London, Dim Sum, Gerrards Corner

#1

This has become my Chinatown dim sum destination but I noticed some newish names about and I would be pleased to hear any recent experiences. Gerrards Corner is where we take our children and the sweet and sour and crispy duck territory is always sound.

Always good to eat what they will not and too much lunch (for one) consisted of prawn and coriander dumplings, turnip paste in XO sauce, meat in tofu skins and soup, and steamed chicken and wind dried sausage on rice.

The turnip paste is a standout dish and the rest was very good, a little less polished than Royal China Baker street but none the worse for that.

#2

Any idea if they make their own XO sauce? By paste, I assume you mean cake?

#3

I think it is called paste, it is served in small pieces with beansprout and spring onion. No idea if they make the sauce but I recall it being spicier the previous time I ate it. (The picture menu has it as square cakes but this it wasn’t)

(Jan) #4

turnip cake is a favourite but no one ever likes it so i only ever order it in toronto where it costs pennies (well, not really…). i’ve had some lovely dim sum in london but it seems so expensive and i’m not sure why. i’m told that hakkasan is extraordinary but so’s the price. ping pong overcharges. spoiled by toronto prices and variety :frowning: . lately, to divert from your chinatown thread, i’ve been buying frozen dim sum in various hackney stores and ‘making’ my own quite regularly. for about £15 i can get enough to last through at least three meals for two. it tastes the same! what i would like to know is where else in london chinatown would you recommend? i browse and rarely go in anywhere. too many disappointments. i’m an outrageously tough critic no matter where i go. i’ve not even found a place that makes me smile in paris or anywhere in italy and am the object of scorn in a lot of forums because of me. sooo… impress me!

#5

I agree, a Chinatown recommendation would be useful. The other two Dim Sum destinations for me are Royal China (not club) in Baker Street which can be excellent and given the absence of a view you could be in Hong Kong, also Phoenix in Marylebone. My one visit to Hakkasan convinced me that it was extraordinary but not so much the food. Friends like Yautcha but I think it is expensive and not great, more of a ‘dining experience’ than just good dim sum. Ping Pong has not ticked any of my boxes other than being near where I had parked once.

#6

I’d also be interested to hear any recs.

The last couple of times we’ve ended up in dumplings legend for the xiao long bau and ordered a few other dishes off the dim sum menu. It’s not anything to write home about but does the job. Previously we would go to Leong’s legend if we wanted xlb, or joy king lau if we wanted standard fare. The latter of which was nothing special but pretty good value - I’ve not been since it changed hands.

I’d been tempted for a while by Royal China Baker Street, but I had a fairly atrocious set menu at their Canary Wharf branch as part of a work Christmas dinner last December which put me off trying their dim sum.

I’d written ping pong off as another over expanded chain restaurant, was that wrong? The only time I went wasnt great, and the dumplings cost more and came in fewer numbers.

Not Gerrard Street, but A Wong seems to be the place to go at the moment. It’s high up on my list to try, but it falls into the yuatcha bucket rather than the affordable one.