Royal China Queensway, The Best Dim Sum in London

Royal China Queensway, The Best Dim Sum in London

• September 14, 2015

The best dim sum in London? This is not a statement I could make lightly, but Royal China in Queensway deserves that so.

I've been a Royal China fan and customer for a few years now, with the Canary Wharf branch being my local one. I've been to the Queensway restaurant for dinner before, but never for dim sum so when Mandy invited me to join her, of course I said yes!

From the likes of Yauatcha, Hakkasan, my usual China Town picks and even exquisite dim sum in Michelin starred restaurants in Hong Kong (the home of dim sum), I've eaten a lot of dim sum in my time. Royal China Queensway completely blew me away with the skills in each and every dim sum dish we ordered. Such finesse and precise execution. 

Once we had decided on what we wanted to order, our dishes arrived more or less together and we didn't have to wait long either - great service.

Roast pork char siu puffs. Beautiful flaky, melt-in-mouth pastry encasing tender, sweet and salty roast pork with the right amount of sauce.

Egg tarts (dan tats). The pastry again is to die for. Flaky, melt-in-mouth with perfectly sweetened silky egg custard in the centre. This is how a good dan tat should taste like.

Meat croquette, ham siu kok (at the back). Crispy, chewy glutinous shell that isn't greasy at all, filled with savoury and sweet pork mince.

Roast pork char siu cheung fun - steamed rice rolls. Deliciously silky rice rolls that slip down the throat. The fragrance of rice flour, char siu and soya sauce is just so good!
 

Sesame steamed buns. I have never come across this version of a bun before. Sweet sesame paste oozes out like a river when I bit into the bun. Much like a oozing custard bun with salted egg yolk, this was in effect the same, but with fragrant sesame. Yes. 

Steamed prawn har gow dumpling. I've always loved the Royal China version and this is no different. Succulent and bouncy prawns encased in a springy glutinous wrapping that hasn't got soggy due to too much moisture from the prawns.

Steamed scallop dai chi gow dumpling. Plump scallops in the same pastry as the prawn dumpling and gently flavoured.

 

Plain cheung fun rice rolls aka bute jai cheung. This is one of my favourite dishes of all times and I'm so happy this is a great one. Plain rice rolls swimming in sweet soya sauce, peanut sauce, hoisin sauce and always finished off with toasted sesame.
 

Prawn and Chinese chive go choi gow dumpling. Stuffed with juicy seafood and lots of chives!

Prawn and pork siu mai dumplings. Bouncy, juicy and awesome.

Shanghai xiao long bao dumplings. Filled with pork and soup and served with a vinegar dip, there was plenty of juice inside and the wrapper was just right - not too thick or too thin.

Steamed spare ribs in blackbean sauce. Another favourite along with the chicken feet below. The seasoning for both of these are spot on!

Chicken feet in blackbean sauce.
 

Crab meat dumplings in soup. This is Mandy and her hubby's favourite and they said it was the best they've ever eaten. I'm going to have to try this for myself next time I go back to Royal China.

Glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaves. Filled with chicken, dried shiitake mushrooms and salty egg.

Dim sum for three!

After our round of seriously amazing dim sum, we had mooncake for desserts. Mid Autumn festival is a much celebrated holiday for Chinese folks and mooncakes are eaten to celebrate the biggest and roundest moon of the year. The mooncake also symbolises family. Families gather on the night of the mid autumn festival and all tuck into a piece of mooncake, enjoy the beautiful moon and play with candlelit lanterns. 

Traditional mooncakes have always been made with lotus seed paste and double salted egg yolk, but in recent years, more varieties such as a custard paste has become the norm.

Both were delicious but I just love a traditional one. Mandy and her husband loved the custard one far more than the lotus paste one - there's a mooncake to suit everyone! I didn't know that Royal China sold their own branded mooncakes, but now that I do, I will probably go back to pick up a box soon. My favourite mooncakes are the traditional ones by Wing Wah, and the Royal China ones are just as good. 

When it comes to dim sum, it's hard to find a restaurant where every single dish ticks the boxes. The usual ratio is 70% great, and 30% miss-able, but Royal China at Queensway delivered 100% and my taste buds had such a treat.

All the flavours work in harmony with each other. Fresh and good quality ingredients were gently seasoned but offered a great depth of flavour. Everything was just perfect.
 
There's so much finesse in the dishes, and non of us had to drink a gallion of water afterwards, a great testimont to not consuming masses of msg.

Do you think Royal China makes the best dim sum in London?  

If not, I'd love to hear your views.