Phoenix Palace

Some dim sum very good but a lot very average. would not rush back.

Lunch for two today. A big mistake. The "consommé of vegetables" was some few bits of random vegetables in lukewarm tasteless water (in a very small bowl). To our question 'what is the beef soup', the moody, unsmiling waiter answered 'it is a soup with beef'. beignets of lobsters seemed fresh, but so drowned in oil that the taste of the seafood was lost. My friend, who had had a good experience at this place in early 2012, ordered kangaroo meat and found her dish dried and flavourless this time. A plate of spinach was uninteresting in flavours and overly priced at 11.80GBP! An upside? Enough space between tables to have a personal/business conversation. But one can find a similar setting on Edgware rd, for half the price. The bill, for which we had to ask many times came at 76 BP (the only drink being tea). We ask for the service charge to be taken off, which was done promptly by the smiling waitress (unfortunately, she hadn't served us). The tacky decoration could be fun if the place wasn't so pretentious: cheap paper napkin at that level of price!

Decided to try phoenix palace as I am very keen on cantonese food in particular and i thought i'd try somewhere different. i dined with my father and our first experience from walking in was shocking. waiters left us standing at the entrance waiting to be seated for a good few minutes when the restaurant was at less than 20 percent capacity and well staffed. Finally we sat down and tried to order drinks but on two occasions we were stared at by the waiter then ignored. now for the food. ordered as appetizers, lettuce wrap vietnamese spring rolls which were very good and wonton soup. The soup was cloudy, flavourless and was like having a "chinese takeaway" style soup. For main course we chose crispy fried eel fillet with salt and chilli and mixed rotisserie meats (crispy pork belly + roast duck) The eel was cooked perfectly however the actual quality of the eel itself was questionable. It was very fishy and left an unpleasant after taste which suggests this was not fresh fish and at £20 for a dish barely bigger than a starter this was totally unacceptable. The roast meats were very average, crispy pork was ok, the roast duck was dry and not a touch on the delicious roast pork and duck you can find in china town. at all times during the meal the four waiters and three waitress' serving had their backs to our section of the restaurant accept they seemed to be incredibly attentive to the chinese couples sitting on either side of us...hmm?. The bill came to £72, I told them to take the service charge off immediately. They took it off straight away but didn't even think to ask why i was asking for the service charge to be taken off the bill, most restaurants would require some sort of explanation to why you didn't think their service was up to scratch. The only reply I got was "sorry sir", This tells you a lot about what kind of restaurant this is. This is the kind of restaurant where wealthy tourists who know nothing about cantonese cuisine or good chinese food in general go and waste their money and i feel embarrassed that i picked this restaurant out. My advice to anyone reading this who wants great authentic cantonese food, is to save yourself £70 and go to chinatown and enjoy yourself. I will credit this restaurant on two things only. Its got quite a nice atmosphere especially if your with a group of people which a lot of restaurants in and around chinatown don't have and the steamed rice is served in nice wooden pots. I don't know which was worse the food or the service, but i will never eat her again.

Nice restaurant

Pleasant surprise, excellent deco. Food tends to be promptly prepared and orders filled in matter of minutes. Busy, and yet services are prompt. Though less impressed with the lack of interactions from the waiters, as they go about their jobs like machines, but then they don't chase you out once you finished your food. Recommended.

Really excellent dim sum, including some Japanese-influenced dishes that I hadn't tried before (Wasabi Prawns, cold baby octopus, etc.). Staff very helpful, charming and polite. Bill came to 33 quid for two including tea, beer and service. A fantastic place which I will certainly visit again soon.

I go to Phoenix Palace regularly, because after tasting mostly all the good Chinese restaurants in London, I think this is consistently the best Chinese food in town. Although the service can be a little rushed sometimes, the waiters are polite and willing to please. Every dish in this busy restaurant in excellent.