Chertsey, Chinese Restaurant Guide

“Better-than-average Chinese” cuisine (“not cheap though”) and a “lovely atmosphere” ensure that this upscale Oriental remains “a local favourite”. The original branch of the now eight-strong (otherwise London-based) chain opened on the King’s Road in 1979, with this Esher spin-off opening just a little later – and, while the menu hasn’t changed much since that era, absolutely no one seems to mind.

“Great dim sum” and “fast and efficient service” ensure this Oriental spot is “always packed” – “I’m of Chinese descent and this is the best and most authentic Cantonese restaurant in SW London. My family love their crispy noodles and won’t eat anywhere else” (although a more jaded view puts its popularity down to “a lack of local competition”).

This stalwart family-run Chinese of over three decades’ standing is “always enjoyable” and continues to attract a high volume of consistent praise for somewhere in a trafficky suburban location (just north of Richmond, on the way to Kew).

The Lou family’s stalwart fixture is approaching its half a century in Acton (it opened in 1976). What’s sustained it over all these years? – a “consistently high standard of cooking, which combines with friendly service in a well-decorated dining room that’s usually nicely buzzing”. Top Menu Tip – “I’ve yet to have better spare ribs anywhere – including China!”

This Wembley fixture (with spinoffs in Hatch End and Kingsbury) is best known for its all-you-can-eat Indian vegetarian buffet with a choice of 45 items, including an Indo-Chinese selection with dishes such as chilli paneer. The family-owned business started out 40 years ago as a market stall.

This “always reliable” and “slightly upmarket” Cantonese group “remains the standard that all other dim sum places should be judged against – exemplary is an overused term here but is very much justified”. But a somewhat dark cloud has hung over the operation since its prominent Baker Street branch was stripped of its licence to sell alcohol and fined £360,000 after a series of Home Office raids over six years discovered multiple cases of illegal immigrants working, in one case for 66 hours a week at almost half the minimum wage. As of August 2024, the Fulham Road branch is ‘Temporarily Closed’.

At the foot of a large, Hong Kong-owned hotel beside Shepherd’s Bush Green gyratory, this modern (rather anodyne) dining room has built a reputation, since it opened nearly ten years ago, for “absolutely wonderful” dim sum and superior roast duck from a wide-ranging menu. The food rating dropped a notch this year on the back of one or two reports of “average” results.

This “surprisingly good Chinese” in Putney specialises in the cuisines of Shanghai and Sichuan, and the “flavours and produce” are by all accounts “excellent” (even better if you “ask for the Chinese menu”). Top Menu Tip – “particularly fine duck”.

The first UK branch of one of China’s largest chains (with more than 6,000 branches around the world) opened without fanfare in early 2024, just off Hammersmith Broadway. You can eat anything you like, so long as it’s Malatang (hotpot): choose your own custom ingredients from the chiller cabinets lining the wall, place your order and you are called up when your broth has been prepared. A big TikTok hit with Asian students, it also got a thumbs-up from Daily Mail critic Tom Parker Bowles in his April 2024 review.