As I mentioned in my review of the Cavalry Club, China Town is just across the road from it, and used to be where the former place was resident, until four and a half years ago.

Soup

It’s a somewhat similar space, very much in the Georgian drawing room style. I talk about cornice work rather a lot, in reviews, and it would be remiss of me not to mention the fine examples (different variations on the same theme, across the different rooms of the main dining area) on show, here. Traditional musical instruments gave the required Chinese feel to the room, but the overall impression was of refined elegance.

The menu embodied some of that same spirit, also. It required careful consideration, as it ran to ten or so pages. From the selection of a dozen soups, I opted for the special seafood variety. I followed this with an intriguing sounding dish of aubergine stuffed with prawns and pork in black beans sauce. Some soft noodles rounded out a banquet of mild excess.

Main course

Service was smartly attentive, very careful and thoroughly professional.

My soup arrived promptly and looked much as you would expect. It was a light broth, replete with seafood chunks. It had a light and delicate flavour that spoke of sensitive cooking. All the seafood retained excellent texture, never tending towards the chewy.

The main course was slightly mixed. The black bean sauce was lovely, the aubergine delightful, but I wasn’t completely convinced by the mashed prawns and pork stuffing. But the noodles were also good, so overall I thought the dish rather successful.

Aubergine

I was plenty full enough, so concluded things there, and was left to reflect upon a rather good meal in a very smart location.

China Town is working a very similar field to the Cavalry Club, albeit with a different cuisine. There is something incredibly stylish and welcoming about dining in a West End drawing room. I was charmed by the care and attention from the waiting staff, too. I’d recommend a visit, when you’re in the mood for Chinese food in elegant surroundings.

Scores
Blythe scores China Town
3.5/5 for food
3.5/5 for presentation
4/5 for setting
4/5 for service
giving an overall 15/20

Today’s quester was: Blythe

I ate: special seafood soup; aubergine stuffed with mashed prawns and pork in black bean sauce; fried soft noodles

I drank: water, Tsingtao

I wore: Duchamp tie

Total bill: £23.70