If you ever fancy some authentic Chinese cuisine in London, the "Four Seasons Restaurant" would be one of my personal recommendations.
Being Chinese myself and having tasted many a Chinese dish in this great city for the past 16 years, I have to say their Cantonese-style Roast Duck is the definition of world class excellence. This restaurant was also quoted by the UK edition of the Financial Times as having “the best roast duck in the world”!
The first branch of opening exhibiting the "Four Seasons" brand name was in Queensway back in 1990. It soon became an oriental culinary hot spot due to their delicious selection of dishes and as a result, a daily bustling queue just outside the restaurant. Now it has only grown in popularity, comprising of several branches in and near Chinatown in Central London.
The weather in London has not been that great since Christmas day though today it did not rain. A good enough excuse to venture outside, lol. So we did just that and decided to dine out for some authentic Chinese food at Four Seasons in Queensway branch.
We arrived at Notting Hill Gate station in the early afternoon and worked up an appetite by having a lovely stroll down to Queensway (only a short 10 minute's walk away).
The restaurant is on the quite a random place outside of where you would expect to find amazing food in London. Once inside it is clean, but a little crammed as the tables are very close together. The ambience is quite casual and typical Chinese.
Three famous Chinese Gods are displayed by the front entrance as you walk in called “Fu Lu Shou”. They represent keys factors in a person's life which include health, wealth and happiness. Add to that some very traditional Chinese decor and you have yourself some truly authentic oriental atmosphere.
The menu mainly focuses on Cantonese-style dishes, offering a wide range of aromatic home-style dishes and seafood banquets. Though as mentioned before, the "Cantonese" roast duck is the absolute showstopper, served up with a blend juicy, savoury and rich sauces, proving to be just as delicious as I had imagined them to be! Very highly recommended.
Aromatic Crispy Duck
However, because my husband fancied a change today , we opted for a change and went for "Crispy Aromatic Duck" with pancake. Something a little different than what we normally have.
The waitress arrived and pulled apart the tender duck with a fork in just a few seconds. Very skillful indeed! The piping hot duck came with a wooden bamboo steamer loaded with soft pancakes and a plate of spring onions and cucumber strips. And a side of that beautiful plum sauce. So the next part is to hand-wrap your own pancakes and indulge on this tasty starter, lol! Enjoy!
We had tried this before a couple of times but I still enjoy watching my husband messing his fingers with the sauce. Very amusing, lol! And the pancake just plain delicious. That duck skin is so crispy and the meat is very full of flavour.
Lobster with Giner & Spring Onions
For the main, I went for the "Lobster with Ginger & Spring Onions" on braised noodles. This is a Chinese classic dish and one of my favourites that I had not had for a while.
To be totally honest, this is the best Lobster Noodle cuisine I have tasted! The lobster was cooked to perfection, with a sweet taste and bouncy texture that only adds to the freshness it gives. The cost of the lobster was £32 and each noodle portion being £3 so you can add as many subsequent portions as you so wish.
The lobster was simply heavenly however a little mess to eat, lol. Though the tools they provided turned out to be extremely useful!
Barbecue Pork (Char Sui)
The Barbecue Pork is one of my husband’s favourite so we ordered that too. That traditional Chinese barbecue sauce gave the succulent slices of pork a wonderful exotic flavour and brilliant, flavoursome colour too. The meat was sticky, tender and slightly caramelised. Perfectly with a bowl of egg fried rice!
I found the staff members to be polite and helpful with the service very efficient. As far as price goes, it was reasonable for London.
The "Four seasons" restaurant offers exceptional Chinese food so if you are ever in need of a juicy and flavourful Cantonese roast duck (or even their impressive aromatic duck), this is the place you need to go!
如果你想在伦敦品尝正宗的中国菜，我个人会推荐文兴酒家。
来了伦敦16年，作为吃货的我吃过这里很多的中国餐馆。文兴酒家的粤式烧鸭在伦敦可谓是闻名遐迩的，连英国《金融时报》也把他们的烧鸭评为“世界上最好的烧鸭”。
第一家文兴酒家位于Queensway，是在1990年开张的。由于它菜式美味，吸引了众多食客在门外排队。在第一家店大获成功以后，文兴酒家分别在伦敦唐人街先后开设了三家分店。
自圣诞节以来，伦敦天气又冷又下雨，所以我们成天都窝在家里。今天没有下雨，我和先生决定出门走走，并到文兴酒家吃中餐。
我们来到Notting Hill Gate站，并从那里步行约十分钟到Queensway。
餐厅位于不大显眼的街上而且门面也挺小的，如果没有目的去找，可能会很难发现，呵呵。餐厅内部装修是很传统的中国式，福禄寿三位君星的雕像就摆在入门的地方，很有东方气息。
文兴酒家主要以粤菜为主，为五湖四海的吃货们提供了各种经典的烧烤肉，家常菜以及创意十足的海鲜佳肴。如上所述，烧鸭是他们家的杀手锏。那一只只挂在橱窗里被考的油光呈亮的鸭子，每一口都是满嘴的鲜嫩多汁，很值得推荐！
片皮包鸭
通常我都会点这里的烧鸭，可是今天先生想要换个花样，所以我叫了个片皮包鸭。侍应生把鸭子端上来以后，以熟练的手法把鸭肉切开。用面皮包着热腾腾的鸭肉，青葱，黄瓜条和甜酱，满满的鸭肉香气，每一口都是幸福的感觉！看到我先生弄得满手甜酱的样子，好搞笑哦！
姜葱焗龙虾
我很久没有吃姜葱焗龙虾了，所以今天特别点了这个为主菜。事实证明，我的选择是正确的，这可是我吃过最好的姜葱龙虾！制作龙虾，食材新鲜和火候掌握得当是好吃的关键。浓浓的香气，龙虾肉脆鲜美，我一口接着一口吃，都停不下来，呵呵。
这里的龙虾价格是32英镑一只，面底3英镑一个，你可以随意加。通常吃龙虾要动手，不太雅观，不过美食当前，我也顾不了这么多了，呵呵。餐馆提供的龙虾专用的钳子还是蛮方便的。
蜜汁叉烧
经典的蜜汁叉烧是我先生的最爱，所以他点了这个为主菜。蜜汁叉烧是广东传统的名菜之一，身为广州人，这道菜总给我一种家的味道！这里的叉烧烤得非常很有水平，色泽红润，肉质饱满，肥瘦相间。一口吃下去，蜜汁香甜，香气四溢，是一种非常纯粹的美味感受，再配上一碗蛋炒饭就更完美了！
餐馆的侍应生很有礼貌，上菜速度也很快。就价格来说，在伦敦中心不算贵。
文兴酒家的菜式体现了中华美食的精髓，我会推荐大家去试一试。如果你喜欢吃粤式烤鸭，千万不要错过这里哦！
