Ian

Lee Fook, 76 The Broadway, Tolworth, Surrey, KT6 7HR (020 8399 2811) is in the same boat. Also South West London. It's no ordinary Chinese - last year it narrowly missed being named London's best Chinese restaurant, second only to Hakkasan, in the Time Out awards. One of the biggest problems is lack of publicity - many of the guides or reviewers that could deliver business are only interested in Central London. Local newspapers aren't as widely read. Retention of good staff is also difficult (Central London work is considered more attractive) making consistency of service a real challenge. -- Ian

A new Vietnamese has just opened up in East India Dock Road near the blackwall tunnel. It's better than those in Kingsland Road, even the mighty Song Que. Last time I went, a Vietnamese friend tucked into raw duck's blood and peanuts. I'll dig out the full address details later.

The character encoding problem is likely to have been caused by someone cutting and pasting the editorial from a Microsoft Word document into the website content management system. :-) All the best, -- Ian Fenn Chopstix Media http://www.chopstixmedia.com/

Oh no, if that was the point, I would've made it much better! BTW, Would you like to be my agent? :-) All the best, -- Ian

We went just a couple of weeks after it had opened and it was full. It's been full each time I've walked past too. I have friends with a restaurant round the corner and sadly they're not as busy. It could just be opening interest, but I doubt it - quite a few French people were dining (and seemed to be enjoying their meals). All the best, -- Ian

Very odd, then. It's sounds like we had a much better experience. All the best, -- Ian

Hi, I think we should give Restaurant Magazine a break - it is unlikely to ever meet our individual expectations fully. I could criticise the same feature, for example, for the lack of Chinese restaurant proprietors... the Chinese area is really, really interesting now and there are certainly a few people that could have been included. A year ago I met with Chris Maillard to discuss improving the magazine's Chinese restaurant coverage. We discussed and agreed several articles. A week or so later when I delivered the first piece, I was told that Chris was on leave. It then became apparent that he'd left. I then delivered a longer piece which made the cover for Chinese new year. There was some confusion over delivery - it seems the new editor Ella Johnston had forgotten the agreed delivery date and lost my mobile number - but the piece was received well, provoking correspondence from several readers. After that, I was supposed to have lunch with Ella to discuss the other pieces I'd originally been asked to do - plus other ideas provoked by her assertion in the magazine that Chinese coverage would continue to expand. Sadly we never met - I have about 30 emails postponing the meeting. I dropped Joe an email when he was announced as the new editor. Hopefully he'll have the time to respond soon - at the moment he still seems to be writing most of the magazine. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that the magazine has gone through a period of upheaval. With Joe, who has been with the magazine for a while, there is hopefully the opportunity for it to get back on a firmer footing. In criticising the magazine, let's be constructive - who are the people behind these restaurants that should have been included, for example? How else could the magazine adequately cover proprietors and front of house staff without sending the readership to sleep? -- Ian Fenn Chopstix Media http://www.chopstixmedia.com/

Hmm... Jan Moir's review containes at least one inaccuracy - 'blue' was one of choices I was given when I dined there two weeks ago. Jay's review says the portion is small which make me wonder if he had both servings of his steak - the restaurant serves the steak and chips in two servings and to be honest, I asked for fewer chips the second time round. I guess Jay could have a larger appetite but the current size of my belly suggests otherwise. And when I went the chips were crisp - but not wooden. The Marylebone branch is more comfortable (spacious) than the Paris one but the steak seems to be more tender and tasty in Paris. But if you don't want a trip on Eurostar... All the best, -- Ian

Actually, anyone who orders on menu *at all* in any Chinese restaurant must be considered a 'ladyboy'. This includes prominent food writers. -- Ian Fenn Chopstix http://www.chopstix.com/

Well, that's one of the restaurants I'm aiming to visit (and refer to above). The other is Sichuan Restaurant in Churchfield Road, W3. Blue Thames have moved their Sichuan dishes onto the main menu and mixed them up with Cantonese dishes. Personally, I think this was a mistake. All the best, -- Ian Fenn Chopstix http://www.chopstix.com/

I definitely agree. All the best, -- Ian Chopstix http://www.chopstix.com/

Hi, If I remember correctly, I was told by Red Chilli that their chef is from Beijing. The menu extends further than Sichuan dishes and whilst good, it's not authentic Sichuanese - more the Beijing take on it. In other news, apart from my discovery 'Blue Thames', there are two other London restaurants now apparently doing Sichuanese food. I'll report further when I've visited them. All the best, -- Ian Fenn Chopstix http://www.chopstix.com/

That's one of the things I think you need to be aware of with Ping Pong - in order to make the best of the experience, time your visit carefully. I understand they have two deliveries a day... so the dim sum is at its best before 3pm and between 6-9pm. All the best, -- Ian

I've been to Ping Pong twice. It's OK but very bland. Very like Wagamama in this respect. Chilled or frozen dim sum is becoming commonplace across London - Royal China and many of the restaurants in Chinatown use chilled dim sum from Royal China's associate company Royal Gourmet. This depresses me. It's not that chilled/frozen dim sum is particularly bad. It's just bland. It reduces dim sum to a factory-produced commodity. It has no soul. All the best, -- Ian Fenn Chopstix http://www.chopstix.com/

It was open on Saturday night - completely full too. I'm going tonight and will try to write something up this week. All the best, -- Ian

I'm hoping to go this week. I've been to the Paris one many times so will be able to provide a comparison. All the best, -- Ian

Sadly I noticed last week that Samurai has closed. All the best, -- Ian Fenn Chopstix Media http://www.chopstixmedia.com/

And what does 'best' mean anyway? :-) -- Ian

Time Out Eating and Drinking Guide and Square Meal are the best guides IMHO, particularly for coverage of ethnic restaurants. Both have websites - http://eatdrink.timeout.com/ and http://www.squaremeal.co.uk/ The restaurants section of http://www.thisislondon.com/ is also worth looking at for reviews from Metro and the Evening Standard. I hope this helps. All the best, -- Ian Fenn Chopstix Media http://www.chopstixmedia.com/

One of my best friends opened Samurai as head chef but recently moved on. It's good to know standards are still being maintained. All the best, -- Ian

Personally I think salt should be investigated as the possible source of 'Chinese restaurant syndrome'... All the best, -- Ian

Hi, Disclosure: I studied at the same college as Mr Peng's son and would describe myself as a friend. I do not know his father at all other than through visits to Hunan for dinner. Two of these visits took place before I met Mr Peng's son. With that out of the way... I've been reading this discussion with interest, having visited Hunan only last week. I'm happy to report that I ate much the same food as Origamicrane. I've been to Hunan a few times. I'm told the food was more consistent in quality when Mr Peng was in the kitchen. He's a true Chinese master chef. The real deal. Nowadays you'll have some dishes that will truly blow your mind, others that simply don't. It's part of the fun. It's not like you're only served four dishes. My last visit I think I managed to get through around sixteen. To be honest, I lost count. To increase the quota of fantastic food, go when the restaurant opens, not two hours later when the place is heaving. What hasn't been mentioned, perhaps only alluded to, is that Hunan is a family-run restaurant. If you want the best the restaurant can offer, then you have to put the effort in to become one of the family, if only for the duration of your meal. Be ready for Mr Peng's questions. Answer seriously but in a friendly way. He's a busy man. Your aim is to charm him. Too much work? Well, if that's the case - and I mean no disrespect - perhaps you shouldn't eat there. Hunan, on balance, is one of the best Chinese restaurants in London. It has to be. It's the only one I've been to in the last two weeks that hasn't been empty. (Yes, Summer is here.) If anyone is interest in an egullet evening at Hunan, I'd be happy to co-ordinate it via Mr Peng's son. Just let me know... All the best, -- Ian

Thanks GeoffC. I'm visiting Edinburgh in August so I'll visit Szechwan house and compare it to Blue Thames. All the best, -- Ian

I'm not sure it's that different. I recently ate in all of the Royal China restaurants apart from St John's Wood during one week. The food was consistent... and very, very boring. All the best, -- Ian

Mandarin Palace in Gant's Hill is one of my favourite Dim Sum places. "NO MSG" they claim. Restaurants cooking frozen dim sum isn't uncommon in London. Most of the dim sum at Royal China, for example, is prepared off-site and delivered to the restaurant chilled for cooking. Quite a few restaurants in Chinatown also buy and cook factory-made dim sum nowadays. It's a real shame. All the best, -- Ian