“Park Chinois occupies a niche, and offers a balance to the current club culture. It brings about a rebirth of the Dinner Dance aesthetic, a modern interpretation underpinned by old school values.” Website: Park Chinois One of the more creative of our serial restaurateurs, Alan Yau has for this, his latest venture, chosen to target the much-moneyed Mayfair […]
Tag Archives: Chinese
June
25
Duck and Rice. Ever been to a Chinese pub?
posted by Nicky Richmond
I’ve never seen anything like it says C, almost smiling, practically a whole page of beers. This from the man whose favourite card is one bearing the legend “Beer: proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy”. I order the food whilst he loses himself in a world of hops.
March
21
Hunan. You won’t go hungry.
posted by Nicky Richmond
Why is your wearable fitness device saying LOSE? asks my back doctor. This is the digital device I wear on my wrist which, helpfully, tells me how much I’ve fallen short of my daily goal of ten thousand steps. I am confused by his comment as my wearable has never before issued a command. I […]
September
18
Pearl Liang. Pedestrian in Paddington
posted by Nicky Richmond
“It is no surprise that Pearl Liang is one of the busiest restaurants in the area”, boasts their website, which tells us that “Pearl Liang Chinese Oriental Restaurant is a stylish, cosmopolitan, London restaurant located in the heart of Paddington”. Correction: the heart of Paddington Basin, with a captive audience of thousands, where the culinary […]
May
11
Bright Courtyard. Nicey Nicey, Spicy Pricey.
posted by Nicky Richmond
I’d been having an after-hours manicure in the office, as you do and C was in the market for food. This is C-nails not C-husband. C-nails is that manicurist overlap in the Venn diagram between myself and E, who sometimes appears on these pages and who works in the same building as Bright Courtyard. Some time ago, […]
January
02
Kai Mayfair. Cry, wallet.
posted by Nicky Richmond
It’s got lots of awards, has Kai. Not only a Michelin star, but, according to its website, it was the highest ranked Chinese restaurant in the Sunday Times Food List 2012, Best Chinese restaurant in London in the Hardens Guide, Best Chinese restaurant in something called “Zagat survey” though it doesn’t say when, or what […]
November
21
Phoenix Palace. There be dragons.
posted by Nicky Richmond
Because I have a prolapsed disc in my neck – I blame years of sitting in front of a PC – I find that I cannot use my right arm effectively. I certainly couldn’t cut up a steak. The horror. So to avoid having to eat like an infant i.e. having my food cut up […]
October
16
Hutong at the Shard. Lord, love a duck.
posted by Nicky Richmond
I’d really no business to be going to the Shard for dinner. I’d no business to be going anywhere other than one of those places where they make you fast for a week. It had been a weekend of sheer piggery in Paris, where, on the Friday night, we unexpectedly ended up at Guy Savoy. […]
Royal China Baker Street – Dim Sum
posted by Nicky Richmond
One of my very first grown-up food experiences was a regular outing to the Yang Sing in Manchester. I must have been in my mid teens and really, it was the highlight of my week. Compared to the haimische cooking we had at home (think Eastern European peasant food and you won’t go far wrong) […]
February
01
(Slightly) hacked off at Hakkasan
posted by Nicky Richmond
I could do without the little red dresses. But I realise they aren’t for me. I’ve been to both incarnations of the uber-Chinese restaurant that is Hakkasan and without wishing to lapse into the sort of lawyerspeak that seems simply to trip off my tongue, I make the following observations:-
The Food Judge 