royalchina_01

I have been really really slack with my posting. I can’t help it, I get so excited about my recent baking adventures that they are like my favourite children, my fingers stumble over each other trying to post them straight away and every-thing else falls by the wayside.

Favouritism. It exists. Deal with it. 

Anyway, I’ve been pre-occupied with I-don’t-know-what, but I do know that I’ve been so pre-occupied with stuff that I totally forgot our Girls Gone Wild (keep dreamin’) In Alicante trip is this weekend. It’s been two months since the planning began, right along side those Harwood Arms scotched eggs, and while there’s been many a date night since to drill into the finer details of our trip (amongst them Buddha Bar, which was just dark and expensive and I didn’t love it anywhere near enough to post about it), my favourite girls-weekend-planning-lunch has been at Royal China on Baker Street.

Good ol’ dim sum.

Not to be confused with Royal China Club (its more expensive and less screaming-dimsum-orders-in-your-face sibling) Royal China has been a favourite amongst my pals for a while, but I don’t know why I never went. Maybe it’s the queues. Because if you show up any time after midday, there’s a queue. Alternatively, you can be clever like my friends and send an anally-retentive-super-punctual friend (me) to get a ticket and commence the waiting.

Used and abused, I tell you!

singapore noodles; char siu cheong (BBQ pork in rice noodle wrap); law bok gow (turnip cake); siu mai (pork & prawn dumpling)

Anyway, we ordered a bunch of the usual suspects – no wait, we diverted from the dim sum menu and ordered braised asparagus, which was perfectly crispy and soft (I realise them are oxymorons but they were crispy and soft, all at the same time) – har gow, siu mai, lo mai kai, wu kok, low bok gow, xiao long bao, and all kinds of cheong funs. Oh and a Singapore noodle because anally-retentive me had a craving.

This Royal China meal was had eons ago and having been so tardy with my posting (and also being officially old now), I can’t recount how each dish performed on the culinary stage that is my taste buds. I do however recall that everything was very good ~ fresh, tasty and light (as opposed to gruesomely glutnious which can be the norm at some substandard dim sum restaurants). I also remember that the law bok gow (turnip cake) was delicious with perfectly gelatinous consistency and beautifully fried a golden brown on each side. We also ordered I think five serves of cheong fun, which, well I think that means we liked it. Just a little bit.

My dessert was a bit lot meh. I can’t speak for the mango pudding, but my almond jelly was b-l-a-n-d. Bland bland bland bland. Bland

mango pudding; almond jelly

So anyway, Girls In Alicante weekend. Going wild? Possibly. You’ll have to stay tuned for that report, or follow my sun-burnt-ocean-soaked-alcohol-fuelled tweets. The first challenge was that we all checked in with carry-on luggage only. God. I mean, I totally need to bring everything. And the second challenge? Totally kick the Boys In Majorca weekend, which heh, I think we can do that 🙂

Oh, one observation from moi: there seems to be a distinct lack of mango pancakes *drool* on offer in London yum cha restaurants. Why? They were the norm in Sydney and a staple in my diet.. and now there is just a gaping ugly mango-pancake hole in my torso. Ick.

Royal China
24-26 Baker Street
London, W1U 7AB
0207 487 4688
website

Royal China on Urbanspoon

12 Thoughts on “girls gone wild at uh…. Royal China?

  1. I don’t think I’ve ever had a mango pancake; they’re certainly not normal dim sum desserts… I’ve not been to any of the Royal Chinas, but the food here looks good.

    (Noodles aren’t that anally retentive; we usually have dim sum, then after that’s cleared away we have noodles and roasted meats)

  2. Completely agree with you, fellow Aussie on the mango pancakes; I understand why they might not do durian pancakes like they sometimes do in Sydney but surely a mango pancake is easier to make than, say egg tarts?

  3. Lizzie: ahh mango pancakes are so simple and delish – a slice of fresh mango, some cream, wrapped into a mango pancake *yum*. You should definitely try Royal China, the food is good and there’s a decent variety!

    Holly: I know! I should probably be able to make some myself really.. but hmmm… *lazy*… can you send me some from Sydney?

  4. Mango pancakes, i didnt see them when I was in Sydney, and never came across one before either :S Durian pancake sounds like heaven to me, I don’t get why it stinks to some people – its like fragrant whisky to my unrefined nose.

    Any restauranteurs reading this now? (come on.. I know you folks read blogs) Bring mango pancake and durian pancake to London, it will fill that void in many a foodie’s tummy.

  5. ….many a foodie’s seemingly bottomless…

  6. Never even heard of mango pancakes, let alone tried one. Can you make it for me?!

  7. kang & Helen: there’s this one store on Shaftesbury Ave that makes mango pancakes! I’ll buy you guys some 🙂 and kang, you like durian?! Ah! I loooove durian!

  8. 5 portions of cheung fun ! you must really love it. I now have a dim sum craving. Mango pancake – new one on me but I’m not much of one for desserts.

  9. Mr Noodles: ok so there were 5 portions of cheung fun between like 6 of us, but I still love it 🙂 It’s so weird that all your UK folk haven’t heard of the mango pancake. imma go buy one and blog the hell out of it!

  10. Mango pancake does sound really amazing… I’m pretty sure that introducing durian products in London will have the non-SEA diners screaming and running away from the offending table.

  11. that char sui cheung looks AMAZING. I normally steer clear of the cheung fan because, well to hell with me paying for a big glob of rice noodles with a tiny tiny sliver of meat, but that one I could eat right off screen

  12. Wild Boar: LOL yes I would not even try introducing durian pancakes anywhere outside of SEA! 🙂 I do miss it though, haven’t had any in.. 2 years?! That’s just 2 years too long. Last time I had it the bf made me gargle a whole bottle of Listerine before coming near me again!!

    chooken: what’s wrong with ya? cheung fun all the way baby, I love it 😉

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