Grand Imperial London

If you want authentic Chinese food, please avoid this place. We came here for dinner, ordered crispy noodle with seafood and 3 cup chicken, oh man they are no near authentic. We are Asian and raised and fed with authentic Asian food. I am sure we give honest reviews. Services are not hotel grade. Slow and rude. Don’t expect decent price because it’s in a hotel. I just wished that for the price we paid at least the food is good. Go somewhere else.

Gods service & cantonese foods.
Went there today with my friends. We 13 people were treated very well.

The dishes are authentic and high quality. I stay in a near by hotel for work so I come here often. I have tried most of their dishes and they are all good!
This is definitely one of the top 5 Cantonese/​Hongkongese restaurant I have ever been to. The other ones that are comparable are in HongKong and Toronto/​Vancouver.
I would definitely visit this again if I come back to London.

What an outstanding Chinese! You know its outstanding because despite being very near to China town, tons of Chinese customers come to the Grosvenor hotel to eat here instead. Absolutely everyone in the building was ordering the Duck, and for good reason. Its probably the best on earth! Try the Crispy duck salad for a little taste or order an entire duck for the whole family. The mango shrimp starter was to die for. If you’re staying in the hotel, go no further, this is the place to eat. Its a beautiful restaurant too, great for a date night.

The restaurant is part of the Grosvenor Hotel next to Victoria Station. The dining room is spacious and looks opulent although a little worn around the edges. It was great for us when we brought our young baby in a pram. There was plenty of space around our table where we could park the pram. The staff were very accommodating for us. Though, I did notice quite a few other families with babies there. Perhaps this is the secret that you learn when you have a new baby to bring with you to restaurants!
We got a good selection of our yum char staples and they were generally well done. However, the Shanghai pork dumplings were disappointing as they stuck to the steam basket and you lost the juice when you tried to pick it up.
While we are living at our current address, this may be our ‘go-​to’ place for yum char due to its convenience and we thought the food was fine.

We went here for a late dim sum lunch one day, right before heading to the airport — and despite recently being in Hong Kong we were really impressed.
The atmosphere was a little posh in my taste. I mean, the interior was beautiful (high ceiling, one tea salon, one dining room, and one grand piano) which I love, but the staff could have been a little bit more warm and relaxed.
However, the dim sum we had was fantastic. And I’d like to recommend the following (in order of preference):
— Cod from dim sum menu
— Steamed prawn dumplings
— Saffron dumplings
— Wanton from snack bar menu
— Soft shell crab from snack bar menu
— Crispy duck roll
And they have dim sum afternoon tea too!

We usually not eat in restaurant in our hotel but since it was raining and we wanted decent Chinese food. Their price is not too high and with booking on open table, you can get the 2 course peking duck for 2 people for $ 30 pound. The duck was carved at your table which was quite fancy. We were served with thin wrap paper, cucumber, onion and hoisin sauce. The duck was good but not outstanding. We also love their second course which was the lettuce wrap similar to PF Chang in America. Service was attentive and nice ambience. We also ordered the E Fu Noodle and it was just ok.

My first mid-​week lunch experience was good. Service was attentive and the food of good quality. There were some interesting and creative items in the Dim Sum menu (but no Lo Mai Gai, which I missed). However, Sunday Dim Sum experience was bad. Service was very slow (45 mins for food to arrive — which is odd for Dim Sum!) and the hostess who seated us wins the grumpiest woman on earth award.

Grand spacious room unbefitting a restaurant of this caliber, but without it, would slip into the 2 star category.
Service was serviceable, but not a smidgen more. Waiter said very little, didn’t announce each dish (as is custom with dim sum as they all look the same) and was, which has no bearing on this review, kind of a weirdo.
Food was very basic. My wife had a 2 course spring-​roll, crispy shredded beef and fried rice lunch special which I thought was really really bunk. The crispy shredded beef was 99% batter; the amount of beef was so miniscule that I am actually impressed they were able to batter them individually (less than a millimeter x millimeter thick). If you like crunchy batter then maybe not so bad. Fried rice tasted like reheated supermarket fried rice.
I had a few dim sum which were fine, not great. Duck spring rolls (3 to an order) arrived 2 duck spring rolls, 1 regular spring roll. Honest mistake presumably. Duck tasted boiled, like they dropped leftover BBQ duck carcasses in boiling water to release whatever last smidgen of meat remained (not a problem if this meant the duck tasted good). Chicken gyoza things were OK, as was vegetable dumpling thing. Probably not homemade but who cases if they’re ok. Sticky rice pandan leaf wrap thing was fine, though a tad flavourless.
Wouldn’t go back, but wasn’t completely enraged. Life went on.

We came here for its Peking Roast Duck, and it did not disappoint us! I believe it is the best I’ve ever had here in London, maybe not so famous as Minjiang’s but the taste is better. There are two servings for the roast duck, and we chose the deep fried shredded duck wrapped with bean curd sheet as the second serving, and it was also very good. We ordered chicken soup and chinese mushroom soup, they were OK but tasted alike. The service here is outstanding, and people whispers instead of talking out loud. Overall, I give 5 stars for this resturant.

What a beautiful restaurant — a great place to savor a meal hidden at Victoria Station. I made sure to sit with my back to the wall so I could enjoy the beautiful décor, such as the lovely flowers in the middle of the room, chandeliers, and classy walls and furniture. Even the plates are beautiful.
This kind of higher-​end restaurant isn’t my typical taste, but I started out in the hotel bar with a couple of co-​workers, and we decided we wanted real food. Amazingly, they let us bring our drinks over to the restaurant to continue drinking them, even though the bar and restaurant are on separate systems. Also, the £20 three-​course menu was a draw. It’s a fantastic value for the quality of delicious food you get, and they aren’t even tiny portions.
I ordered one of the only vegetarian things on the menu, a spicy tofu dish, and the spring rolls I got were possibly the best spring rolls I’ve ever had. We all shared the desserts, our favorites of which were the banana fritters and delectable passion fruit soufflé. My co-​workers loved their crispy beef dish.
The Grand Imperial is one of the best Chinese places I’ve ever been to, only matched by one I visited in San Fran’s Chinatown. It helps that it’s pretty authentic from what I can tell — popular with Chinese businessmen, and the kind of place that will give you only chopsticks unless you specifically ask for a fork.

My wife loved this little piece of China in our hotel. It was very authentic cooking from what I’m aware of and was somewhere that we both enjoyed. I personally am not a big fan of Ginger and there was a LOT of ginger in many of the dishes, but if you like ginger the flavors are great.
I’ll give it a positive review if you’re looking for decent Chinese in London near Victoria, I’m sure there are others, but this was a nice place for us while staying in The Grosvenor.

Returned for a final fling at the Imperial. It went from 4 to 5 stars! The dim sum here is so original and the quality is truly excellent. Then how can I truly describe the awesomeness of the Peking Duck. I hope there is another trip to London soon!

Last time I just tried the dim sum. This time I tried the cantonese classics such as seafood crispy noodles, seafood bowl and the 3-​bowl chicken. I’ve not had cantonese food this good in London, ever. The food is on par with restaurants in Hong Kong.

A bit hidden in the Grosvenor Hotel. Extremely friendly and helpful staff. I had delicious spring rolls and a barbecue platter with duck and pork. All the good reviews I saw on various platforms were right. This is a go to place if you like Chinese food away from all the fast food places.

I was rather taken aback when I walked in, as I expected this to be the old Grosvenor hotel bar and restaurant. But, hey, I LOVE Chinese food, so this would do, I thought!
The dining room looks lovely and the attention to detail on the dishes, table cloths, glassware etc is amazing. It’s really beautiful. My only complaint in this department is that the cutlery is oddly small. It’s difficult to get any rice on the fork, because it is that thin! Very odd when the rest of the décor is so perfect.
We ordered the dim sum sharing plate to start with, followed by sweet and sour chicken, beef with mushrooms and egg fried rice. The dim sum wasn’t to my taste, whereas usually I prefer that to the main course. There were eight pieces on the plate: two prawn (fairly nice), two coriander (tasteless), two fried (too greasy) and two vegetarian (bitter).
The mains were no better really, the beef with mushrooms was ok, but not spectacular. The chicken was way too sweet, no sign of any sour, and the rice was grey (!!!) and oily. This food was not as good as my local take away, but was six times the price. I am not going back!
The service was really patchy too. One chap was lovely, really considerate, helpful and friendly. The other was condescending and bordering on rude. I asked what percentage the discretionary service charge that they added was, he replied «It’s a service charge, that’s discretionary», having failed to actually listen to my question. «Discretionary, you say???»
The wine was also below par and really expensive. I love wine and would gladly sell a kidney to get a really good glass, but hate being ripped off with generic crap that may easily contain antifreeze.
In conclusion, the décor and the beef got a point each, but the wine, rice, dim sum, chicken and service lost the other three points. (I probably would have gone for 1.5 stars if Unilocal allowed fractions!)

Nice atmosphere, very grand dining room with large chandeliers. Service was prompt and elegant, placing napkin on your lap and serving food with grace.
I was there for lunch and ordered one of the lunch specials: appetizer plus main course. I selected the corn and crab soup for the appetizer, and the beef noodles for the main course. The soup was delicious, very well done. The noodles weren’t that great. They were really very oily, and the beef was super fatty. I could barely chew any of the meat.
Sounds like the dim sum is actually much better and would recommend getting the dim sum instead of the other dishes.

Pics@Chopstix2Steaknives
A random chat with a friend of mine brought up the topic of when she recently had an ‘All you can eat’ dim sum in London recently. My ears pricked up and my eyes widened, dim sum + all you can eat? That was music to my ears and I was all excited. A flurry of emails later, I found myself with a party of ten heading to Grand Imperial for the dim sum buffet.
During the weekends, the buffet is priced at £18.80 excluding drinks. Add in drinks and service charge and you are looking at about £24 per person.
The menu for the dim sum buffet is limited to approximately 7 or 8 per category with only 3 categories consisting of steamed, fried/​baked and rice rolls.
Steamed dim sum
Let’s start with the good ones.
The prawn dumplings were good, the skin had the pearl translucent colour and yield to the bite. The prawn filling was fresh and springy. Equally the same to the steamed coriander shrimp dumpling. The Char Siu Bao was just a delight to eat, soft pillowy bun with a hot and piping pork filling.
The steamed glutinous rice with chicken wrapped in lotus leaf was not oily/​greasy and each ingredient was distinct yet cohesive. I would have preferred a bolder taste but I guess that is the trade off when you make it healthier.
There is also a different version of prawn dumplings with XO chilli sauce added. The sauce added an extra kick that teases the palate in a good way.
I wasn’t very impressed with the siu mai and have had better. The vegetarian dumpling was also unimpressive.
I didn’t try the steamed spare ribs in chilli and black bean sauce as it was the last thing to arrive at our table after waiting for eons (more about this later).
Fried and Baked dim sum
There wasn’t any in this category that I thought were excellent.
The BBQ pork puff pastries, egg tarts, carrot cake and turnip cake were good and made to the expected standard, no more no less. It was the same with the deep fried vegetarian spring rolls as well.
Pan-​fried foie gras and beef dumpling
The foie gras added a creaminess and earthiness to the beef dumpling. Some loved it while others were ambivalent.
The deep fried chicken straw belongs to the ‘Do not order’ category. The whole flavour balance, texture and size was just wrong.
I was impressed with the sheer variety of rice rolls or cheung fan available but the regular favourites of the prawn and chives and BBQ pork were the winners of the lot. An exception is the scallop cheung fun which was more-​ish.
We were there for over 3 hours and at the end of the meal, the consensus was overall quality ingredients and dim sum. Some are better than others which is natural and expected in any dim sum place.
Service was patchy and some dim sum ran out even before the peak lunch hour hit. A particular tea that we were drinking also ran out midway and we had to switch to a different tea. The dim sum arrives in batches with long waiting periods in between which added to the lengthy time that we spent there.
It’s a great place if you’re not in a hurry and have time to kill. Take your time to eat and the buffet price is reasonable. If you don’t go for the buffet, the prices of each dim sum is actually on the £££ side and I would then question whether it delivers the service, variety and quality that it charges as there are many other options that I would happily go to.

A random chat with a friend of mine brought up the topic of when she recently had an ‘All you can eat’ dim sum in London recently. My ears pricked up and my eyes widened, dim sum + all you can eat? That was music to my ears and I was all excited. A flurry of emails later, I found myself with a party of ten heading to Grand Imperial for the dim sum buffet.
During the weekends, the buffet is priced at £18.80 excluding drinks. Add in drinks and service charge and you are looking at about £24 per person.
The menu for the dim sum buffet is limited to approximately 7 or 8 per category with only 3 categories consisting of steamed, fried/​baked and rice rolls.
Steamed dim sum
Let’s start with the good ones.
The prawn dumplings were good, the skin had the pearl translucent colour and yield to the bite. The prawn filling was fresh and springy. Equally the same to the steamed coriander shrimp dumpling. The Char Siu Bao was just a delight to eat, soft pillowy bun with a hot and piping pork filling.
The steamed glutinous rice with chicken wrapped in lotus leaf was not oily/​greasy and each ingredient was distinct yet cohesive. I would have preferred a bolder taste but I guess that is the trade off when you make it healthier.
There is also a different version of prawn dumplings with XO chilli sauce added. The sauce added an extra kick that teases the palate in a good way.
I wasn’t very impressed with the siu mai and have had better. The vegetarian dumpling was also unimpressive.
I didn’t try the steamed spare ribs in chilli and black bean sauce as it was the last thing to arrive at our table after waiting for eons (more about this later).
Fried and Baked dim sum
There wasn’t any in this category that I thought were excellent.
The BBQ pork puff pastries, egg tarts, carrot cake and turnip cake were good and made to the expected standard, no more no less. It was the same with the deep fried vegetarian spring rolls as well.
Pan-​fried foie gras and beef dumpling
The foie gras added a creaminess and earthiness to the beef dumpling. Some loved it while others were ambivalent.
The deep fried chicken straw belongs to the ‘Do not order’ category. The whole flavour balance, texture and size was just wrong.
I was impressed with the sheer variety of rice rolls or cheung fan available but the regular favourites of the prawn and chives and BBQ pork were the winners of the lot. An exception is the scallop cheung fun which was more-​ish.
We were there for over 3 hours and at the end of the meal, the consensus was overall quality ingredients and dim sum. Some are better than others which is natural and expected in any dim sum place.
Service was patchy and some dim sum ran out even before the peak lunch hour hit. A particular tea that we were drinking also ran out midway and we had to switch to a different tea. The dim sum arrives in batches with long waiting periods in between which added to the lengthy time that we spent there.
It’s a great place if you’re not in a hurry and have time to kill. Take your time to eat and the buffet price is reasonable. If you don’t go for the buffet, the prices of each dim sum is actually on the £££ side and I would then question whether it delivers the service, variety and quality that it charges as there are many other options that I would happily go to.

I went here for a full-​on meal and was not disappointed. here is the low-​down…
Prawn with Mustard Sauce £10
The flavour of the mustard picked up the prawns and it was a punchy way to start the meal.
Baked Mussels with Garlic Butter £8
The plump and very fresh mussels come in a bowl with sauce rather than laid flat bathing in baked butter. We were dying to chuck in some cream and get a portion of chips but refrained.
Peking Duck with Pancake £46
A whole duck was wheeled over to the table and the server demo’d his nifty knife skills by first slicing off the crispy skin followed prime slices of meat for the 10 pancakes, the rest went back to the kitchen to be prepared into a second serving. The super soft pancakes were made in-​house and with the other components all of exceptional quality this was the stand-​out dish of the evening.
Sauteed Minced Duck Wrapped with Lettuce (second course included in price)
The non-​pancake duck went back to the kitchen to be minced and sauteed returning for a second wrapping with lettuce. The chef had added seasoning and a lighter sauce which gave a fresh salty version of the previous sweet. This was also delicious.
Baked Cod with Barbecued Honey Sauce £24
We loved this dish, the cod was expertly cooked and came as a whole fillet with just a touch of the fork flaking off tender chunks, the sauce not overly sweet. Would go very well with a side dish of broccolli.
Braised E-​Fu Noodles with Mushroom £10
The best noodles we have ever eaten. Made in-​house and highly recommended.
*A huge rest and some green tea*
Grand Imperial Green Tea Brulee £7
We welcomed some sugar to wake us up from our food coma. The taste was delicate but we found the brulee a little heavy but not in any way a disappointing end to the meal.
Drink
1 bottle Sparkling Water £4.50
Atmosphere
The dining room is absolutely beautiful but the interior was slightly bizarre. When you enter (from Victoria side) there is a beautiful run of elaborate ceiling that stretches horizontally across the restaurant but this is cut off by the private room. Another visual barrier was a flower stand that hits your eye as soon as you enter, assuming it is to increase privacy, it was placed far back into the dining room and with few tables behind it the effect was lost. The other disappointing element was a huge wall of empty shellfish tanks, apparently they did not provide enough space and oxygen but with the £18m refurbishment of The Grosvenor we’d hope for more consideration for the crustaceans. Room aside the service redeems, is attentive yet discreet and representative of a top-​drawer hotel.
Offers
Lunch: Express Dim Sum menu from Monday to Friday between 12– 3pm. Choose 5 dishes to share from a list of ten for £20 for 2 persons
Afternoon: Oriental Afternoon Tea, £28 per person for tea, 4 savoury dim sum, 1 dessert and a glass of sparkling rose.
Dinner: Excellent Prix Fixe Menus for £30 (5 course) /​£35 (Dim Sum special) /​£40 (King Prawn Special) /​£45 (Premium)
Verdict
GO! GO!
We’ll be back for the duck, homemade noodles and the exceptional service but would love to experience it in a rearranged dining room with some curtains hiding the busy Buckingham Palace Road.

What we ate on a very hungry Saturday evening…
Prawn with Mustard Sauce — £10
The flavour of the mustard picked up the prawns and it was a punchy way to start the meal.
Baked Mussels with Garlic Butter — £8
The plump and very fresh mussels come in a bowl with sauce rather than laid flat bathing in baked butter. We were dying to chuck in some cream and get a portion of chips but refrained.
Peking Duck with Pancake — £46
A whole duck was wheeled over to the table and the server demo’d his nifty knife skills by first slicing off the crispy skin followed prime slices of meat for the 10 pancakes, the rest went back to the kitchen to be prepared into a second serving. The super soft pancakes were made in-​house and with the other components all of exceptional quality this was the stand-​out dish of the evening.
Sauteed Minced Duck Wrapped with Lettuce — (second course included in price)
The non-​pancake duck went back to the kitchen to be minced and sauteed returning for a second wrapping with lettuce. The chef had added seasoning and a lighter sauce which gave a fresh salty version of the previous sweet. This was also delicious.
Baked Cod with Barbecued Honey Sauce — £24
We loved this dish, the cod was expertly cooked and came as a whole fillet with just a touch of the fork flaking off tender chunks, the sauce not overly sweet. Would go very well with a side dish of broccolli.
Braised E-​Fu Noodles with Mushroom — £10
The best noodles we have ever eaten. Made in-​house and highly recommended.
**A huge rest and some green tea**
Grand Imperial Green Tea Brulee — £7
We welcomed some sugar to wake us up from our food coma. The taste was delicate but we found the brulee a little heavy but not in any way a disappointing end to the meal.
Drink
1 bottle Sparkling Water — £4.50
Atmosphere
The dining room is absolutely beautiful but the interior was slightly bizarre. When you enter (from Victoria side) there is a beautiful run of elaborate ceiling that stretches horizontally across the restaurant but this is cut off by the private room. Another visual barrier was a flower stand that hits your eye as soon as you enter, assuming it is to increase privacy, it was placed far back into the dining room and with few tables behind it the effect was lost. The other disappointing element was a huge wall of empty shellfish tanks, apparently they did not provide enough space and oxygen but with the £18m refurbishment of The Grosvenor we’d hope for more consideration for the crustaceans. Room aside the service redeems, is attentive yet discreet and representative of a top-​drawer hotel.
Offers
Lunch: Express Dim Sum menu from Monday to Friday between 12– 3pm. Choose 5 dishes to share from a list of ten for £20 for 2 persons
Afternoon: Oriental Afternoon Tea, £28 per person for tea, 4 savoury dim sum, 1 dessert and a glass of sparkling rose.
Dinner: Excellent Prix Fixe Menus for £30 (5 course) /​£35 (Dim Sum special) /​£40 (King Prawn Special) /​£45 (Premium)
Verdict
GO! GO!
We’ll be back for the duck, homemade noodles and the exceptional service but would love to experience it in a rearranged dining room with some curtains hiding the busy Buckingham Palace Road.