Royal China (Queensway)

After reading some of the reviews on this page I have no hope for South East Asian or Chinese food in the UK. Coming from Australia and having eaten extensively throughout Asia, Royal China Queensway is the best Dim Sum / Yum Cha in Europe and is on par or better than the best in Sydney or Hong Kong. I’ve been shocked at the poor quality of Chinese Cuisine in London (compared with the top quality of other cuisines, like Indian etc.), but am more than shocked by some of the reviews on this page. We go to Royal China for Dim Sum all the time and love it – including Chinese friends who share my opinion of the restaurant.

It’s a real experience though and many of the customers are Chinese and the staff are very Chinese, so don’t expect orderly polite service, that’s just not how it’s done in this restaurant or Hong Kong for that matter, and they don’t need to change it, as the queue is out the door for lunch every day and they’re always packed.

Honestly, if you love Chinese food, you’ll love Royal China as it stands so far apart from anything else available in London there’s no comparison. If however, you like orderly lines and polite service, forget about it, this place is not for you.
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Darren
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, February 12, 2009

I will boycott this restaurant which once was an old favourite for one simple reason...I went there after Christmas 08 and they charged me 90p for half a slice of lemon in my drink. I have never seen this in any restaurant in the world. I will vote with my feet - any never return.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Monday, January 05, 2009

We had dinner on the new years day. My husband and I have experience of dining in the Oceania, the Far East, South and North Americas, and of course in Europe. Good food is very important to us, and we pay effort finding good restaurants where we go. The experience of dining at the Royal China was discordant; Food was excellent, I never had as good duck as was served there! But. Having dinner it is not only about the food. The discussion on the table was that is this a service or an industry. We felt being pushed to perform, we were not quests but more like cattle to produce revenue. In the end of day the personneel acted like military officals trying to get rid of the people. Christmas/New Year decorations were collected as we were trying to enjoy our wine. the terrible sound of all dishes being collected within five minutes. We recommend the manager to sit down and listen to the user experience of the customer.
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Maria Isotalo
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 5
Thursday, January 01, 2009

Went to the royal china on Saturday with my wife for a bit of dim sum. We had a very nice meal, the dishes looked and tasted freshly cooked. The rice in particular was excellent. We have been big fans of dim sum at the Bakers street branch for a number of years so were keen to give our new "local" Bayswater a go. On a whole we were very impressed, nice food though our favourite the sesame prawn rolls weren't as good as we have had at Baker st. Service was good though I was really annoyed to see they tried to get a double service charge off us when we paid. We had already paid 13% service charge so to be asked for more was terribly cheeky. They need to stop this sort of sharp practice. The restaurant was full and very buzzy. The meal came to £56 for two which was high but probably down to the two beers we had at £4.00 each.
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david ginsberg - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Sunday, December 28, 2008

The Royal China in Queensway is by no means outstanding, the food and the service is ok. It is overpriced for the food quality, there is also a 13% service charge which isn't right. Overall I won't be going back for the simple reason that there are better places in London for cheaper and better quality food.
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Tina Smith
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Food ok, but in no way outstanding. Very expensive, considering the price charged.

They charge for rice refills. Even worse, the staff automatically added 13% service charge, which to me just seems greedy.
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- View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Monday, October 13, 2008

After months of people saying how good this place was, I finally went last Saturday and wasn't disappointed. The doors open at midday and so we joined the queue around 11:50 - sure enough as soon as the restaurant opened up, the queue filed in and once all the tables were full for the first sitting there was a considerable queue in the lobby. The food was great - no trolley, all a la carte dim sum and we enjoyed every last bit. The turnip, flat noodles, har gau etc were all excellent. We ate a lot and the bill came to about 60 quid, which between four was pretty good. Will definitely be going back.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Friday, October 10, 2008

I was very disappointed with Royal China in Queensway.

The food wasn't anything spectacular, and for the prices that you were paying I was expecting something a little special.

The service wasn't great. Yes they brought the food to our table, served us drinks and cleared, but a smile can go a long way.

When it came time to pay the bill, a 13% gratuity , which might i add said that it was recommended to pay, for the poor service that we had I wasn't going to tip, but wheI i said this to the waitress, she immediately told me that i had to as it was for the staff! She made me feel so guilty and she was nearly yelling (sorry to any of the table around us who had their meals interrupted) in the end i said i would pay it just to get her to keep her voice down.

Next time I feel the need to go through all of that i will just go to the take away store round the corner at eat in the comfort of my own home.
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Thursday, September 25, 2008

Poor service especially the waitresses. Rude and obnoxious, will not be coming here again.
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H Potter
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Sunday, August 31, 2008

I will not have a bad word said about Royal China (Queensway)!

I have been a regular for a number of years and eat dim sim here most Saturdays. I must say you would be hard pressed to find more consistently excellent chinese food anywhere in London.

I have been to Hakassan, Yauatcha, Mr. Chow a number of times and Royal China(Queensway) at its best is on a par with any of these, and better value.

Granted the black lacquer and gold interior is slightly vulgar but too many 'top London restaurants' are style over substance!
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Deji - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, July 30, 2008