Royal China, Putney

[Jonathan Day]

Other branches of the Royal China have been written up elsewhere on eGullet, but we've been going to the Putney branch for some time now, mostly for weekend dimsam.

For about the last year or so, the restaurant has offered several off-menu dishes as part of the dimsam service. Yesterday, we seemed to find more off-menu than on. And it was very good.

My impression is that the staff size up a table based on the dishes it accepts; once a server succeeds in selling a particular off-menu special, the others try their luck. A few specialis were brought to the table on spec, a hand-carried version of the trolley, but most were simply recited. Once we ordered curried snails from the regular menu (delicious, if slightly rubbery), the offers arrived quickly. Among them:

- geoduck clam, sliced paper-thin and served with what was described as "homemade soya sauce"; I have no idea whether the restaurant brewed the sauce itself, but it was slightly thicker than the usual, rich and rounded and nicely flavoured with chillis. The geoduck itself was fresh and very good (though, like the snails, also a bit rubbery).

- steamed scallops in the shell, a special we have enjoyed before; these were very fresh, perfectly cooked, with a pleasing sweetness

- baby octopus (this looked great, but by the time it arrived we had so much on the table that we turned it down)

- spinach dumplings; we had ordered prawn and chive, but the waitress suggested these instead. Good suggestion.

- coconut buns; sweet and slightly crunchy, with an eggy coconut custard filling

But the best came last. We often order "turnip paste" (called "turnip cakes" in some restaurants), and we did this time. "How about spicy turnip paste?" asked the waitress. Sure, we said, why not? Where the turnip paste usually arrives in largish squares, this one came in much smaller ones (2cm) with a few egg shreds, some very fresh beansprouts, and just a hint of chilli. The flavours were deep and delicious, and the spicing and texture were perfect. We were tempted to order another dish of this.

The on-menu dishes were fine, as well: nicely prepared lotus leaf rice, Peking duck, and several other dimsam items.

Overall the price was reasonable (for London) especially given the quality of ingredients and preparation. However it is worth checking on the prices of the specials, which aren't announced at the time they are offered: the geoduck dish cost £19.50. Even with this, the bill for four adults and two children was £87, and this included half of a Peking duck.

[Jon Tseng]

However it is worth checking on the prices of the specials, which aren't announced at the time they are offered: the geoduck dish cost £19.50.  Even with this,

Ha ha

Good to hear they're still trying this sort of scam - at the Bayswater one they used to tout around plates of roast suckling pig - and then hit you for fifteen quid once you got the bill

Having never been to the Putney one would be interested in knowing how it compares to other Royal Chinas in London - I understand they've been under seperate ownership for a number of years now

cheerio

J

[Jonathan Day]

Their scam-pricing is eerily precise: £19.50 was right at the edge of what I (and I suspect most customers) would pay without raising a fuss. Had it been much over £20 I would have demanded a reduction. In the UK I normally tip something like 10-12% in a place like this, where they indicate "service charge not included"; in this case, I rounded it to £95 so that they got £7.50, about 8.5%.

In this case, the overall food and service were so good, the total price was reasonable, and the experience sufficiently pleasant (we didn't have to wait for a table, either, since the queue moved quickly) that I didn't raise a fuss about the price for the special.

[Tonyfinch]

Their scam-pricing is eerily precise: £19.50 was right at the edge of what I (and I suspect most customers) would pay without raising a fuss.

Really? Blimey Jonathan are you really such a WASP? I mean I know some people don't like yo make a fuss but £19.50!!?? . I'd have gone potty. Actually I'd have first asked the price. Why did you not? I thought they were duty bound to display menu prices anyway. (we had this discussion on the Mr. Silver meets Locatelli thread, but I can't remember the outcome.

I hate all these Chinese restaurant antics with specials at the back untranslated and without prices and offering you dishes and then ripping you off for them, or deciding whether to offer you this or that according to the cut of your jib and so on.

Why can't they just give you a proper menu with everything on it listed and priced and then leave it to you to decide what you want and what you want to pay?

[Jon Tseng]

Why can't they just give you a proper menu with everything on it listed and priced and then leave it to you to decide what you want and what you want to pay?

That would make it far too easy!

And less entertainment value too...

Anyhow, as any chinese restauranteur knows even if you give them a proper menu the laowai will always end up ordering crispy aromatic duck, sweet and sour pork and monk vegetables ;-) (look around next time you're in a chinese... this prediction is eerily true)

J

Edited June 15, 2003 by Jon Tseng (log)

[Tonyfinch]

Anyhow, as any chinese restauranteur knows even if you give them a proper menu the laowai will always end up ordering crispy aromatic duck, sweet and sour pork and monk vegetables ;-) (look around next time you're in a chinese... this prediction is eerily true)

Jon logic dictates that if you listed out all the specials in English and priced them there is a greater chance of your average punter ordering one of them than if you DON'T list them out in English and price them. Is that not so?

[Jonathan Day]

Tony, I can assure you that I have never been shy about raising a fuss when a restaurant did something inappropriate or overcharged for something. And I have, after lodging a complaint, walked out of more than one restaurant without paying for an item that was clearly not what it was described as, either by the waiter or by the menu.

In this case, as I said, the overall experience and price were fine. I knew that items like fresh abalone or geoduck would be expensive. I chose not to ask in advance, and I chose not to make a fuss at the end. That has nothing to do with WASPishness. A little tolerance, please.

I see off-menu specials printed up in Chinese far more often than in English. Could this have anything to do with restaurateurs' discomfort with written English?

[Tonyfinch]

That has nothing to do with WASPishness. A little tolerance, please.

I see off-menu specials printed up in Chinese far more often than in English. Could this have anything to do with restaurateurs' discomfort with written English?

Jonathan, that was a joke. I should have used an emoticon.

I certainly do not buy the discomfort with English argument. I'm unclear as to why they don't translate the specials but if they wanted to they surely could without any trouble. After all if you do ask what they are then they have to translate on the spot anyway, so why not do it properly on the menu?

Jon says its part of the fun. I can't agree. I just find it patronising and frustrating and I actually think its holding back the development of the cuisine.

Edited June 15, 2003 by Tonyfinch (log)

[Jon Tseng]

Jon logic dictates that if you listed out all the specials in English and priced them there is a greater chance of your average punter ordering one of them than if you DON'T list them out in English and price them. Is that not so?

I suspect it's a matter of whether the effort is worth it. The restauranteur usually presumes that 99% of the non-Chinese speakers wouldn't order the specials anyway (generally not to western tastes... funny ingredients like fish lips &tc) so it isn't worth his time translating them.

ie the "greater chance" of the average punter ordering them isn't enough to make the greater effort of translation worthwhile.

This, of course, is a stereotype - as is the view westerner all order aromatic crispy duck and sweet and sour pork. You, for example, are a notable exception, and as the (translated) specials menu at Mr Kong shows there is a lot of fun stuff going on that westerners would appreciate, and translating it can bring rewards (and extra custom). Then again last time I was there the table beside us /did/ order the duck...

Jonathan: Maybe there is also a language element as well. NB many chinese dises have allergorical name (Buddha Jumping Over Fence; It Tastes Like Honey!; Ants Climbing Up A Tree; Tony In A Pie Shop (JOKE)) which make them an arse to translate)

J

Edited June 15, 2003 by Jon Tseng (log)

[Jonathan Day]

There's actually a book, The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters that uses a stroke-counting technique to help decode non-translated menu items. I suppose an analyst like Edward Said would say that Chinese and non-Chinese collaborate in a kind of orientalism, an attempt to preserve "the mysterious East" in the experience.

My wife studied Chinese and Japanese and was once fairly adept at reading Chinese characters. We were in a restaurant where the English menu was of the sweet-and-sour-pork-egg-rolls variety, but the walls were festooned with strips of paper advertising Chinese dishes. She spotted one that looked good, and asked the waitress what it was. "That little birds," came the reply. We ordered it. They were roast quails, crunchy and delicious. We ordered another round. But writing "little birds" on the menu would be unlikely to attract most Western diners -- unless, of course, Cabrales had wandered in and decided that they were ortolans...

[Tonyfinch]

I suspect it's a matter of whether the effort is worth it.  The restauranteur usually presumes that 99% of the non-Chinese speakers wouldn't order the specials anyway (generally not to western tastes... funny ingredients like fish lips &tc) so it isn't worth his time translating them.

Sorry but again I just don't buy it. Surely the effort involved in translating these dishes into a lingua that makes sense to Westerners is miniscule.Many Chinese who work in the restaurant trade are fluent English speakers, grew up here went to school here. Indian and Thai restaurants don't seem to have any trouble.

And are London Chinese restaurateurs so out of touch that they don't realise there are thousands of potential punters like me interested in cuisine who would enjoy giving these dishes a whirl if we were given access to them? I find it hard to believe.

Maybe its because they only want to cook small amounts of these dishes because it distracts the punters away from sweet and sour pork. In other words they're not really interested in marketing them beyond an small coterie because they don't want to risk moving punters away from what is their core business which has proven such a goldmine over all these years. Start getting us interested in fish lips and we may never want another deepfried spring roll again.

[Jonathan Day]

The menu at Joy King Lau on Leicester Street is, as far as I can tell, 100% translated; if it's there in Chinese, it's also there in English. The food is pretty good, too.