Dragon Palace

The Dragon Palace has been serving the denizens of Earls Court for a decade now, and is particularly noted for its dim sum. The narrow frontage contains two dining rooms, seating around 70 diners in total. The front room has a mural with mountain scenery along one wall and is reasonably bright, the back room darker. The restaurant is almost directly opposite Earl's Court tube station. 

Paper prawns (£3) had a deep-fried thin outer layer coated with sesame seeds, containing prawns, cuttlefish, spring onion, carrot, celery and coriander. The contents were reasonable but the outer layer was a little dry in texture (12/20). Better was classic har gau (£3), the prawn steamed dumplings, here with their outer layer of dough (made from wheat starch) with good texture, and nicely cooked prawn filling (13/20). Similarly, prawn and chive dumplings (£3) had a transparent outer wrapper and good filling, the chives freshly cut (13/20).

A trio of char sui buns (£2.80) were well made, light and fluffy, with a slightly sweet pork filling (13/20). I was also impressed with a spicy version of prawn cheung fun (£4.80), which can so often just be a slimy mess. Here the outer layer was soft but still held together, the prawns inside well cooked, with the addition of chilli and Szechaun peppercorns giving an extra dimension of flavour (14/20).  The bill came to just £20 for five dim sum dishes, plus jasmine tea at a very reasonable £1.50 for a large pot; service was friendly and efficient. This was good quality dim sum at a very fair price.