It was Friday night and we had decided on a Boys Night out to the midnight show at the Comedy Store. We had met up in Kensington quite late so dining options were limited. Chinatown seemed the best option as at least we would be close enough to get to the venue. One of our party had been to Mr Kong's before so we chose it above Wong Kei's. Unfortunatly it was busy so we had to wait 15 minutes for a table which once we got in didn't give us a whole lot of time.
We ordered a chinese standard 101 selection (sweet and sour pork etc.....) and had a fairly lengthy wait for the food. When it came it was pretty good but nothing amazing. I did think here we go again another totally underwelming meal in Chinatown. It wasn't a patch on "The Royal China" or "Mandarin kitchen" up in Queensway. The portions were a good size though and we polished off everything. They were pretty good about keeping the tea and beer coming.
The big problem I had was when the bill came we got a scribbled note for £90, nothing itemised. I get really annoyed about this, every restaurant in London does itemised bills apart from Chinatown. I don't doubt the bill was correct and I thought the charge reasonable for what I had. However the suspicion remains that you may have been taken for a ride. This is one of the reasons I avoid Chinatown as the food isn't that special and a lot of the restaurants don't move with the times. The area really needs to raise its game as their are a whole raft of places doing really good oriental food that offer a better customer experience. I'm going to stick to Queensway from now on.
Monday, August 03, 2009
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7