Royal China Club

The Royal China Club opened in 2003 and can seat up to 180 diners, including several private dining rooms. The dining area is split into two main rooms, with several fish tanks separating the two areas in which are assorted lobsters and other seafood that is prepared to order. Tables are reasonably well spaced and lighting is quite bright. The Cantonese menu was lengthy with plenty of luxury ingredients to the fore when compared to the other Royal China branches.

There was a quite ambitious wine list, with 103 labels and ranged in price from £35 to £2,450, with a median price of £90 and an average markup to retail price of 2.7 times, which is a bargain by current London standards. Sample references were Domaine Brusset Cotes du Rhone 2021 at £35 for a bottle that you can find in the high street for £13, Thelema Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 at £65 compared to its retail price of £27.60, and Chateau La Tour de Mons 2016 at £85 for a wine that will set you back £30 in the high street. For those with the means there was Antinori Tignanello 2014 at £295 compared to its retail price of £179, and Chateau Lynch Bages 2009 at £550 for a wine whose current market value is £220.

Hot and sour soup was a rich broth with just enough vinegar and chilli kick, with a few small shrimps in amongst the mushrooms and bamboo shoots (14/20). Har gau steamed dumplings were very good, the prawn filling cooked through nicely and the dumpling casing thin and quite delicate (14/20). Dover sole in XO sauce was presented whole at the table and then filleted. The fish was carefully cooked and had plenty of flavour rl indeed this was a much better sole than I had eaten at a flashy Mayfair hotel restaurant just a few days earlier (14/20). Gai lan with garlic had young, tender asparagus that was lightly fried and had lovely texture (15/20). Singapore noodles also had pleasing texture and featured some precisely cooked prawns as well as a nicely judged touch of spice (14/20).

Service was swift, to say the least. A beer that I ordered appeared within a few seconds, and the plates were whisked away with alacrity. The bill came to £111 per head, but that was with three savoury courses, a whole Dover sole and beer to drink. If you ordered more carefully you could probably expect a bill of around £80 per person. Royal China Club offers well prepared food and is consistent, the clientele being mostly Chinese. It is not aiming at the western palate in the way that Hakkasan does, but its prices reflect a slightly less luxurious and slick approach to décor and service than the Hakkasan group. The food here is certainly a cut above regular Chinatown offerings.

Further reviews: 20th Nov 2021 | 07th Aug 2014