When I arrived at Royal China Baker Street for the first time, I entered behind a queue of fifteen Chinese women…
(…as good a sign as you can hope for with dim sum on the crave, I believe.)
The restaurant itself is more vast than the exterior would suggest, with decor wholly ‘smart casual’ in its own cozily oriental manner.
With a long catch-up and business meeting on the cards, the latest addition to Team Lela London and I played Battle Royale with the dim sum menu.
Kicking things off with fruity bubble drink mocktails (strawberry and passion fruit, respectively), we moved our way through various must-have mainstays; vegetarian dumplings, scallop dumplings, beef meat balls, mixed vegetable noodles, et al.
Before ordering, two people had independently recommended the honey roast pork puffs – as I often feel dubious about an excessive use of honey (hate!) and fatty pork (double hate!), I begrudgingly added them to the list of things I actually craved.
Thank goodness. They were so incredibly flavourful – melting in the mouth with each bite – that we almost ordered a second plate. Unfortunately, we fell victim to the ‘it’s so affordable you must not get a lot!’ assumption and overordered from the get-go.
Though service was smileless (which always throws me off at restaurants), the dim sum was as fresh, moreish, and true-to-tradition the flock of Chinese women led me to believe.
All things considered, I’m very pleased to enlist Royal China as my failsafe dim sum spot in London.
