Restaurants

You’re in for a nice surprise if you assumed a 30-year-old Chinese restaurant on a busy roundabout next to Gants Hill tube would be a desolate takeaway joint with sullen waiter, ordering by numbers, and food thick with MSG. The decor here, it’s true, is old fashioned – the myriad screens and lanterns having a slightly faded opulence. And prices are traditionally low. But on a Sunday lunchtime there was a cheerful buzz from a smart, mainly Chinese clientele, as a smiling waitress showed us to a table with crisp white linen, fresh flowers, peanuts and pickled cabbage. A request for meat-free, gluten-free dim sum left her unfazed. There followed a series of exquisite dumplings (prawn and chive a particular highlight) then tender baby squid in a gingery curry sauce, scrumptiously well-filled oyster beancurd rolls, and coriander-specked fish-balls redolent of the sea. Grilled water-chestnut paste and sesame prawn rolls were hits too. The only let-down was the heavy wrapping on the cheung fun. Everything arrived hot, fresh and fragrant, including garlicky choi sum and the scented towels for washing hands after the complimentary oranges.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009