Anyone been to Lovely House Dim Sum?

[pleaseandthankyou]

If so, what's the food like?

Thanks

[Jeremy]

Only went there when it first opened, a few years back.

Nice people. Unfortunately most of the food was re-heated mass produced stuff. Still, if you need your dim sum fix and don't want to travel...

[pleaseandthankyou]

Thanks! I do want my dim sum fix and don't mind travelling, there are just so many in chinatown it's hard to know which one's worth going to. Then I found this one nearby...

Do you have a favourite place?

[Jeremy]

Locally-ish - Hong Kong City (Peckham/New Cross border) or Dragon Castle (Elephant & Castle) aren't bad.

Further afield... Royal China, Phoenix Palace, Mayfair Garden all v good...

[Guest]

Yi_ban near London City airport or Wing Yip in Croydon are pretty good too

[Lazero]

Agree on Hong Kong City, Royal China, Phoenix Place. Yauatcha is very good, though also in the more expensive dim sum category with Royal China.

Joy King Lau is amazing at the cheaper/ no frills end of the scale. Sunday is the best day for it - more customers there for dim sum so faster turnover. Just make sure you turn up before 12.30pm or you could be queuing for a while.

[DirtyBox]

Go to wing yip in Croydon and buy a load frozen then you can have it whenever you want (the restaurants all buy from there anyway). My wife stocks up on chicken feet when we go....

[Jeremy]

DirtyBox Wrote:

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> the restaurants all buy from there anyway

It's an interesting point... some restaurants certainly buy frozen dim sum, but not all. With less upmarket options (Hong Kong City, or anywhere in Chinatown) I think it's probably a mixture. Somewhere better, e.g. Royal China, I would expect it to be fresh.

[DirtyBox]

Making dim sum is a hugely time intensive process and they don't last long so most restaurants who do it will have a nice glass screen so you can see the chefs making them (certainly in Asia). The ones from Wing Yip are on the whole pretty good but the packs are a bit large so you need a decent size freezer if you want a nice selection.

[pleaseandthankyou]

Thanks!

Last night I found this excellent blog post: https://pickyglutton.com/2014/09/29/the-best-and-worst-dim-sum-for-dinner-in-london-review/

Definitely very thorough although it focuses more on evening dim sum. Some of you may enjoy.

[antantant]

I tried Lovely House a couple of years ago, and while the food was good but obviously from frozen, the service was amazing, the staff were lovely and I promised I'd be back, but....

Royal China is my go-to. Ferry from Surrey Quays Hilton to the one at Canary Wharf for a fun family outing on a Sunday, or Bayswater for the fuller experience.

Hong Kong City was sadly disappointing a couple of weeks ago, but no doubt I'll give it another go in a few months. Haven't tried Dragon Castle...

[Jeremy]

HKC is nothing special... Chinatown kind of standard. It's the closest proper place to home so we end up there a lot. Dragon Castle is a little bit better IMO but don't expect it to stand up to Royal China...

[DovertheRoad]

We were at Lovely House this week...and it was...a lovely experience. It's not Royal China or Alan Yau but it's charming, simple place with decent Dim Sum (frozen or not). Ten minutes from home and ?25 for seven including a glass of wine each. What's not to like?