Dragon Castle

My family and I visited Dragon Castle this week. I found it to be ornately decorated to a high standard and the staff were really friendly and helpful throughout, even suggesting dishes as we hadn’t tried dimsum before. The food arrived pretty quickly which was great considering how busy it was and it not only tasted mouthwatering but it was displayed beautifully on the plate. My overall experience is that this is the best chinese restaurant i have ever been to and next time in London will make sure to revisit but this time to try out their main menu.

The food was really good but it was expensive for what you get. The restaurant itself is pretty intense and highly decorative. That may be why they charge more.

Imposing and traditional, very high ceilings and popular, this is a good choice for those in a hurry. Which we were on this occasion. We were served, fed and handed the bill in 30 minutes.
The food isn’t standout, but it’s fine. I ordered a Satay beef with rice sticks. I imagined this to be dry jenga-​like blocks of rice. It was more fat, glutinous noodles.
Vegetable spring rolls were chunky and tasty.
I wouldn’t rave about it but it’s a good option considering Walworth Road isn’t exactly heaving with decent eateries.
Top tip: the huge red doors at the front? Not the entrance! It’s the smaller nondescript door to the right of it.

Had a wonderful evening at Dragon Castle the weekend just gone. The décor is absolutely beautiful and authentic– a perfect setting for a romantic meal!
My husband and I ordered (and thoroughly enjoyed) a set menu which included a sweetcorn and chicken soup for starters, stir fried fillet beef in blackbean sauce, sweet and sour chicken, stir fried king prawns with veg and a special fried rice.
Of course washed down with one or two glasses of wine! :-)
A perfect evening complimented with great food, great service and a lovely atmosphere!
I will definitely be coming back again soon, perhaps this time to sample their Dimsum menu that I have heard many things about

Entrance looks really good and food was decent but way over priced for what it is. One of the fancier places in Elephant & Castle but not sure if it’s worth paying westend prices.

I’ve not been here in a while as they hadn’t changed their menu much.
Went back a couple of days ago for Chinese New Year and while their great dimsum is thankfully unchanged, other than a few CNY specials (check out the grilled coconut cakes), the main dishes have been given an overhaul.
Try the crispy duck salad and the Verdant tofu stuffed with spinach, it’s amazing!
Also, very pleased to see Hop Stuff IPA on offer, that made a nice change from the usual choices.

I was here as part of a big group on Saturday night, we had one of the private karaōke rooms upstairs. The food was tasty, would like to eat the food again, but won’t be going back. Table was booked for 7.30pm, drinks took forever to come. I asked for water 5 times before being given a tiny glassful. The starters came — I had dim sum — it was delicious, amazing! The problem was the wait for the main course. We had pre-​ordered and it still didn’t appear until 10pm. We asked where it was, they took about 3 drink orders between starters and mains, it just took ages. The waiter wasn’t overly friendly at all. base don’t he service I’ll not be coming again, which is a real shame, as the food is the real deal. maybe take away is the way forward.

The food was really good and the portions quite generous. The atmosphere was not as intimate as could be wanted but decorations, napkins and tableware felt very nice and of good quality.
The staff was very attentive and provided good service, however we felt somewhat overwhelmed after being asked if we wanted to order by three different waiters within three minutes of sitting down. Same scenario again later when three different waiters asked if we were done eating during a five minute period (we weren’t, the portions were just so big that we had to slow down).
Can recommend for the food and surroundings.

Portion sizes are large and service is very friendly, which is what’s earning it 4 stars. Not 5 because the food is only average, nothing that I think separates it from other places.

Not long after we were seated a waiter was bringing us peanuts and dropped the plate and bowl right in front of our table, shattering peanuts and ceramic everywhere. He swept it up right away but he missed a few pieces of ceramic that we had to point out.
Another waitress came to take our drink order and after only the first person said water she assumed the rest of us wanted water without asking and took all the wine glasses away by reaching over us.
When we were trying to order we were trying to ask if they had something like chow mein noodles and she had to go ask her manager, why wouldn’t she know this herself? She then came back and suggested something so we just said sure not really knowing exactly what we had ordered except for a dim sum dish, dumplings, some sort of fried noodle, and two set menus for four of us to share. We didn’t really know exactly what was in the set menu as one of our party had just glanced at it and said everything looked good but didn’t memorize what came in it.
We were brought a fried duck with onion and cucumber to be wrapped in a rice tortilla like thing with a plum sauce. Our dim sum and dumplings and a soup that came with the set menu were brought out not long after. When we were done eating what was currently on the table the waitress came back. She accused us of having known we didn’t order the duck thing and we let her serve it to us anyway and now a guy at another table was waiting for it for a long time so she was going to have to order him a new one since we ate his and she was going to charge us for it. We immediately said it wasn’t our fault that she served it to us and she said yes it was because we knew what we ordered, which in fact we had thought it was in the set menu for two, so no we didn’t know it wasn’t ours. She persisted that we needed to pay for it, even admitting that it was her mistake but we had still eaten it so we needed to pay for it. My step-​mother asked to speak to the manager and the waitress said she would get him but that we he was busy at the moment. After her rudeness at accusing us that it was our fault we just wanted to pay for what we’d eaten and leave. The waitress cleared off our table repeating between each trip that she’d get the manager next time. My step-​mother went to go get him herself and he merely asked what table we were at and then brought us the bill for the whole of what we ordered before he even realized we hadn’t eaten it all because of the problem. He went to go see about something real quick and the waitress returned to finish clearing the table saying it wasn’t her day at all and that tomorrow was going to be her last day, largely implying that she had just lost her job. We just wanted to get out of there at this point. The manager finally came back and said we could just leave without paying for all the fuss and problems.
I’m so sad that this restaurant didn’t turn out very well because it was my step-mother’s last night visiting me and my flatmates in London before returning to the US and the waitress and manager made her feel so bad. Both me and one of my flatmates work as waitresses and we were appalled at such ill-​mannered employees. That is in no way how you treat a customer! If it is your fault for serving something to the wrong table, you don’t admit it but still blame it on the customer and then try to make them pay for it! We are never coming back here again!

The hardest part is getting here, but it’s surprisingly worth it.
I like the menu system, where they have a «brochure» of pictures, and the numbers match the numbers of the order sheet. So people can call out what numbers they want, and one person can do the writing.
Pro tip: use the E&C northern line exit. It’s much closer than the Bakerloo line exit and you don’t have to do the wandering around or under the roundabout.
Pro tip 2: they only seat complete tables, so make sure everyone in your party has decent directions, not just the address.

I don’t eat Chinese food often in London, but overall I’ve been disappointed with my prior dim sum experiences compared to what you find in the US, and having lived for a bit in Hong Kong. My first two tries were in Chinatown at New World (terrible quality) and Joy King Lau (extremely expensive), but I read about Dragon Castle, a random authentic Chinese restaurant by Elephant & Castle, and decided that it was worth a shot.
We arrived at 11:45 AM, only to discover that the place does not open until 12, so we waited for a few minutes and it was not a big deal. People joined us soon after and the restaurant was reasonably full, but it would not be difficult to just walk in and get a seat. In Chinatown, I have always had to queue and the restaurants are packed, so it was nice that this place was calm and less stressful. It’s also well decorated and pretty elegant, and there were families dining with well behaved young children, just an overall good environment.
You order off a menu, not a cart, and the food comes out fairly quickly. I ordered most of my favorites, like the soup dumplings, turnip cake, chive and prawn dumpling, and sticky rice in lotus leaf. Everything was very good but what stood out was a prawn dumpling that came in a green spinach wrap. There is also a scallop option that we didn’t order, which I would very much like to try in the future.
In the end, the bill came out to about 13 pounds a person, which is nothing like the sub-​10 dollar prices you will find for dim sum in the US, but very cheap for London standards. I would definitely recommend this for authentic dim sum and look forward to coming back in the future.

Wow, where has Dragon Castle been all my life.
Attesting as a Hong Konger their dim sum menu is legit and as is their rice and noodle selection. The lobster I ordered was less than impressive: it was much too small and possibly previously frozen. Admittedly I was silly to have ordered that on a Sunday afternoon.
Walking down from my apartment on Bermondsey Street wasn’t too much of a chore. The restaurant is also just a few minutes from the E&C tube station.

I’ve been a regular of the Dragon Castle for a few years now and the early reviews were accurate it’s a great Chinese restaurant. The food, the décor, the service everything is just a great. A 5-​star experience !

Great dim sum here. Also very reasonably priced. Service is decent and you’ll be hard pressed to find any dim sum in south London that is better.

If you don’t live in Elephant & Castle, aren’t visiting the market, or don’t have a pressing need to get the Bakerloo line, there are few good reasons why someone would find themselves visiting this somewhat careworn part of South London. Except, that is Dragon Castle; it’s authentic and excellent value. On my last visit with a similarly fearless trencherman, a spread of a good ten or so dishes, washed down with copious quantities of tea and Tsingtao beer, came to somewhere under 30 pounds a head, probably no more than ²⁄₃ of what we would have paid for the same in Chinatown. This probably explains why it is heavingly busy, catering to a mixed clientele of Chinese and in-​the-​know South Londoners,
If you’re thinking of going for a pint before or after though, my serious advice is to get back on the tube and go somewhere else, as the Walworth Road is very sparse when it comes to nice places.

I am not sure if it was just because I was having an off day but the one and only time I went to Dragon Castle, I was NOT impressed.
I live in the area and after a long day I was a little hungry and went to Dragon Castle with a friend. When we went in, the interior was pretty nice, but very empty at the same time. It seems like they have a huge space but no one really goes in? There were a few people that came and got Take Out (take away).
I ordered the West Lake Beef soup and my friend ordered the duck over rice dish. My soup was super salty and to me, it was VERY small. But then again, it was just a bowl of soup. My friend was stunned to see the duck had all the bones still intact, silly. Anyway the duck looked decent but if you’re not one to eat and then spit out the bones then I suggest you order a different dish.
I don’t know if I’ll go back. SoCal & Taiwan spoiled me. Chinese food just doesn’t taste good here.

For me, it’s the best Chinese resto at this price point in London. Try their chao fan (served up to 3pm), sweet spicy pork ribs and crispy seafood noodles.

If you’re REALLY into dim sum (and to be honest, what kind of person are you if you’re not excited by an endless parade of fried, baked and steamed meaty treasures) then it might be worth a trip to Elephant and Castle, home of Dragon Castle. I’ve been nudged about this place for several years by Hong Kong Cantonese foodie friends who describe it as a home from home. Despite its unpromising location, surrounded by condemned tower blocks situated off the bleakest roundabout in Zone One, it is where a lot of expats go for their fix.
The grander than expected entrance opens out into a pleasant space. Location and swift customer turnover aside, they’ve made an effort to go to town on the interior. Lazy fat carp swim in an ornamental pool reflecting the boarded up walkways of the Heygate estate opposite. It’s a hell of a lot of feng shui to lump on a couple of fish, but they stalwartly shoulder (or fin?) the responsibility.
Arriving in traditional plates of three or four items, this is a meal best served family style. If there’s not an argument about who hasn’t had enough of what, it’s not proper. Take a table with the slowly revolving ‘lazy Susan’ and order a lot: you’ll eat it… At around £3 a portion, Dragon Castle is cheaper than most of Chinatown and for a full dim sum blowout washed down with the traditional Jasmine tea, you’ll be lucky to top £15 a head between a decent sized group of you.
There’s always been debate around whether Dragon Castle has a ‘secret’ Cantonese menu of local treats, rich in flavour and texture, that they won’t serve to Westerners. I’ve heard this several times, mainly from Cantonese clientele, though on thorough investigation, I’ve put it down to rumour and the fact that many Chinese won’t order from a menu here, they’ll simply request their favourites and those will get made.
Those that do hit up the menu will find it vast. Well over 40 assorted dumplings, buns, puffs and braised bits of tendon to work your way through. To get to the good stuff, I photocopied the menu, took a straw poll of several Cantonese team mates, and gave their recommendations to the waitstaff, asking simply for two portions of everything (there were a few of us, 16 to be precise, a lot of mouths to fill with dumplings…)
The steamed dumplings, particularly the prawn varieties, went down swiftly, as did the various baked pork puffs, hot from the oven, sticky glaze attaching to teeth. Various roast pork buns also proved a success, sweeter than expected. Silken mixed Chung fun and belly sticking turnip cake provided a smooth break to the textural proceedings and from the cryptic end of the menu, Crab Pork Little Lanterns were a marmite call. Deep-​fried hollow egg-​shaped shells with an almost mucous paste inside, sheltering an umami-​rich pork filling. I could have eaten them all afternoon, though a fellow diner paused between his mouthfuls of textured chicken foot tendon to describe them as pointless clag. We both looked at each other’s bowls and laughed. It’s the joy of good dim sum, everyone has their favourites and there’s (almost) something for everyone.

Just four words that are so rarely associated: really good Chinese restaurant! service was freat, food was great and plentiful and prices were decent!
I strongly recommend the pork with black pepper and honey, delicious!