China Boulevard on the River

when i went today for late lunch before i sat down - i asked if they were doing the 50% off the bill if paid cash promotion and the waitress said yes and directed me to the table. so we ordered and ate and when it came to asking for the bill, we will shocked to find it wasn't 50% off. when i asked the waitress, she denied telling me it was! i felt cheated!!!

and as I always feel cheated of the service charges when going to Restaurants. I had spent £57 on the total bill yet the service charge was £6.24???, i disputed that service charge and told him it should be based on customer's discretion!! and told the waitress that i didn't wish to pay and which she then questioned me back and said we gave you service!!!

I was so shocked she questioned me and then i said to her doesn't your manager pay you a salary to serve customers as your job???? service charge is up to the customers as it should be!! and she didn't believe me and told me to wait whilst she get the manager!!! unbelievable!!!
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Sandy, Wandsworth
4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Tuesday, December 27, 2011

I normally go to China Palace (Excel) or Yi Ban in Docklands. We went to CB on a Monday for dim sum. I agree with the below review - it seems all the baby chair clips are broken and had to be strapped =S.

However different opinion as I found the staff friendly and the manager was very smiley.

We had the following authentic and usual weekly typical dim sum food: - har gau, - chicken feet BB sauce, - pork ribs with black bean sauce, - king Prawn cheung Fun, - custard buns, - bbq pork buns, - Prawn Spring Rolls, - Prawn croquette with salad sauce, - Turnip patty.

All was very good quality and fresh! similar price and standard to Yi Ban and Excel.. or if not bit better. However not the same quality of dim sum as Royal China Palace but as expected.
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Lynn Chen
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Thursday, October 06, 2011

Just had probably the worst dim sum I've experienced in London this weekend at China Boulevard. I have been here several times before and whilst I've always known it is not up to the best Chinatown standards it's always been at least acceptable as an alternative to making the trip into central London. Obviously things have gone downhill recently.

First off, we asked for a high chair for our child. We we're given one with torn, broken straps that did not clip together in any way. Looking around I saw another high chair given to another table that was in the same state. This was not just annoying but I suspect is against Health and Safety regulations. Even if it is not, it is clearly a safety risk to any child using the chair, so thanks very much for that China Boulevard.

Then the food: First to arrive were the fried yam croquettes. It is common for these to be pre-cooked and served warm. But these were stone cold and not only that, they tasted sour - the taste of old, bad oil that has gone cold and been let for some time. I strongly suspect they were at least 24hrs old if not more.

Next to come was the fried turnip paste. This should be lightly fried and brown on the outside and bright white inside. This version was murky and grey inside - again suggesting it was at least a day old - probably more.

Prawn cheung fun also had a grey look to it that suggested it was either bought in from elsewhere or prepared a long time prior to serving. The char siu buns had a filling the colour (and a hint of flavour) of takeaway sweet-and-sour sauce (there should only be a trace of red from the char siu pork). Again, wrong. Steamed chicken and mushroom rice pot was drenched in far too much soy sauce.

Glutinous rice in lotus leaves was passable but this did not seem to be made on site as they came in a paper wrapper normally found in shop-bought, pre-made varieties.

Service started off fine but 2 of our dishes were forgotten and caused a 20 min wait. During this time we were approached several times to ask if we'd finished, only to have to keep repeating that we were still waiting for the rest of our food. Once they even started to clear our table. The restaurant was not even busy.

At the end, with our money on the table one of the ruder waitresses rushed over and counted the cash right down to the last penny in front of us, obviously to make sure we had paid the so-called 'optional' service charge. After seeing that the tip had indeed been paid, she actually said 'Good.'

It's a shame when restaurants make the mistake of trying to save a few pennies here and there by serving bad (or old) food, without realising that the bad reviews that result will end up costing them a lot more in the long run.

Don't think I'll be going back.
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stevelondon - View all reviews by this user
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, August 30, 2011

I recently moved to SW18 and been to this Restaurant twice so far - Once for lunch and the other time for dinner.

Lunch - The Dim sum was absolute YUM YUM– a good selection of choice!

Dinner - Food was great , the atmosphere here is enjoyable and relaxing – nice river view and good relaxing music.

I definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone and everyone :-)
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Keny - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, March 14, 2011

Some of the reviews on this restaurant really put me off going but my Chinese friends insisted we should go on Sunday - and I'm glad we did! It is a big, light airy space with friendly, fast service and a smile. The other reviewers are describing a completely different experience to mine.

We ordered ten different dishes, each of which had its own distinctive flavour and the deep fried spring rolls and yam croquettes were excellent The tea was good and the bill very reasonable. If you are a dim sum lover this restaurant is definitely worth a visit.
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John Gardner
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, December 12, 2010

DO NOT GO TO THIS RESTAURANT! It was let down before we even set foot in the place. I called up to book a table for 12 people for my Mum's birthday using the Taste London card. I was told that I would need 3 Taste London cards for this which was fine as my sisters and I do (each card only covers 4 people). They confirmed that this was ok. Then 2 days before going they called to tell me that this was no longer the case. The manager Eric was unhelpful to say the least and would not honour the booking, ruining my Mum's birthday. One of his members of staff actually laughed about the issue and told me to just cancel the booking. I had no choice but to do so and at the last minute I had to arrange lunch elsewhere and feel that this is a terrible example of a decent restaurant and would not recommend to any one to go here as they are dishonest. The manner in which I was spoken to was also unacceptable and on several occasions the manager raised his voice and I had to tell him to calm down. Misleading information was constantly given, in fact I was told that the manager did not want to 'honour the Taste London card on a Sunday as it is a busy period'. Where does it state this on this website? What a shame, this should have been a lovely birthday for my Mum but the restaurant has not lived up to it's own hype.
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Jennie - View all reviews by this user
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, November 27, 2010

Delicious! Best Chinese in London...just like Royal China but cheaper!
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Kerri
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Saturday, September 25, 2010

I went to China boulevard for half price dim sum today, and it was very busy, we're talking about Monday lunchtime! After the average reviews I wasn't expecting much but was pleasantly surprised by the tasty food. Also you can't beat the price, 50% off good quality dim sums which are just as good as dim sum joints in Chinatown. Their prawn cheng fun and scallop dumplings were very tasty, although I wasn't too keen on the pork dumplings. That's just my personal preference though, the only thing that lets down this place is the slow service, and as it was packed full of Chinese families our party of 2 was ignored at times. It's great that it's local, and we'll be back soon.
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Soo
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Monday, August 23, 2010

Half Price Dim Sum Monday to Friday (cash only, although it doesn't say so on their website) - how could we pass up an offer like this at a restaurant we'd been meaning to try? A very nice-looking restaurant with direct river views and £2 an hour NCP parking around the corner sounded great too.

Yes, it was all of that and the restaurant was half-full on a bleak November Friday - with about 50% oriental people seemingly enjoying their meal although we can't understand how. The dim sum was lacklustre and did not leave a good taste in the mouth, except for their deep fried dim sum, which was excellent.

We won't be back, especially when the top class Royal China, in Putney, is only about a mile away (although parking isn't nearly as easy).
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Exotissima
6 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Friday, November 20, 2009

We went to China Boulevard for dimsum following a recommendation by a friend. Our experience there left much to be desired.

On arrival the restaurant has a distinctly strong odour of bleach. It doesn't mix well when trying to eat.

The staff seem to rush around tending to every other table except ours. We had to wait well over 20mins before we could flag down the attention of one waiter to take our order.

Then we had to wait an appauling 45-60mins for the food to arrive. Unlike most chinese restaurants the food arrives on our talbe with huge intervals between each dish. One portion of Ha Kau here....another 20mins and another portion of Sau Mai there. Over all our food was delivered over the space of 1.5hr. Our stomachs were full of air by the end of the lunch.

When we were about to pay and leave, the owner of the restaurant came up to us to ask if we enjoyed his food. I don't know whether he does this to all his customers or maybe it was because we were a large chinese family but we looked at him and said it was not as good as we thought. He then joked, I bet you are going to McDonalds now.

We will NEVER be going back there again. The service and the food were sub-standard.
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4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Saturday, August 15, 2009