurant groups in London, with six restaurants across London providing traditional Chinese cooking. The main two branches in Baker Street and Queenway are well known to be flooded at weekend lunch times thanks to its good quality dim sum. I returned to the Canary Wharf branch for a quick dinner on a Monday evening. Located just off the river Thames in a beautiful location, it has been over three years since my last visit but nothing much seemed to have changed.

Royal China

We ordered two dishes from the chef's special menu, the grilled stuffed scallop with minced prawns was an interesting dish, not something you would normally see in a normal Chinese restaurant, it was smooth and sweet with a very nice soft texture, tasting wonderful with the Chinese vinegar dressing it came with. The Peking duck was decent, nothing like the exceptional quality I had from Ming Jiang but when the price is factored in, it was still pretty good, nice balance of fat and meat with the settled crispy skin.

grilled stuffed scallop with minced prawns

Peking duck

Sliced beef cooked with wild mushroom with sha cha sauce in a clay pot was excellent, a classic dish using the spiciness and nuttiness of the sha cha sauce to create a mouth watering rich dish with silky mushrooms and finely sliced beef. The lotus leaf rice steamed with prawn and duck was the star of the evening, lovely earthy and herbal aromas from the lotus leaf which all sealed within the steamed rice, packed wonderful flavours.

sliced beef cooked with
wild mushroom with sha cha sauce

lotus leaf rice steamed with
prawn and duck

It was a very nice meal overall, nothing fancy or special, just very solid Chinese cooking in terms of what London has to offer. Service is your "Chinese restaurant standard", so don't expect much. Royal China offers something that is well above your everyday Chinese food in London but the price tag is also a touch more, try Royal China if you are getting tired of your local average Chinese restaurant to seek something on a different level.

Food 5
Service 4
Ambience 5
Value 5

£37 per head with tea

30 Westferry Circus, London E14 8RR

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