Four Seasons, Chinatown
The interior of the Four Seasons is a bit dated and dingy but there’s something reassuringly honest about it and they do the best Cantonese roast duck. There’s considerable skill involved in Chinese BBQ meats, which need specialist equipment, but despite this the Four Seasons is remarkably inexpensive: less than £15 for an order of steamed rice with a combination of three different BBQ meats. I always go to the one on Gerrard Street when I’m running around in town and need a quick refuel – I’d happily eat it anytime, for pretty much any meal.
12 Gerrard Street, London W1D 5PP; fs-restaurants.co.uk
Royal China Club
They make their dim sum on site at the Royal China Club, and they do it very well. They’re very inventive without trying to be too funky. I was there last weekend and we had delicious, spicy prawn and pea shoot siu mai, which was a lovely subtle twist on the original. The presentation is always pretty and they’re very good at taking traditional dim sum and giving it a little lift. Their Xiaolongbao have crab and I love anything with crab.
40-42 Baker Street, London W1U AJ; royalchinagroup.co.uk/royalchinaclub
Imperial Treasure
Taking my father to a Chinese restaurant is a tricky and daunting exercise. He can be very exacting and not terribly effusive. I took him to Imperial Treasure for lunch and we ordered some har gow, steamed prawn dumplings in a crystal pastry skin. My pa held one up in his chopsticks and inspected it, then he took a bite and said, ‘not bad’, which from him is high praise indeed. And then he ate another one. It’s a place to go for a treat as it’s expensive but it’s a lovely room and has my pa’s seal of approval! I’ve always had excellent food there.
9 Waterloo Pl, St. James’s, London SW1Y 4BE; imperialtreasure.com/uk
Chinatown Bakery, Chinatown
Chinatown Bakery does traditional Cantonese baked goods. We’re not talking sourdough here, but lots of that lovely, soft, pillowy sort of bread. They do wonderful baked char siu baos and they’re just delicious. You can get a Hong Kong milk tea and a char siu bao for less than a fiver.
7-9 Newport Place, London WC2H 7JR; chinatown.co.uk
Lucky & Joy, Hackney
Ellen Parr and Pete Kelly have created a wonderfully fun neighbourhood restaurant. Ellen is such a talented chef. She doesn’t pretend that she’s trying to do traditional Chinese food, but she does her take on Chinese dishes really respectfully. She really understands Chinese flavours and ingredients and her food is delicious. And the fact that it’s called Lucky & Joy shows that they’ve understood that kind of Chinese kitsch, cultural context.
95 Lower Clapton Road, E5 0NP; luckyandjoy.co.uk
Try Amy’s wontons at Wontoneria, 23 Charlotte Street, London W1T 1RW; wontoneria.com
