Three Gorges

The Three Gorges, named after the huge dam spanning the Yangtze River in China, opened in Goodge Street in February 2025. It can seat eighty customers at one time, spread over three floors. It was founded by Li Zhan, who had previously set up the Sichuan mini-chain Sanxia Renjia. Cantonese chef Qian was until recently head chef of Gouqi, following on from ten years at Hakkasan and also a spell at Mimi Mayfair. 

The wine list had 22 labels and ranged in price from £30 to £128, with a median price of £48 and an average markup to retail price of a reasonable 2.7 times. Sample references were Pinot Grigio Pizzolato DOC 2024 at £34 for a bottle that you can find in the high street for £13, Domaine Francois Villard Viognier Les Contours de Deponcins 2023 at £68 compared to its retail price of £32, and Les Charmes de Kirwan 2020 at £85 for a wine that will set you back £38 in the high street. Asahi Super Dry beer was £6.80 a bottle.

Hot and sour soup was a good example of the breed, with shredded winter bamboo, preserved Sichaun pickle, black fungus and egg, with some prawns in this case (both meat and vegetarian versions were available). This had good depth of flavour and well-judged spicy kick (14/20).

A basket of dim sum had four different steamed buns. Prawn har gau was the classic, and there was also prawn with chives and a garnish of egg roe, a dumpling of prawn with goji berries, and a prawn dumpling with XO sauce. The wrappers of the dim sum were fairly thin and translucent, not the most delicate I have ever seen but certainly good, and the fillings were nicely judged (14/20).

Crab noodles had good texture and a decent amount of white crab meat, but was a tad lukewarm when it was served (13/20). Better was scallop with taro mousse served in its shell, which had lightly cooked scallops with good natural sweetness, the taro with its mild, nutty flavour an interesting contrast (14/20). Yum choi (flowering cabbage) looks rather like gai lan, the green broccoli, but in flavour terms is a cross between cabbage and spinach. This was fried with garlic and was tender and had good flavour (14/20). Fried rice was also fine.

We also had an enjoyable mango dessert, a fruity mango pudding with mint and a decorative strawberry served in a cocktail glass, along with a sweet sesame custard bun (13/20). Coffee was from the company Kiss The Hippo, and was quite good. Service was very friendly and attentive, albeit there were only two other diners that I could see at this lunch service. The bill came to £117 per person including a bottle of the enjoyable Zephyr New Zealand Riesling at £46 compared to its retail price of £16. Three Gorges delivered some very capable dishes, and I would happily eat here again.