Peninsula Chinese Restaurant

Sunday Dim Sum (yum cha for you Mandarins!). Two of us ordered 8 dishes. Perhaps a little strong, but we almost saw them off. Pretty successful selections across the board – the menu is very extensive. Minced pork and Crab dumplings were peppery to my taste, Whelks in curry sauce more chewy and less tangy than I had expected – perhaps the worst of the lot. Grilled squid cakes were a fine balance of textures, Chicken & pork wrapped with bean curd were a meal in themselves, the Char sui buns were perhaps the finest I have ever eaten in the UK pork not overly sweet and ethereal cloud-light dough.

The prawns were pretty sizeable in the Stuffed fish maw, and the King prawn cheung fun which were most generous and velvety. The surprise winner might well have been the Turnip paste with minced chinese sausage, sweet and substantial. Have I missed something out? Possibly, but with so many memorable dishes it would be easy to overlook something that is simply good.

The Staff is genuinely cheery, and the prices very good indeed. The restaurant is perhaps the worst located in London, in the ground floor of the Holiday Inn in North Greenwich / Greenwich Penninsla (is that where they got the name from or are they aping the renowned Hong Kong Hotel?) in the middle of a desolate industrial / retail park. Not commuter friendly for non drivers, about 4 mins walk from the nearest bus stop and a fair treck from the tube. The décor reminded me of being in a restaurant in a Shopping Centre in Kowloon, and no bad thing for that… Despite this it is remarkably popular, we arrived at just gone Midday, and had to wait a few minutes for a table, and when we left it was mayhem at the door, and outside.

All in all a great experience, and I will be back, with a hunger…
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Steven Barnes
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Thursday, October 27, 2011

We've been to a number of Chinese restaurants for dim sum over the years and this is by far one of the best we've been. The food is of excellent quality and freshly prepared. Everything we ordered was hot and up to standard. I feel sorry that some non-Chinese diners have different comments. We think this is one great restaurant that meets our standard.

I guess diners have to remember that going for sim sum is like going for tapas, that there are things you like and there are things you don't like. I like prawns and hot food (you may be surprised to know that some complained that it is too hot!!) and this restaurant really meets my standard. I've not eaten there for evening meals and I can't comment on those.

The reception lady is always smiley. Most waiters/waitresses are fine and do their job right. However one waitress was too keen to clear our dishes and was trying to put the remaining squid ball onto the other dish, so she can take the empty plate away. Although I appreciate her work attitude, I am not sure if I would like my food to be mixed together.

Service is never the main selling point of a Chinese restaurant, food is. If we expect to be served a 5-course meal over four hours, then be prepared to pay for it, or go for something else like French. However, if we go for good quality food with a quick turnaround time with average service, then this is the choice. If you consider that they serve a full capacity of 400 seats from 12 to 3pm in three lots (I guess) with freshly prepared food made from the kitchen, I think they do a great job.
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Becky
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Saturday, January 01, 2011

I personally think that this is the best place in London for dim sum, although i live in SE London and don't frequent china town much so perhaps that has something to do with my opinion. I have always had excellent service, and i go perhaps every other weekend if i am at home with my family. Many friends from Hong Kong who we have taken to the restaurant say that the food is just like classic dim sum is in HK. Obviously i am chinese and so cannot speak for the bad service experienced by some of the non-chinese reviewers, but i think in terms of food it is really one of the best. I believe someone mentioned that they didn't enjoy their prawn toast- i've never ordered any and would don't ever plan to since this restaurant has a wide range of far better (and real) chinese food.
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Wriggs
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Thursday, July 30, 2009

I was a bit skeptical of going to this restaurant because of some of the poor reviews written by other diners but decided to go any way . The maitre "d was a bit off putting because he was hurrying us along to find a table but that and the restaurant decor were the only problems I had with the place. We had a lovely waitress who helped us to sift through the lengthy meal list . The dim sums were fantastic especially prawn in bird nest . The special fried rice was the best I ever had ,strir fried prawns were really fresh and firm and delicious .Overall great restaurant
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d Jordan
7 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 8
Monday, April 27, 2009

Booked this restaurant because we had been told the food was great. Main course was ok but starter was disappointing due to the spare ribs being very hard and dry and the prawn toasts somehow tough!! The staff seemed very unfriendly and in a hurry to clear tables . We so looked forward to trying this restaurant but were overall disappointed in the entire experience.
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4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, March 18, 2009