Royal China adds in flecks of golden glamour alongside a more than casual dining setting.
The first thing that springs to mind when snagging a table in Royal China at 9pm on a Wednesday night is this: you've missed the god damn dim sum lunch menu. Sure, that's what happened and I was all sorts of sad about it, but after a hair-raising stint in Madame Tussauds at their latest Alien experience, we were just about ready for any kind of Chinese food that Royal China wanted to send our way.
Royal China was clearly made for any and all walks of life, especially when owed to the size of their Baker Street location. Giant circular tables swamped the rooms and families made up the bulk of those visiting for dinner on the night. And while we felt a little engulfed by the space on a table made for two, plate after plate of giant servings meant we had nay time to fret, or a whole lot of space to swing elbows.
The menu at Royal China is massive, pictures spread alongside dish descriptions kind-of-massive. And while their menu may be king, we wanted to be the royals of Royal China, starting with vegetable dumplings, vegetarian crispy duck (£14.80) and vegetable spring rolls (£6.50). I'll be honest, we could have stopped there. Not only were the dumplings anything but petite with a menagerie of welcome, sour dips, the vegetarian crispy duck was filling, crisp and gave them props for simply just having it on the menu. Our mains came in the shape of sweet and sour king prawn (£14.80) alongside egg fried rice and mixed vegetable noodles. Once again proving that size matters, Royal China's bowls were beaming and steaming alike. Thick with flavour and that savoury touch, these all hit the mark.
While my only issue might be the price point on some of the dishes (I personally think anything over the £18 mark should be reserved for locations with a little more finesse), the portion sizes are consuming, the flavours are on point and Royal China gives you Chinese flavours without any of the fuss.
Royal China Baker Street can be found at 40-42 Baker St, Marylebone, London W1U 7AJ. Head on down for a giant dim sum menu alongside beloved, Chinese classics.
