Royal China (Fulham)

Went there for lunch today with 2 small kids and my wife. I used to be a regular the Royal China in Canary Wharf. Anyway, this one is smaller and perhaps the service not quite as attentive. Overall it was fine though, the food was great and the bill not unreasonable. I would definitely go back - seems they have improved their service, i.e. the old reviews are no longer accurate?
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Kurt
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 9
Saturday, September 10, 2011

I don't understand all the negative reviews for this place. I thought that the service was fine, especially by London Chinese restaurant standards where the service is normally abysmal. In fact, the hostesses here are quite charming and professional.

There is a big difference between lunch and dinner, both in terms of prices as well as quality. Yes, the dim sum is only available at lunch, but that's when it's traditionally eaten, so give them points for authenticity. Ordering it for dinner would be like going to a Chinese person going to a British restaurant in Shanghai and trying to get high tea at 10:00 am.

The dim sum is quite good, and good value. Most items are about £2.50-£5.00, so you can easily get lunch here for about £15/person. The cheung fun is highy recommended.

Entrees are decent, certainly not nearly as bad as the other reviews here would suggest, but they are a bit pricey.

In short, great food and value for lunch, not bad but not great for dinner.
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Mateo
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Saturday, June 18, 2011

I visited here for dim sum over the xmas break and unlike other reviewers I did not find the service to be particularly bad. In fact I would say it was fairly polite and efficient.

Food was a little disappointing for the price (£40 for two when I would normally expect to pay £25-30 for a dim sum lunch) but there was an overall sense of decent quality. Allegedly the restaurant does not use MSG at all.

I would definitely recommend booking in advance as the restaurant is tiny.
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stevelondon - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Thursday, December 30, 2010

Me and my girlfriend had take-away food from the Royal China in Fulham. It was nothing less than disgraceful. We ordered a variety of food, of which the duck and the squid were just about ok, the crispy shredded beef was layered in a very gloopy, thick sauce that made the texture terrible. The Singapore noodles were badly burnt and inedible. We paid £60 for this take-away so expectations were high. We felt robbed because most of the food landed up in the bin. We did complain to the restaurant and they offered us a credit note on our next visit. But the food was sufficiently bad to ensure that we never go back.
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Gavin London
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 1
Sunday, December 12, 2010

I am 55 years old and eating out is a big part of my life. I went for a meal with my girlfriend at the Royal China and in all my years have never experienced rudeness and aggressive behaviour from people running a restaurant. I ordered 2 cokes when I first arrived but noticed there was no lemon or even ice. When I asked for some ice I was told there was ice so I showed the waiter by putting in a chop stick and stirring. This seemed to make him very angry and he said the ice was there because he had made it himself. I was prepared to walk out but my girlfriend insisted we stay as she didn't have time to look for another restaurant. After that, if we wanted anything we had to keep calling for it as there was a distinct lack of interest from the staff who were busy arguing with each other. I refused to pay the service charge and tried to explain why but was shouted at by two staff members who said we shouldn't have sat at the back of the restaurant! I couldn't believe my ears and beat a hasty retreat and will never ever return. It was the strangest eating out experience ever and hard and would urge anyone to think twice before going there.
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Dave Evans
1 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 1
Sunday, August 22, 2010

Absolutely appalling. Me and my boyfriend love dim sum and seeing as every other Royal China branch offers both fantastic food and service, we expected no less from the inappropriately named "Royal China Dim Sum" in Fulham. On arrival, the atmosphere was so awful that we immediately walked straight back out to reconsider our choice (the drop of a pin would have broken the silence) but we had been looking forward to great food all day so decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. Upon returning back inside, none of the waiters attended to us - we had to ask for their attention in order to give us their service. Upon requesting a table at the back of the restaurant (so that we didnt feel rude talking at normal volume), we were told that this was possible but "we may not be given as much attention because we are out of view"... So we decide to sit in the main area. The general service was diabolical - we had to request attention to order our wine, food etc. There was no dim sum available whatsoever - "just for lunch" - that is not the case in other Royal China branches. They forgot things on numerous occasions, and two of the waiters had a blazing row with the table next to us because they were quite rightly refusing to stand for such appalling levels of customer service after being told their credit card was declined when in fact it was the machine that was broken.

All in all, the most uninspiring experience i've had in a long time - far better/cheaper/enjoyable restaurants on the Fulham Road, ie:The Blue Elephent - amazing.
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Georgina
1 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, April 14, 2010

The restaurant Royal China in fulham as several faults.

Firstly, the prices are extremely unreasonble and are very expensive for what yu are given. You could go to better Chinese restraunts and pay half the money you pay there.

Secondly, the service is inadaquate. The waitors and waitresses are not fluent enough in english to understand your order and bring your food luke-warm or the wrong order occaisonally. The staff are very rude and complain if you send something back. They are often low of stock in food and I have asked many times for dishes and they haven't been able to serve them to me, due to food shortage.

The food is good quality, but not for the amount you pay. The quantity of food is excellent , however. The amosphere is quite cosy but can be dull. The higene is average but the floors are clearly not cleaned regularly.

Overall, I don't recommend this restaurant especially if you don't have money to be wasting. Altough the food is average, the prices and services are terrible.
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TP
5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Saturday, February 06, 2010

The worst treatment at any restaurant I have eaten at in London. when I complained about the cold food, the slow service, the service charge was removed and my credit card thrown back at me when I paid the not inconsiderate bill.Other diners around us were horrified, we will NEVER be back and recommend you think twice before spending your hard earned money here.
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Natalia
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Thursday, December 03, 2009

Wanting to give my family a treat, I took them here for lunch. As a regular diner there I expected the usual high standards both of food and service.

When cold food (we had ordered steamed dum sum) arrived after a 35 minute wait, we asked what was going on. The waitress, who was very helpful but frantically busy, explained that she was the only one serving and that everyone's food was being left to go cold before it was delivered to the table.

The waitress fully accepted the food was cold said she would deduct it from the bill at once. She made no fuss and was very professional in what were clearly difficult circumstances.

The bill finally arrived with service included! But our attempts to pay it with cash were completely ignored

Eventually, we stood up to leave. The manageress then demanded payment for the cold food claiming we had "eaten" it. A bit odd, given that it was, as it always had been, sitting on the table in front of her! She was extraordinarily rude, loud and highly aggressive - and all in front of children between five and nine.

We were glad to get out and go for a pizza instead. We told the people queing for tables what had happended and they left too.

A once good place to eat has been ruined by utterly inept management and a complete absence of customer service. We eat out often with friends and family but will not be going back.
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Nicholas
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, October 30, 2009