Dim Sum Buffet at Grand Imperial, London

A random chat with a friend of mine brought up the topic of when she recently had an 'All you can eat' dim sum in London recently. My ears pricked up and my eyes widened, dim sum + all you can eat? That was music to my ears and I was all excited. A flurry of emails later, I found myself with a party of ten heading to Grand Imperial for the dim sum buffet.

During the weekends, the buffet is priced at £18.80 excluding drinks. Add in drinks and service charge and you are looking at about £24 per person.

The menu for the dim sum buffet is limited to approximately 7 or 8 per category with only 3 categories consisting of steamed, fried/baked and rice rolls.

Steamed dim sum

Let's start with the good ones.

Prawn Dumpling, Char Siu Bao

Steamed coriander shrimp dumpling

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Dim Sum Diner, Queensway

There are a lot of places that offer dim sum in London, but try to count how many that are tasty and of good value and I can count them all with my two hands. Nevertheless, I am always scouting for new places and wider options. A new dim sum place opened recently, taking over the site in Queensway that used to house the infamous ‘Kiasu’.

Touted as an American-style diner offering both modern and traditional dim sum, I was thinking, “what do you mean by both modern and traditional? American-style dining?”. All thoughts of trolleys and roundtable dining went out the window. My love for dim sum coaxed me to accept when I received an invitation to DimSum Diner. As it was, not all authentic/traditional food is the most delectable and not all fusion/modern food is unpalatable. I was ready to go and let my taste buds do the talking.

Minimalism is how I would describe the décor with long rectangular wooden tables and benches. The benches were more comfortable than they seem, as mentioned by my dining companion. The menu is split into various categories with the usual being steamed, baked, fried, sweet with the addition of diner and small plates. Everything is priced at £3.80 with sides being £2.50.

After some recommendations, we placed our orders and ready to start.

L - R: Phoenix prawn dumpling, Guinness crabmeat dumpling
L - R: Fish and spinach dumpling, vegetarian parcel, XLB

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Chocolate Week 2011: Chocolate Dim Sum at Grand Imperial

It's Chocolate Week at the moment and also Cocktail Week. There are always just so many things happening in London.

I have to say that I haven't had the opportunity to indulge in too much chocolate yet but one that I managed to do is the Chocolate Dim Sum at the Grand Imperial. Chocolate + Dim Sum, you say? How does that work? Well, I was about to find out as I happened to be at the Grand Imperial for dinner and couldn't resist ordering that too.

I was told that it takes 20 minutes so while some of my friends left after dinner, the dessert + chocolate lovers were determined to stay. 20 minutes later, the platter arrived.

These 4 treats are made with Divine Chocolates that has 70% cocoa content. In top to bottom order, we have the 'pumpkin bundle', 'canton cracker', 'cashew crescent' and 'coconut doughnut'.

I don't know whether the dessert angel was smiling upon us but that happened to be the best combination to eat them.

Cutting into the Pumpkin Bundle, you can hear the crispy shell cracking under the force of the knife, it was a heavenly sound and we were excited. Biting into the pumpkin, you get an unctuous hit. The chocolate seemed to have absorbed a bit too much of the oil that it was fried in and the pumpkin and lemon combination left a slightly strange aftertaste.

Moving onto the Canton Cracker, the pastry was delicate and flaky and fared better with its chocolate filling. It still left a greasy aftertaste though not as strong as the first.

Cashew Crescent was buttery and lovely with the chopped cashews adding a contrast in texture. The last which is the Coconut Doughnut was really the best. The 70% dark chocolate was really enhanced and showcased in the coconut doughnut. A chewy texture quite like mochi with coconut sprinkles, excellent pairing indeed!

There is only a few days left and at £6, it is a nice indulgence.

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NOW Streetfood: An addition to the snack and lunch scene

NOW is quite new as it opened about a year ago. I was really excited when it first opened as they were going to have rice porridge on their menu. I just love rice porridge and besides making it at home or having it as dim sum, you are pretty much stuck for choices that offer this in London.

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Have some 'fatt fatt' fortune with Truffle and Black Moss Siu Long Bao at Dumplings Legend

It’s the First Day of Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rabbit!

Usually, this will be a public holiday and my siblings and I will wake up, don our new clothes that are usually a festive red and off we trot to our grandmother’s house.

That was when I was still a kid, zoom to years later and I find myself waking up on this day to go to work. Still, I decided not to wear my usual safety attire of predominantly black and opted for a bright daffodil yellow dress to work instead. Something bright and festive I thought.

I thought that it was going to be the usual ‘having lunch at your desk’ day for me when half an hour before lunchtime, my colleague asked me what my plans are for lunch. The next thing I know, we were walking towards Chinatown. And the next thing after was we found ourselves entering Dumplings Legend.

With music blasting in the background singing ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’ and numerous diners on their mobiles calling people and wishing them ‘Xing Nian Kuai Le’, ‘Sun Tai Gin Hong’ (wishing you good health). It’s hard not to get swept up in the mood.

What do you have on Chinese New Year Day for lunch? Why, dim sum of course!

There was a card which says New Year Exclusive on each table. Ever so curious, I picked it up to read and they have 2 new exclusive Siu Long Bao on offer. A truffle version and a Black Moss & Pork version. Black Moss in Cantonese is pronounced as ‘Fatt Choi’ which is also the pronunciation for ‘getting money’. The Chinese like to use festive words like this and black moss is used quite a bit during this period.

How could I say no to ordering one of these? I decided to choose the safer option of the truffles as black moss might be too weird for my non-Chinese colleague. But I have to say that I love black moss!

After putting in our order, we definitely could not wait to stuff our hungry tummies!

Scallop with cheese and mashed taro croquette £2.50

First to arrive was the croquette. This was deep fried with the batter being airily light, non-oily with an almost melt in your mouth batter. Couldn’t quite taste the scallop between all that cheese and mashed taro but still decent.

Truffle Siu Long Bao £8.80

Next came the awaited Siu Long Bao. How can this not be festive? Even the price is double 8 digits which mean fortune multiplied by two! I couldn’t wait, you can see a bit of the truffle poking out at the top in the middle one. It has my name written all over it but I graciously left that for my colleague as I had to show her how to eat a Siu Long Bao. The truffle gives these tiny meat parcels a rounded balance.

I cut one in half to see how much truffles were included and you get a whole shave of truffle! This picture doesn't quite show it but it is a whole shave!

Cheung Fun with sliced sea bass and preserved vegetables £3.50

I have not seen this anywhere else and was told about it by the lovely Su-yin. Of course I had to try it. My colleague really likes this one and I definitely enjoyed it too. The preserved vegetables take centre stage here, so if you want more of the fish, go to Leongs Legend instead.

Minced pork and crab roe Shu Mai £2.50 Crystal Prawn Dumplings £2.50

It is such a custom to always order the Shu Mai and the Prawn Dumplings. These are not the best but not the worst out there. Actually, Shu Mai was quite nice.

Egg Yolk Custard Buns @ Liu Sha Bao £2.40

My eyes widened when I saw Egg Yolk Custard Buns on the menu. These are not the chrysanthemum custard buns that you get at Pearl Liang. Noooo….this has a grainier texture with savoury liquid egg yolk ready to ooze out the moment you bite into this. I was introduced to this when I had dim sum in Shanghai and was the only time that I had it. It instantly went into my ‘always have to order at dim sum’ list.

Look at all that yummy goodness. Had to sacrifice some of it for this picture.

The bun was too thick but the liquid egg yolk custard filling was just as good as I remembered. I am a happy happy bunny!

The bill came up to £13.50 per person, quite reasonable.

I left with a full tummy and joyous smile now that I got my fix of festive music, festive vibe & festive 'fortune' food! Do go and have your Truffle or Black moss & Pork Siu Long Bao during the next 14 days CNY celebration. Have some ‘fatt fatt’ smiling down on you!

 

Dumplings' Legend, 15-16 Gerrard Street, Chinatown, London W1D 6JE

http://www.dumplingslegend.com/

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Leong’s Legend: Dim Sum with a Taiwanese twist!

To my lovely readers, as some of you may have noticed. I did a Dim Sum Marathon Week last month which was inspired after reading this post by Mr. Noodles. Timing could not have been worse what with Xmas celebrations and parties but persevere I did. I ended the marathon week with my last post being in Shanghai which was commented that it wasn’t London-based. =)

To make up for that, this is an additional post where all that writing had me craving for dim sum and I decided to try out Leongs Legend during the holiday break. I have been to Leongs Legend many times but never for their dim sum, as I didn’t know they offer it.

Finding other dim sum cravers wasn’t too difficult and the party of three met up in Chinatown.

Amidst the regulars, there were some which I have not seen before and some that I recognised when I was in Taiwan.

小笼包XLB £5

The Xiao Long Bao from Leongs Legend is still one of the better ones that you can find in London.



北京菜肉水饺 Beijing Pork & Chive Dumpling £3.20

This was surprisingly good. Shaped into bite-sized portions, each mouthful was delicately flavoursome.

虎咬猪 Taiwan Mini Kebab with Pork £2.60

I was a tad disappointed with this, it was quite ordinary.

棺材板 Casket £4.80

This is bread that have been toasted and used to form the base with minced chicken and vegetable in a creamy sauce laden in the middle). The creamy minced chicken and vegetables are good but the toast was over-fried or toasted which made it oily.

豆腐皮蛋 Beancurd with “Thousand Years” Egg £3.80

宝岛牛肉饼Taiwanese Grilled Minced Beef Patty £2.80

This came up as a winner at the table. Pan fried to a crispy exterior, the dough was still thin and soft enough that when biting into it, the juices of the beef flows through.

紫菜虾糯米卷 Sticky Rice Roll with Prawn & Seaweed £2.60

Sticky rice with prawn and seaweed…some of my favourite ingredients, how could I not love this? For the fried lovers, you will not be disappointed with this. However, I think that if it was steamed, it would have been even better!

蜜汁叉烧酥 Baked Roast Pork Puffs £1.80

水晶虾饺 Prawn Dumpling £2.50

The roast pork puffs were good but the prawn dumplings were quite disappointing. Even just looking at it, you could tell and my eyes did not prove me wrong.

姜葱鱼片肠粉 Seabass Cheung Fun £2.80 炸两肠粉 Dough Stick Cheung Fun £2.20

Usually when it comes to Cheung Fun, the usual orders tend to be the Char Siew or dough stick or prawns. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that they offer a seabass version on the menu. This is the first time I have seen it and we had to order it. I have to say this gets the thumbs up from all of us. Slices of sea bass with ginger and soy sauce, it’s like eating steamed sea bass but this is wrapped in the rice noodle roll. Yum!

燕窝蛋挞 Bird Nest Egg Tart

The pastry was too dense but the egg filling itself was good and the teeny amount of bird nest in the middle gave the egg tarts a slightly different texture and 口感 (mouthfeel).

We had no problems with the service and our teapot was regularly refilled while we continued chatting away. The bill came up to around £15/head. Reasonable and based on the quality and additional varieties available, I can see myself coming back here for dim sum when in Chinatown.

4 Macclesfield St, City of Westminster, W1D 5

26-27 Lisle Street, Leicester Square WC2H 7

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富临轩 Fu Lin Xuan : Amazing views with the top dim sum in town

I decided to end my Dim Sum Marathon Week with a place that I went for dim sum which I really enjoyed and got me discovering a dim sum that I now eagerly try to always look for wherever I go.

Unfortunately this place is not in London but rather in Shanghai. We went to the branch in Infinity Plaza which boasts a view of the city skyscrapers.

脆皮童子乳鸽 Crispy Skin Pigeon

They are known for their Crispy skin roasted pigeon so we ordered two for the party of four. We were greeted by glossy thin crispy skin crackling covering the meat, doesn’t it look delicious?

It certainly was, the skin was thin and crispy and the meat was tender and just so tasty!

皮蛋瘦肉粥 Congee with Century Egg and Lean Pork

Hearty congee made just right. It was devoured quite quickly. Partly because when we were searching for this place, it started raining and we were all half soaking wet and squishing into the restaurant by the time we found it.

鲜虾蒸肠粉 Prawn Cheung Fan

XO 酱萝卜糕 Carrot cake with XO sauce

I really missed this and this hit the spot for me. The aroma and the taste of XO sauce on cubes of carrot cake that is crispy on the outside followed by a soft chewy texture.

富临轩虾饺皇 Fu Lin Xuan Emperor Prawn Dumplings

荷香珍珠鸡 Sticky Rice with Chicken

风爪 Chicken’s Feet in Black Bean Sauce

奶黄流沙包 Custard Liu Sa Bun

I have never tried this before and was advised to try it by my Shanghai friend who took us here. This is not a like the custard bun that we usually eat at say Pearl Liang but a savoury version. This is custard with runny egg. I absolutely loved it. The filling was this creamy yet grainy texture with the egg adding a whole new depth of flavour. I think this is my new favourite dim sum.  I wish I had taken a picture to show the runny golden egg filling!

蜜汁叉烧包 Barbecued pork bun

The total bill came up to 264 yuan which is around 26 pounds. Excellent dim sum, if you have a chance to head to Shanghai, do not hesitate to head here. Its reputation as one of the top Dim Sum eateries is well justified.

富临轩 Fu Lin Xuan

Address: 3rd Floor, Infinity Plaza, 138 Middle Huaihai Road (near Puan Road)

淮海中路138号无限度广场（上海广场）3楼近普安路

 

This concludes my week of Dim Sum posts. It has made me rediscover ones that were seemingly forgotten and relive my favourite ones. Hope you all enjoyed reading!

 

 

Related Posts:

Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 1 - Dim Sum at Pearl Liang
Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 2 - Princess Garden of Mayfair
Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 3 - Yum Cha
Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 4 - Yauatcha
Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 5 - Imperial China
Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 6 - Phoenix Palace

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Phoenix Palace

Day 6 of Dim Sum Marathon Week and we are at Phoenix Palace.


I was told about this place when I first came and was asking around for some recommendations on places to eat. I was given a list which included Phoenix Palace with a side comment saying that a lot of celebrities head there.

Now, celebrities I did not see but dim sum I did eat!










The Dim Sum came up to about £14pp which is reasonable. The quality is good but not outstanding. I found that I prefer the ambience in Pearl Liang and the dim sum there actually if I have to travel to the west for Dim Sum.

Phoenix Palace is good but not memorable for me.

Phoenix Palace, 3 - 5 Glentworth Street, London, NW1 5PG
http://www.phoenixpalace.co.uk/



Related Posts:
Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 1 - Dim Sum at Pearl Liang
Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 2 - Princess Garden of Mayfair
Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 3 - Yum Cha
Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 4 - Yauatcha
Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 5 - Imperial China
Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 7 - Fu Lin Xuan Shanghai

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