Luxuriance

Intro

After having eaten at this restaurant for literally ten years, I have come to know the managers personally and needless to say, my girlfriend and I are very fond of Luxuriance.

Atmosphere Luxury

Upon entering, you're greeted with a spacious layout, the walls decorated with oriental paintings not necessarily Chinese in nature, but oriental nevertheless. The internal decor pass as comfortable, non-intrusive surroundings that are pleasant to glance at inbetween mouthfuls.

Are You Sitting Comfortably?

The chairs and tables are as standard and do their job. They could do with a sprucing up and a touch of modernising, but they are comfortable enough to sit and enjoy your food. Unfortunately with most traditional Chinese restaurants, the chairs are built for speed. You eat, you pay, you get outta there. Nowadays that's changed however.

ORDERS PLEASE!

Ordering is simple. The menus are printed both in English and Chinese and comprise of several different dishes to order seperately, or you can order from the many set menus available. They are very flexible with these set menus so if you see something you're not too fond of, more often than not they're more than happy to change it for something else at a small cost, but sometimes for free.

I Need Service

Service depends entirely on who you're served by. Usually, the staff are changes hands constantly; During my frequent visits there, I've had staff that are simply interested in taking your orders to others that know me and so spend a moment or two saying hello. But, with Chinese restaurants as with other establishments, they're not there to socialise with you so don't expect them to ask how your day was. The good thing is, there's always a waiter or waitress around that's more than happy to help you should you need another napkin or something. They don't mind if you call them over even if they're say, getting something for someone else.

Food Food Food

After having experimented with the menu in my first few years, I've now come to get my 'usual' - Set Menu C for two people. This comprises of a large starter dish that includes chicken satay (big, tender strips of chicken covered in sweet curry), fried seaweed (sweet sprinkling of sugar but not too much to be overwhelming, leaves nice aftertaste), meat spring rolls (usually filled with spring onion and other vegetables with pork) and (my girlfriend's favourite) butterfly prawns (golden prawns fried and covered in golden breadcrumbs). The starters are nice and filling, but it's obvious that some of the items such as the seaweed is simply taken from a large pot or so, as it tastes very 'quantity over quality', but then this is made up by the excellent and very recommended butterfly prawns.

Then comes a bowl of soup. I don't particularly like their sweetcorn crabmeat soup (but my girl does, go figure) so I order instead a bowl of won ton soup at no extra cost. Little parcels of pork in a hot savoury broth with salted vegetables are very tempting to finish, but if you do, then you won't have enough room for the rest of the meal. On that, you can trust me!

Next up, we have Crispy Aromatic Duck! One of my all time favourites. A large, freshly cooked (always freshly cooked mind you) duck skewered and shredded right before your eyes complete with cucumbers, sliced spring onion and FOUR pancakes. Yes, FOUR. Ever since I began coming here when I was 15, they always, always gave FOUR pancakes. Now, do the math. You have a huge quarter duck sitting there with hoi sin sauce (kinda like smokey barbecue) and some vegetables. To some, people would think this a rip off and another way to save money. And maybe it is, but you know what? Who cares.

We see it as a challenge!

It's not uncommon for us to wink and nod in confirmation of the incoming challenge! We stuff our pancakes full to bursting then eat 'em, making a mess like nobody's business. Usually to the dismay of the people sitting either side of us, but we know better! But seriously, it's great fun and trying to get as much in there as possible is just another highlight of the evening. The duck's tender, warm and juicy, the pancakes are of very good quality - they never stick together and don't fall apart when handled. They arrive in a charming straw basket, steaming hot when you lift the lid. The hoi sin sauce is very silky and subtle and I usually request it left on the table for adding to my later dishes. The cucumbers and onions are cut fresh.

After that, it's the main meal. This consists of special fried rice (this is 50/50. Sometimes it's lovely, fresh and just served, other times it's reheated and a touch bland.) Boiled vegetables (always fresh, this comprises of baby corn cobettes, mushrooms, lettuce and peas). Also, we have prawns in black bean sauce (I don't get a look in on this one. Louise has them all. You can tell she likes prawns.) Included is crispy shredded pork. This is my fave out of the main course. The pork is sitting in a mildly chilli sauce with sliced carrots. This dish is also always served fresh and fortunately not reheated - I've heard horror stories of Chinese restaurants that inproperly reheat pork. Anyway, the combination of special fried rice, pork and vegetables goes down great.

Desserts! Set Menu C comes with toffee apples. These are simply the best dessert and easily beat the classic jelly and ice cream or even banoffee pie! Sliced apple pieces dipped in hot toffee and left to solidify after being dipped in sesame seeds. LOVE! It's great.

The meal comes to on average £40, including two soft drinks and Chinese tea. The Chinese tea has a strange effect on Louise and unfortunately for me, is unlimited refills. She has at least two pots before she goes home.

Overall

A mainstay in our weekends out on the town, Luxuriance benefits from the good food it serves and the honest oriental approach it has. The nice, relaxed atmosphere caters for both large parties wishing to have a Chinese and aren't afraid to laugh out loud and at the same time, it's darkened and subtle enough to be romantic. Smoking is allowed.

CUISINE

- Great food

- Acceptable, inobtrusive service

- No loud techno music blaring (a la Mr. Wu's)

- Great selection of food available

- Free refills on Chinese Tea

PRISON SLOP

- Sometimes reheated food

- Can be really busy at times, causing a 15 minute wait

- Smoking is allowed (we're non-smokers)

- Chairs need replacing, they look a bit too traditional

- Always new staff that you need to re-acquaint yourself with

Service - 6/10 - They do their job, but that's about it

Food - 7.5/10 - Fortunately, the reheating happens rarely

Value for money - 8/10 - Cheap! Tasty! Tasty cheap!

Overall - 8/10 - If I could, I'd eat there every other day. No, I wouldn't get sick of Chinese. I'm oriental.
Comment on this reader review

Dominic Pham
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Saturday, May 20, 2006

I too entered this restaurant by price too. It seem what you pay is what you get. I now go for med-range to top price in Chinatown cause I know there is a different. My 2 cent.
Comment on this reader review

bob
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, March 21, 2006

My wife and myself visited this restaurant on wed 1/3/06 and found the food cold, sloppy and totally bland. The only advantage was that the food was reasonably priced.They won`t be getting my money again.My golden tip to any one out there is ,Only eat in chinese restaurants in china town if its full of chinese people.If its good enough for them it should be good enough you.
Comment on this reader review

Vincenzo
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, March 01, 2006

the best pechinese restaurant il London
Comment on this reader review

Pier Giorgio PODDIGHE
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, December 05, 2005