Experience China (China Experience Restaurant (London))

Member Name: mattconnect

Product:	China Experience Restaurant (London)
Date:	25/06/09 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great service and price

Disadvantages: sometimes lack atmosphere, and abit cramped.

China Experience Restaurant is located in Leicester Square, near Picadilly Circus, and is on the other side of China Town. It is very easily accessible from Picadilly Circus Tube Station and is less than 5 minutes walk from there.

~~~MY EXPERIENCE~~~
Upon arriving, we were quickly greeted and sat down in nice and original furniture on the ground floor. Other times we went we were taken down below which is equally well decorated. The seats are rather comfortable, although the placement is slightly cramped, and not alot of room between tables.

On most days from around noon to 4.30pm, the restaurant offers a 1/2 price lunch/dim sum menu, which is extremely good value. With a few friends you could easily be filled up with a few dishes, and reaching a total of no more than £20.

They offer a range of Dim Sum, Dumplings, Cheung Fun; a range of noodle dishes such as noodle stir fry, fried Udons, fried noodles and more. On this menu, they also have desserts such as Mango Sago sweet soup, Lychee pancake, Mango Pancake, puddings and more.

The meal came extremely quickly, and my friends who had never eaten dim sum before found it delicious especially the fried squid tails and the Udons, although not so keen on the Cheung Fun (slippery and slimy). They managed to use the chopsticks and enjoyed the tea. I personally liked the desserts because I've not seen them anywhere else!

~~~SERVICE AND ATMOSPHERE~~~
The service is efficient, there are lots of staff who understand both chinese and english, who are willing to help. However, sitting near the kitchen, you often hear the chefs or managers cursing at each other in chinese, which is not at all pleasant if you understand it.

They are also very friendly in offering other utensils such as forks and knifes or new spoons and chopsticks.

~~~MENU~~~
The Menu whether 1/2 price or not has a range of good dim sum and set lunches, noodles, fried rice, congi and so on. They have quite a few different menus as well, including summer specials...

I would add though, that the menu does not contain pictures and could be quite hard to picture what you will get. However, they are very presentable, so you will be in for a nice surprise!

~~~TASTE~~~
It is not amazing, or exactly like the dim sum you find in Hong Kong or China, but it is nice in its own respect and will please many people. However, some foods will be quite oily, and suspect they may contain abit of MSG as well.

~~~PRICE~~~
It is very good value when there is 1/2 price menu but even if it isn't it is average price... and it is well worth it. For 1 person, going on 1/2 price menu may cost around £10.

~~~OVERALL OPINION~~~
It is a nice restaurant with nice food. There are some things that can only be found here which is a nice touch. The food is always presentable, and taste average-good. The service is efficient and takes less than an hour for a relaxed lunch with friends.

I would highly recommend this restaurant if you like ethnic foods for a good price! Be sure to bring some friends as well so you can all enjoy it!

Summary: a good place to eat nice food very enjoyable!