Large and opulent resto in private backwater

10 April 2012

Imperial China should really be called 'Phoenix' something or other since, like so many large Chinatown restaurant sites, this large, smart and aspirational establishment is merely the latest incarnation of an earlier venture.

There are various different dining rooms spread over three floors; some are dedicated to karaoke, and the one on the ground floor seems to have been modelled on James Bond's idea of a cocktail bar - it's not often that you see a baby grand piano in a Chinese restaurant, stranger still to have a pianist tinkling the ivories while you're the one playing chopsticks.

The dim sum here have a growing reputation - the excellence of the dim sum at Hakkasan (see p. 7) seems to have stung Chinatown into action.

Imperial City offers fried pork and spring onion buns; stewed goose web in black bean sauce; preserved egg and sliced fish cheung fun, as well as most of the steadier dim sum favourites.

There are also some interesting options on the main menu: starters such as lotus root and straw mushrooms; sliced preserved pork knuckle with jelly fish; and simple soups such as hot and sour, or encouragingly, 'soup of the day - Chinese clear soup'.

From the lengthy list of mains, salt-baked chicken appeals; as does shredded pork with ginger and aubergine; stir-fried scallop with lily bud; or deep-fried fillet of eel with chilli.

Imperial China tries to be a grown-up sort of restaurant and the pricing reflects this ambition, but there are some interesting dishes, and providing you relish the over-the-top styling it makes a good venue.

Imperial China
Lisle Street, London, WC2H 7BA

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in