Seventeen

We, a family of five, went here to have a dinner yesterday. The decoration and atmosphere are nice which attracted us to dine in. The food is alright but of course it is similar to most of the Chinese restaurants in UK, has changed the style and favour a bit in order to attract westerners. No problem since you have to suit the taste of most customers and I believe most of the westerners do not know what is the real taste of Chinese food. But, what made us feel very uncomfortable about the service was that we ordered a dish of duck but was given beef instead. As a matter of courteousy, I told the waiter that I suspected the dish is beef though I definitely knew it is beef. The waiter sent the dish back to the kitchen and returned saying that the chef confirmed that the dish is duck. Come on, Though as normal the meat especially the beef was treated by soda to destroy the real taste, we are still very much capable of knowing the difference between the meat of beef and duck. Making mistakes could be excused but denying mistakes could not be tolerated. Would you attend again for such kind of service? I am sorry to say I recommend Chinese not to go there.
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Kam Wah POON
5 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 4
Monday, February 21, 2011

I caught up with Big Matt this week and we fancied a bite to eat prior to our trip to the cinema. Matt lives in Ealing which is ill served by chinese restaurants so he was keen to see what Notting Hill had to offer. It was a bit parky for a walk down to my usual haunts in Bayswater so we decided to give "Seventeen" a go. It was early so the restaurant was half full however they quickly found us a table and we settled into our soft comfy but very low chairs. A freebie of edamame beans came along whilst we perused the menu. The decor in "Seventeen" is very lush and that combined with the slick automatic sliding door make you think you are somewhere very upscale. Certainly the menu suggested we were somewhere expensive where the food my delicate and the portions dainty. We weren't hugely hungry so we erred on the side of caution and went for a couple of starters and a couple of mains with fried rice.

I was actually pleasantly surprised when our starters of salt and pepper chicken wings and sticky ribs came out. The portions were indeed hearty. I particularly enjoyed the chicken which was well cooked with a lovely blast of heat. The sauce on the ribs was perhaps a little sour for me but the ribs themselves had plenty of meat on them. All in all very filling. We had a little wait for our main course but the time was well spent chatting and polishing off a Tsing Tao. The mains arrived and Big Matt went old school with sweet and sour chicken whilst I opted for the szechuan beef. The chicken was nice again a good portion but nothing special. My beef dish was very nice and huge. It consisted of lots of slices of very tender beef cooked in chilli oil. It had a lovely heat but not overpowering. The fried rice was very nice and perfect for making the most of the sauce.

All in all we were pretty impressed with "Seventeen". I had been a little put off trying it previously because of indifferent reviews but I'm glad we popped in. The service was very keen and friendly and the other food coming out of the kitchen looked very good. I was very gratified to see they didn't follow the con of many Chinatown restaurants and hit you for double service charge. The bill came to £60 for two of us which was high-ish but we had got plenty of nice food for our money. It set us up nicely for the film "Monsters" which unlike our meal was very average and undercooked!
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david ginsberg - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Friday, December 10, 2010

Very cosy, service is quick and the food is good.

You are recommended to go and enjoy your dinner there.
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, August 09, 2010

Went to seventeen for my bro's bday. Nice decor inside taken from hues of Yauatcha in Soho, shame the food wasn't as good. We ordered crispy seaweed which was way too sweet, seafood lettuce wrap which i think was not chopped up finely enough. The service was extremely slow and dishes were sent out every 15 mins so the meal took a long time. The portions i found extremely small. The beef tasted somewhat like the ready made chinese meals from the supermarket unfortunately. Crispy shredded beef. However, what infuriated me mostly was that after reminding the manager TWICE that I would like a sort of dessert with a candle to be brought out at the end we were only given the dessert menu which we were to select from very paltry non traditional desserts such as cheesecake, pudding. there are just too many good chinese restaurants to be going to this one. Just look at memories of china, royal china, hakkasan, yauatcha, good earth which are much more original and better quality.
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anonymous - View all reviews by this user
5 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 4
Sunday, May 16, 2010

I went to seventeen with my boyfriend today. It was a very enjoying experience. I like the food. I ordered the hot oil fish and tofu in alblone sauce and kailan with light soy sauce. The service is top notch. Can't wait to go back again.
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Maggie
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Saturday, March 13, 2010

Natural Chinese cuisine only at this much praised 100% Chinese tastes in Notting Hill Gate, Seventeen Restaurant.
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Juilet
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, March 12, 2010

I went to Seventeen recently as I am a big lover of Chinese and this was a new local. We were pretty much the only people there so the atmosphere was a little dull. Great service and attentive waiters. We ordered from the more adventurous sichuan menu and the normal chinese menu. The cucumber and chilli marinated chicken were great and so was the crispy duck. We were persuaded to have the expensive sea bass which was bland. and very badly de boned for us. We also ordered noodles which were equally bland. No desserts or coffee but a bottle. The bill was £130 and we were pretty shocked. Prices equivalent to E and O or Yautcha but quality so much worse. Not sure I would go there again. Needs to be half the price to attract me again.
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4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Great food, great service. Am going back and can't wait.
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8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, February 25, 2010

Nice decor, but the food was bland. Had a spicy salad that was far from spicy, actually I think they brought the wrong dish but tried to pass it off as what we ordered. The 2 mains and the Seventeen fried rice tasted of nothing but oyster sauce. Overall not worth 90 pounds for a bottle of wine and a meal for 2.
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Jimmy
2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Thursday, February 11, 2010

Not as good as the critical hype would have you believe, which in fairness isn't Seventeen's fault.

We thought the food ok, but diluted, as if it is cooked for Westerners that think they like oriental food but don' t really. Fine, but not for £50 a head.

Add in poor service and atmosphere and you are better off with Hakkasan for atmos/ upmarketness, or Queensway/Chinatown for food.

Not worth the cash, in short.
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4 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Saturday, February 06, 2010