Asian Food in London

Living in Rome, the thing I miss the most is good Chinese food.  There was a discussion as to decent Chinese restaurants in Rome and while you can get the typical dishes such as fried rice and spring rolls, what I want is dim sum and roast duck.

On top of that, most of the dishes in the Chinese restaurants are too oily for my taste.  That’s why the last few months, I have been making Chinese food at home. Also, it’s probably my fault as I should lower my expectations and not expect to get Chinese food as good as the ones in Hong Kong.

So as you can imagine, I was super excited to be going to London and already had in mind to get my fill of Asian food.  With only 3 days there, we planned to have Chinese, Japanese and Indian food.

Much to my disappointment, we didn’t get to go to the Japanese restaurant as the flight was delayed and we got in almost at midnight.  Instead we got some pieces of sushi which were bland and completely tasteless at a store in Victoria Station. What was appalling was when we asked for soya sauce, they told us they ran out of it.

That definitely was not a good start but the next day we had planned on going to Royal China for dim sum.  I had planned the route but as the line we had planned on taking was not operating that weekend, we struggled to find the right train to Bayswater.

Considering that we didn’t get a decent meal the night before, I was already getting irritated! And that is not a good thing for Luca. Somehow, we managed to get to Royal China at about 12.30pm and there was already a line.

They gave us a number and told us it would be a 20-minute wait.  Long but not too bad and since it was crowded inside, we took the opportunity to go for a quick walk in Hyde Park which was nearby.

Though 20 minutes hadn’t passed, we thought it would be a good idea to go back as we may get seated earlier.  As we entered, my cousin who lives in London came up to us.

We had planned on meeting for dinner the following night but he was there to meet up with a friend who was from out of town.  London isn’t that big after all!

When we got seated, I was excited just looking at the menu but since Luca is not a huge fan of dim sum, I couldn’t order a whole bunch of dishes as I would have to eat them all on my own.

I did get what I wanted such as har gau, siu mai, cheong fun, char siu bao and woo kok (yam puffs).  To end, I ordered some almond jello.

Luca had some dim sum and also ordered some noodle soup with char siu.  He enjoyed it but is spoiled too because he says it was good but not like the ones in Hong Kong.

Walking out, I was very happy as the last time I had dim sum was last July. Oh yeah and we were stuffed but that wasn’t an issue as we were sure to walk it off on the 3-hour walking tour that evening.

Royal China
13 Queensway  Bayswater, London W2 4QJ, United Kingdom
Tel: 020 7221 2535

After the tour, our plan was to attend a St. Patrick’s event called The Drunk Show and then head to an Indian restaurant.  We checked that the last order for this restaurant was 11.45pm and if we get there by 11pm we would be fine.

The problem was we were exhausted and as much as we love Indian food, we had to pass.  A bummer really!

The following day we had hoped to go to the Indian restaurant for lunch but it didn’t make sense as the tour we took ended at 2pm and that night, we were going to my cousin’s house for Sri Lankan food.

So we just had a light meal at the hotel and got some much needed rest. A home cooked meal is always welcomed and it was also nice to catch up with family.

The next day would be our last day in London and I wanted to make sure that we at least got duck rice from Four Seasons which again is in Bayswater.  This time, we got there without any problems.

I love how tasty such a simple dish can be and Luca also got crispy pork along with roasted duck.  I was tempted to order some to bring back to Rome but decided against it in the end.

I also found out that Gold Mine down the road also has good roast duck rice it’s opened by the former chef of Four Seasons.

Four Seasons
84 Queensway  London W2 3RL, United Kingdom
020 7229 4320

Goldmine
102 Queensway  London W2 3RR
020 7792 8331

Although we didn’t get to eat everything we wanted, what we did get was good and satisfied my craving for Chinese food.  Talking about Chinese food, my sister-in-law told me that her husband says it’s been a long time since they have been to a Chinese restaurant.

She told him there is a reason and if he wants Chinese food, they would come over to our place instead.  My brother-in-law also loves Chinese dumplings and so this weekend, I will be making a Chinese meal.

Updated: Made the Chinese meal and was exhausted. However, it was all worth it when my 7-year old niece left saying “Mangiano bene in China!” – They eat well in China.  She was a good sport and tried (and liked) everything.

For this meal, I wouldn’t be experimenting too much but if  I can find the ingredients, I have in mind to make kuay teow noodles from scratch in the near future.  It is also the same recipe for cheong fun. Yums!

The only new dish for the Chinese meal this weekend will be dessert as I plan on making almond jello. I had thought about tang yuan but worry that it may be too weird for them.

Sorry for going off in another direction! Getting back on track, hopefully we will get to visit London again soon and maybe for a longer trip as there is so much to do and see.