The Best Chinese Restaurants in Bayswater

In London, the main choice for Chinese food was in Chinatown.  This was a very small area of streets (well at least compared to NYC's Chinatown), with Gerrard St. being the main street.  It has since expanded out, with some more upscale establishments around Bond St. and Marylebone, and also along a street in Bayswater, where I live.

Bayswater is great because it is extremely multi-cultural, with many different stores/restaurants from multiple nationalities.  It has Greek, French, Italian, Lebanese, Moroccan,  Persian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Thai, Malaysian, and Mexican stores/restaurants, with a new Bulgarian store just opening up a couple weeks ago.  Interestingly enough, a lot of local Brits don't live here, but rather around the area more down south in Kensington or west in Notting Hill.

But anyways, as someone from Hong Kong and always in search for good Chinese food, I ended up settling here.  I've tried every single Chinese restaurant on Queensway, the main street with all the restaurants, and now will give you a quick guide of where to go when you visit this nice neighborhood with great food but without the compactness of Chinatown (which really isn't compact compared to other Chinatowns, but oh well).

Starting from the Park (when you exit Queensway station), the first restaurant will be:

NEW FORTUNE COOKIE SEAFOOD RESTAURANT:
Food: ***
Atmosphere: ***
Price: Low

This is a standard Chinese place.  Has decent duck, dishes, and overall decor.  It's not very comfortable, but for a quick meal, it will do just fine.


MANDARIN KITCHEN SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
Food: ***
Atmosphere: ****
Price: High

This place is right across the street from Queensway near the SPAR store.  I've been there once, and its nice, but the lack of Chinese people in the restaurant really makes me think twice.  For example, if there was a good Japanese place, but no Japanese wanted to go there, that clearly signals a problem (usually A: its not very good, or B: its very expensive for what it offers.  Or C: (there's much better options nearby).  Don't get me wrong, its not a bad place, but I think this place is designed to trick tourists.



ROYAL CHINA
Food: *****
Atmosphere: ****** (yes that is 6 stars)
Price: High

This is by far one of the best places to go.  It's a chain (has stores around Baker St as well), but it is absolutely excellent.  The Bayswater branch is supposely a bit cheaper, and the food is excellent.  It's also recently renovated last year, so the decor is equivalent of a five star hotel (hence the 6 stars).  This is the best place on Queensway to get dim sum, and very nice for food in general.  There's a good mix of Chinese and non Chinese here.


HUNG TAO
Food: ****
Atmosphere: ***
Price: Low

I really like this place.  It use to be even cheaper (with much crappier decor), but with the renovation it has gone a bit upscale and thus the prices have gone up a bit.  It has decent dim sum, and overall good cheap eats.  I'd stay with the simple friend dishes, or duck/chicken/fish on rice, and their congee is pretty good too.


KAM TONG
Food: *****
Atmosphere: *****
Price: Medium/High

I think the owners might be the same one as Hung Tao, but no matter, this place is a very good place, and one of my top choices for Chinese food.  They were running a lobster special (I think it was a whole lobster for 20 GBP), but alas that deal was so good that they ran out, and won't have more until later.  This place has great dim sum, and the decor is very nice, with big windows so you can see people walking by outside (It's also easy to gauge how busy it is.)  Whenever Royal China is full and I want dimsum I'll almost always end up at this place as it is a bit less crowded and pretty much almost as good.  

FOUR SEASONS
Food: ****** (yes that is 6 stars)
Atmosphere: * (yes that is only 1 star)
Price: Medium

This place is by far the best place for Chinese food in Bayswater.  It's a chain, with 2 stores with the same name in Chinatown as well.  The dishes are overall very good, but the signature dish is the Cantonese Style Roast Duck.  Apparently the ducks are the super fat ones from Scotland or something, and they are prepared with the most amazing sauce.  Chef's from other restaurants have tried in vain to recreate this sauce, (many have tried working there to learn it), and nearby less busy restaurants can only watch in envy as this place has customers out the door, and many times has 30 min/1hr long waits, day after day, night after night.

The roast duck is so good that even my friends from Hong Kong and Guangzhou (the places with the BEST Cantonese style food) marvel at it.  It is really worth going, and would probably get a Michelin star if the atmosphere wasn't so rubbish.  Don't be fooled by the name, this place is absolutely miserable to sit it, it's extremely noisy, and the staff are very quick and try to get you out the door.  However, the food is so amazing that people still come back for more, despite the dreadful experience.  I've even seen a fight come about over queuing outside the door because people are crammed outside the doorway.

MAGIC WOK
Food: ****
Atmosphere: ***
Price: Low/Medium

Further down the road are the two imitation Four Seasons (the design is pretty much the same, with the ducks hanging by the window, and the inside area.  They are 80% as good, and a bit cheaper than Four Seasons.  The duck here is very good as well, although the standard of dishes tended to be a bit on the lower end.  Nevertheless it is a good place, although more empty of the two.

GOLD MINE:
Food: *****
Atmosphere: ***
Price: Medium

This is the next Four Seasons.  Like Magic Wok (I have no idea if they are competitors or owned by the same company, as their layouts are practically the same), it serves similar dishes as Four Seasons.  And this place is good, perhaps a little bit better than Magic Wok, as evidenced by the number of people waiting outside the door.  It hasn't reached the Four Seasons craziness, but its getting there.  On a busy Easter weekend, it was a 10 min wait, which was OK, but I might need to find a new spot if this place gets too crowded, and deservedly so, the soft shell crab is quite nice as with the duck dishes (similar quality, without the amazing sauce), and more comfortable place to sit in as well.


NOODLE OODLE
Food: *****
Atmosphere: ***
Price: Low

This place is famous for its noodles.  OK so its not the Cantonese style Chinese food, but it's still very good.  This place is Halal, so there's no pork available.  The Chinese drinks are good (ginger milk teas are amazing), and the hand pulled noodles rival many establishments (in fact only Japanese noodle places do it better).  The decor is a bit basic, but it probably fits its business well since it needs a higher table turnover.  The soup dishes are great, as are the vegetables- I like the vegetables in garlic and the fried tofu dishes.

Kent's Choices:
So where are the places that I keep going back to?  Well I always try to go to Royal China for dimsum, though I have to get there early, otherwise its a crazy wait. It's bad like Four Seasons, but at least they have a comfortable waiting area, so the 20-30 min isn't as bad.  Go early (opens at 12 everyday, and 11 on Sunday), and you'll be fine.

If my friends meet me too late for brunch, then I bring them to Kam Tong, as its almost as good and very nice as well for dimsum.  Though lately their lobster special has made me want to go there more.

Four Seasons doesn't have dim sum, so I go there for duck.  Lately I've been avoiding this place as its just to full- pretty much if you don't make a reservation and come after 7 you won't find a seat, or will have to wait uncomfortably outside or in the doorway.  So then I go to Gold Mine instead, which I like a lot.

When I'm feeling a bit under the weather and/or want some simple Chinese food, I go to Hung Tao.  Their congee portions are great, and I think they have the best congee in the area (despite my dad saying that they flatten the rice to make it cook faster).  The service is fast and efficient, though a bit more basic than most.

And finally, when I want a change in Chinese food I go to Noodle Oodle, not the most comfortable, but the broth soups really are quite amazing.

So there you have it, those are all the Chinese places on Queensway in Bayswater.  Please let me know if I've missed anything, as I'd be happy to review ones that I might have missed.  Also if you strongly disagree with some of the ratings, perhaps the restaurant has changed in which case I'll try it within a week of your comment and give you an update!  For the rest, hopefully this guide was useful, whether you're searching for it on your phone in Bayswater or looking to go there for food and need a place to eat!