Duddell's

Modern high-end Cantonese cuisine in London Bridge

Dumplings of prawn, king crab and scallops & prawn

High-quality Chinese cooking is hard to come by in London, Duddell's, a new modern Chinese restaurant launched in early 2018 has given me high hope. The team behind Duddell's has already gained Michelin star status back in Hong Kong, they have appointed  Daren Liew (Ex Hakkasan) as the Executive Chef to oversee Duddell's London which sounds like a great partnership to me. The early days of Duddell's have already gathered some pretty impressive feedbacks, with a majority of high-profile newspaper food critics has given their thumbs up. Duddell's menu is heavily focusing on Cantonese style, with a touch of Western elements in the mix to make it somewhat creative and unusual.

Honey glazed char siu with soy beans

Smoked black Angus ribs with red wine soy and baby peach

Wok-fried French turbot with Chanterelle mushroom and garlic

We ordered a mixture of a la carte dishes to share between the whole table. The house special Cantonese dim sum symphony was solid and perhaps the finest dum sums I have experienced in the UK. I especially enjoyed the King crab dumpling, which tasted fresh and packed with lovely umami flavours. The wok-fried French turbot was a personal favorite of the night for me, the meat was tender and the wok aroma matched perfectly with the garlic, I also enjoyed the texture of the Chanterelle mushroom which made this dish kind of fusion with a touch of French elegance in the mixed. The Smoked black Angus ribs were the disappointment, the smoke element was far too strong and completely dominated the red wine and soy characters, the meat was also a touch overcooked. It was a dish that sounded great on paper, but the actual end result was a bit hit and miss.

Rhug Estate lamb with shishito pepper and eryngii mushroom

Tea-smoked Cantonese soya chicken

Coconut and lime panna cotta

Yuzu tart

All in all, the dinner experience at Duddell's was interesting, to say the least. It was far from classic Chinese with plenty of modern and western injection to make it pretty fun. Normally you would judge how authentic a Chinese restaurant is by judging how many Chinese diners are there, it was a 50:50 mix on my night. Based on the branding and the interior design and the menu, I can see Duddell's is gunning for the high-end mainstream market, which I think is great, considering at that level, there is only Hakkasan so I always welcome new additional players like Duddell's to make it a more competitive market.


Food 3.5/5

What I paid: 
£70 per person

Average cost without drinks and services:
£60

9a St Thomas St, London SE1 9RY

https://www.duddells.co/london/