Peninsula Chinese Restaurant

I have supported the Peninsula for a couple of years but after my last visit I vow never to return. The service was very slow and the two people sharing my table had finished their starter before I was told that mine had sold out.

Two main courses were delivered without rice and vegetables when the third meal eventually arrived in was stone cold and had to be returned. The rice and veg were delivered at the same time as the new meal by which time my two guests had finished.

We had to repeatedly ask for drinks and the table was left half cleared for over 15 minutes.

All in all a very disappointed evening especially as my guest were celebrating a birthday and had traveled from Ashford in Kent. There was no response from management regarding my complaints other than ‘sorry’.
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Mike Dobriskey
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Friday, July 18, 2008

I visit Peninsula once in a while, usually with a Chinese friend, who also can't help but comment on the average food and poor service. There aren't many Chinese restaurants to choose from in the area and Peninsula is one of them that happens to be passable.

Many people have comment on brilliant dim-sum and evening meals but I have yet to see it from Peninsula. I get recommended to visit Peninsula often by Chinese friends and have only been disappointed on each visit. You get the lovely atmosphere during the weekends but that applies to most Chinese restaurants.

I guess I will be visiting Peninsula again when I get recommended to go there but I now go there with little expectations, in hope that they can prove me wrong.
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Paul E - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Friday, April 11, 2008

This is my favourite place for dim-sum. All made on the premises and not heated up from frozen packets like a lot of places that serve dim-sum. Great value for money too. I often come here with my family and we can eat for less than £30 for 5 adults, all with big appetites! The quality is not compromised at all. I'd even go as far as saying the dim-sum here is far better than the dim-sum you get in Hong Kong. The Peninsula offers a comfortable dining experience. The restaurant is spacious, so the tables aren't too close together. A good place to take big groups too because they have large round tables, which is much more sociable than long narrow tables offered in a lot of other restaurants. Forget going to Chinatown because there isn't a place that rivals the dim-sum here.
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SS - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Thursday, March 20, 2008

I have visited this restaurant countless times over many years. I take my mother there for dim sum once a month and also eat there with my partner, dim sum and also evening meals. My experience of this place has been overwhelmingly positive. So much so that I’ve not visited a place in Chinatown or anywhere else in the UK that consistently offers a better eating experience and value.

The dim sum is consistently excellent and always arrives promptly. The staff are extremely well drilled and dining experience is functional, if a little utilitarian. Dim sum is amazing value at under £25 for two! Testament to the standard of food is the number of Chinese diners there, me being one of them.

In the evening, the roast duck is consistently excellent and well presented. The fried tofu with mixed veg is superb. I also love steamed eels in black-bean sauce (a lovely white fish meat dish), and the suckling pig really is mouth-watering. The lobster with ginger and spring onion is pretty good too. Evenings is good value too at around £20-30/head excluding booze.

I can understand if non-Chinese diners may be a bit put out some times. Dim sum is something that is very Chinese, no thrills, and if you’re not used to how the ‘system’ works, novices or infrequent dim sum-ers may feel a little at sea. It’s very unfortunate if any diners feel they are receiving a substandard service due to their race, but this could be down to misunderstandings, or cultural differences, difficult to say, but there is no excuse for rude service, which unfortunately Chinese people often are.

Don’t get me wrong, the place is not perfect. Over the years I’ve experience a rude waiter, once. I’ve also bumped into him several times in the loo and noticed that he does not wash his hands afterwards! There’s also been one or two occasions when the evening meal dishes were served up in a staggered way, which annoys me a bit. But that’s all.. over several years!

But I can honestly say that this is a lot better than most of what you get in Chinatown, and if you want a lot better, you pay more for it. As I said, the dine in functional but quite pleasant too, and a lot better than some of the dumps (often concealed by a lick of paint) that you get or almost expect in the West End.

Personally, I think this place strikes the perfect balance between excellent food, efficient service, good value, and a pleasant dine.
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Andrew W
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 9
Thursday, January 31, 2008

It's just a typical half decent Chinese dimsum/yum cha place. I would not say it's the best dimsum nor the worst as there is alot more worse in Chinatown.

The dimsum is ok in terms of quality but can lack flavour a bit at times. The night time food is actually ok but it may depend on what time you turn up or what night as I have on occasions had plates where the food tasted like it was reheated. Other nights it was fresh and decent.

The staff are not necessarily the best but being a typical Chinese dimsum place, I don't really expect perfect service as it is always busy and they are serving several tables and cleaning up. It's pretty much the same in any country to to judge the service as having to be excellent. If you pay alot more than the usual price for dimsum, fair enough you should get better service. The price of the dimsum is actually average so I don't expect michellin star stuff.

In comparison to many other Chinese dimsum places, I think it's better than alot of them in London and is closer (but not close) to typical Chinese dim sum places I frequent in Australasia.

If you are planning a "special" meal/date to this place, I would say it's not the first place I would think of. If there is a group of people and they want somewhere to dine on a budget, it typically works out cheaper to eat at a Chinese restaurant like this for a meal. For a banquet where you have to invite heaps of people this is sufficient as well.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Friday, October 05, 2007

I have to say that I agree with a previous reviewer - there is a nasty bias against non-chinese diners at the Peninsula that I find very offensive.

The dim sum is excellent, but dining without a chinese guest in your party leaves you open to being ignored, left waiting for a table while chinese parties are seated, and treated poorly throughout your vist.

Good food, but but really shocking service.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, July 31, 2007

I have never had any other food than dim sum in this restaurant, and it has always been excellent - like the dim sum you get in Hong Kong. It certainly helps to go with a chinese speaker, and service isn't great but that just adds to the authenticity of it.

Don't come here for the crispy duck and pancakes and sweet and sour crap, it excels in dim sum.

I can't understand peoples 'its too expensive' gripe - we had plenty of dim sum, noodles, vegetables and barbequed meats for less than £100 between 5 of us.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Monday, March 05, 2007

I visited Peninsula on Sunday 18th Feb 07 and I have to say I have never experienced such poor service in all my adult life until I had the misfortune to come to this place. I felt discriminated against because I was not Chinese! My Husband, Son and myself were seated by a miserable maitre'd at a table that was without glasses napkins or chopsticks, no tea on the table, unlike the other tables around us with Chinese patrons that were being treated to real service and hospitality. I had to ask for menu's and drinks from any waiter/waitress that happened to be whizzing by, otherwise they would have just continued to ignore us - when ordering the meal they really did not want to answer questions about the food or give guidance on portions etc. and generally looked bored at my questions - I gave up. On the bill was a service charge of just under a fiver personally, if I had a choice in the matter, not even a farthing they would have got from me. I have to say, that the food was nothing special, Ming, at my local chinese restaurant cooks in a more superior and you get a smile! At Peninsula, when asked for the bill they were very efficient then they dived on the payment without so much as a backward glance or thank you. I Hope they get their wish and go out of business soon, because they dont seem to want any non-Chinese people in their restaurant from what I can see.
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Jennie Rose
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 4
Sunday, February 18, 2007

We came on a sat noon 01/2007 for dim sum to this spacious place. steamed prawn chives dumplings (2.1pounds,7/10points), pork prawn beancurd rolls (2p,8/10), turnip paste(2p, 7/10), deep fried prawn dumplings+salad sauce (2.1p,8/10,small), crispy noodle roast pork (5.2p,8/10), tea 1.5p -> total 17 pounds for two, 10% service charge will be added.

Plus: detailed bill, authentic + good food! Minus: 5-10% higher price compare with chinatown, no typical food trolleys!
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tri
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, January 17, 2007

I heard great things about this restuarant so on Sunday 17 I decided to try their dim sum with my Father. We arrived about 4.30 and was asked if we wanted Dim sum and then we waited 25 mins for somebody to take our order, only to be told by a very rude waitress that it was too late to order dim sum. So I explained that we were told we could order when we arrived and she proceeded to say that we should have ordered as soon as we sat down. (how can we do that when we don't know what was on the menu??)

Anyway I told her there was nobody to ask to order anyway and we had to wait for get somebody's attention, only for her to tell me that there was lots of staff nearby so we should have asked one of them. She then walked off and we were going to walk out but she can back to say we can order if we were quick.

Anyway the food was ok, the best was the Shanghai dumplings but everything else had a lot of msg in. The tarot/sago pudding was also nice.

On the whole we were v disappointed with the food, the decor and the staff. We defintely won't be going back and in the future i will be sticking to Shangahi restaurant in Kingsland road, Dalston
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Monday, December 18, 2006