Bamboo Basket (Westfield)

Despite a moderately heavy Friday night I managed to get up early Saturday and set off to the Westfield to get started on my gift buying. It was about 10 when I got there so I had a good 2 hours shopping before it got too hideous. Presents found and secured I thought it might be worth grabbing a bite in the food court. "Pho" and "the Comptoir Libanais" had big queues despite it being early so I thought I would give the Dim Sum at the Bamboo Basket a go.

I had recently come back from Singapore where you can eat seriously well in any of their shopping centres. I wasn't expecting that level of cooking but I thought a few dumplings and some jasmine tea would be good. I ordered a portion of Har Gau, Char sui buns and some tea. It came to £8 which I thought expensive.

The 3 har gau were fine but possibly over steamed as the enveloppes were coming off, the char sui bun portion only had 2 buns which was mean (you get 3 at most places), the filling was distinctly average. The tea was in a small glass with one of those ridiculous jasmine ball/flowers which is so Ping Pong of 3 years ago.

All in all not a great lunch, not particularly fresh or authentic. £8 to eat two small portions of dim sum and miserly helping of tea is not great value. Especially as I had to pick up the tray myself. When I compare it to my experience at the Pho counter the Bamboo Basket is not up to that standard.
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david ginsberg - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Ate at Bamboo Basket on Sunday. The food was excellent and well presented. So cheap - Love it!
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Jason Hyde
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

I went to Bamboo Basket in Westfield. It was the first restaurant in westfield i had ever ate at. After seeing how many chained restaurants they had I was not so convinced. I took a beef in a black pepper sauce with steamed rice and veg which was fantastic. Most of my family took the Singapore noodle which was fantastic again but if it didn't have that much spice it would have been bland. It was just noodles. It took ages to come so i really became hungry. Had to wait 20 minutes. But when the food came it was worth the wait. The atmosphere was good but they should have made it more private to them. Maybe it could have been in the Southern Terrace rather than the balcony. they should have made it stand out. My only other criticism was to be much cheaper as it was a ripp off. Very lovely place and i recommend to go if hungry but not starving.
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Jonathan Rashti
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 3
Saturday, October 10, 2009

Absolutely awful. Chinese takeaway quality food served at crazy prices. Nearly £8 for what tasted like a pot noodle. With so many other eating options at Westfield I'm amazed they can get away with serving this quality of food.
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Danny
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Overpriced, average chinese fair. Dumplings were tasty but a bit hard and sticky rice was more gluggy rice. Spent £8 and still hungry.
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Jane
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Thursday, December 04, 2008

I got so excited when I saw chicken with claypot rice (which is a popular Malaysian dish) on the menu. However I was deeply disappointed with it as it was nothing like claypot chicken rice I expected. In fact I believe it was prepared in advance as it was just lukewarm. The Singapore noodle was another disappointment, which was tasteless and again could be cooked in advance. Each of these dishes does not worth £6-7 charged. They do serve dim sum. Even though I didn't try it, I think if anyone wanna have dim sum, they would be better off if they visit a proper dim sum restaurant in Bayswater or China Town.
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Wong
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Saturday, November 29, 2008