Royal China (Putney)

My partner and I did Dim Sum recently at the Royal China and were shocked at the price of the meal.

The Dim Sum was OK - nothing exceptional and nothing like Sydney or Hong Kong. For example, the Cheung Fan was wildly over priced as was just about every dish. As an after thought we accepted a suggestion of a plate of Chinese broccoli in Oyster Sauce only to find it priced at £8.50 on the bill. Outrageous!!

Service was perfunctory yet a 12.5% "optional" charge was included in the bill. (who the hell ever asks for that to be reduced??). The total bill came to £45 for 2. For Dim Sum?? That's about £15 more than we were expecting.

Recommend avoiding unless absolutely desperate to have your wallet lightened.
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Mike
4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Monday, August 02, 2010

Visited Royal China Putney (recommended) Saturday evening and enjoyed the food, service and atmosphere very much. The seafood set meal was a steal with fresh lobster cooked to our liking (tossed with ginger and scallions) and a whole dover sole off the bone, stir fried to perfection.

14 hours later, my family and friends were back again to enjoy a great Dim Sum lunch. The handmade dumplings were very good (in flavour and texture) and comparable to the famous establishments in HK. We had 3 guests over from HK and they too commented on the authenticity. The room was buzzing and felt like we were back in HK again.

Needless to say, we give this restaurant a big thumbs UP!
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Joan Chen
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, November 13, 2009

Staff were really "frosty", seemed really disinterested in me, I suppose I was only a paying customer after all.

Food was OK, but service was really bad, an odd smile, or even any indication that you were any other than a complete inconvenience to the waitress wold have been nice.

Menu was very strange, only ONE vegetarian option listed on a huge menu, but when I asked if the sweet and sour vegetables was vegetarian, I was told it was. Eh? Why not list it as such?

Even stranger, when I tried to pay with my VISA card, I was told they did not take them (Mrs Frosty Waitress was very cross at that!). They only take American Express and cash. Very odd, that'd never happened to me before. I've been told many times, no AMEX and it has to be VISA, but never the other way round. It was just good luck I had an AMEX card on me.

I'm off for Indian tomorrow. There are so many good restaurants in London, why does anyone go here?
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tom reid
2 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, October 20, 2009

A very nice restaurant for chinese cooking. The Birds nest made of yam with prawns, mushrooms in the centre was nice. Their porridge was very good and they were very helpful when I asked for this as a takeaway. Service was good and the atmosphere was excellent.
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food critique - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Thursday, October 01, 2009

The hot summers day benefited my family and I in securing a table for Sunday Dim Sum. We were prepared for the usual wait for a table but was pleasantly surprised to be led to the one available table.

The dim sum was tasty, steaming hot, grilled and pan-fried. All were of very good quality. The best being the pan-fried turnip paste and also the steamed 'har gau', a prawn dumpling which is available on all dim sum menus but very over looked in its execution. Royal China got it right with crunchy prawns, bamboo shoots and a touch of sesame dressing...perfect! The specials for the day were hot and spicy squid, and a roasted belly pork which had a crunchy crackling skin. Both were excellent and worthy of 'specials'.

The service was good and efficient, especially for a full restaurant. All in all, my family enjoyed a very good lunch and will continue our patronage of this establishment. I have read some of the reviews and can state this is a big thumbs up restaurant for us!
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Peter
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Saturday, June 06, 2009

Having read mixed reviews of this restaurant I was a bit sceptical about eating here but since we were in the area I thought we’ll give it a try. Well, how wrong was I. The food simply one of the best I’ve had for very long time, I’ve had many meals in china town but when it come to authenticity, this place is the real deal. Either I’ve caught them on a good day or maybe it wasn’t as busy as they normally are but the service I received is definitely second to none, the waitresses were very tentative and seemed very keen that we were well looked after.. All in all, a “class A” experience, you definitely feel you get what you pay for.
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Lois - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, May 04, 2009

Having read mixed reviews of this restaurant I was a bit sceptical about eating here but since we were in the area I thought we’ll give it a try. Well, how wrong was I. The food simply one of the best I’ve had for very long time, I’ve had many meals in china town but when it come to authenticity, this place is the real deal. Either I’ve caught them on a good day or maybe it wasn’t as busy as they normally are but the service I received is definitely second to none, the waitresses were very tentative and seemed very keen that we were well looked after.. All in all, a “class A” experience, you definitely feel you get what you pay for.
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Lois
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, May 04, 2009

Honestly speaking,the food especially lunch time is the most wonderful in Putney! The dim sum is so impressive !! When its comes to the services,i won't take it seriously. and actually i would prefer they don't brother us instead of always asking for us ' may i help' sir? I want the real food only.
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David
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, May 04, 2009

Despite the low ratings, I thought that the food was wonderful and worth the amount of money. The colourful dishes were bursting with flavour and and the Crispy Aromatic Duck is absolutely divine! I recommend everyone to come here to eat, you will be surprised how wrong the ratings above are.
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9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, February 13, 2009

I absolutely agree with cressida DREAFUL! DREADFUL!DREADFUL!
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Imogen Forbes
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, January 17, 2009