Min Jiang

Chinese hotel dining, posh style

Wood-fired Beijing Duck

Min Jiang is one of the very first Chinese fine dining restaurants in London, located inside the luxury Royal Garden hotel on the top floor, the restaurant has gained a reputation as a top Chinese restaurant. The cooking style, like many other Chinese restaurants across the nation, is mostly Cantonese, with a few other regional styles in the mixed. The menu is large, the a la carte menu alone has over 60 dishes to chose from, along with a dim sum menu and 3 tasting menus. For my lunch occasion, I picked a few dim sum and of course, the iconic dish, the Beijing duck, which is the dish that put Min Jiang on the map.

Har gau

Char Siu Cheung Fun

Steamed Xiao Long Bao

Deep-fried Yam Croquette with Seafood

Baked Char Siu Puff

Min Jiang's signature dish, the wood-fired Beijing duck was wonderful, the skin was crispy as it should be, it had a lovely balance of sweet and savory taste. The sweet duck sauce was also well blended, worked like a treat with the ginger oil when rolling the duck meat in pancake, as the fresh sharpness of the ginger balanced off the bold taste of the sauce. The diced rib eye of beef cooked in black pepper sauce was aggressive, bold in peppery and spicy tone, for me it was too much as it took over all the taste of the beef. The braised rice vermicelli noodles in oyster sauce were also average, the sauce was too thin and too much, and the chicken lacked seasoning.

Wood-fired Beijing Duck

Minced Duck with lettuce wrap

Egg Plant with Minced Chicken and Sichuan Chilli Sauce

Diced Rib Eye of Beef with Black Pepper Sauce

Braised Rice Vermicelli Noodles with Chicken and Seafood in Oyster Sauce

This is my third visit to Min Jiang, and I think it was not as good if I compared to my first two meals. The dim sum was solid, and the duck was as good as it was in the past, but the rest of the wok dishes were weak. The service on the day was also very average, which is a crime considering this restaurant is inside a 5 stars hotel. There are so many excellent Chinese restaurant openings in the past few years and Min Jiang is in danger to get left behind if the standard is going backward, as diners these days have so many choices. 



Food 2.5/5


Average cost without drinks and services:
£50

2-24 Kensington High St, Kensington, London W8 4PT

http://www.minjiang.co.uk/