Imperial Treasure London

Imperial Treasure has been operating since December 2018, located in a former Lloyds bank and having high ceilings and very smart decor. It has a sister branch in Shanghai, which despite the ever-optimistic scoring of the Michelin Shanghai guide (two stars) is actually less good than the London branch.  The menu here was vast, with a live seafood section and a tasting menu at £118. The executive head chef is Wee Boon Goh, who previously worked for Hakkasan as chef de cuisine at Hanway Place.  

We began with a selection of dim sum. The classic har gau prawn had tender prawns and very light, thin and delicate dumplings. This was also true for the pork and prawn dumpling, and even the potentially less interesting edamame dumpling was good too (15/20). Hot and sour soup was subtler than many versions of this classic dish, with the vinegar sharpness in good balance (14/20). Scallops with chilli and Sichuan pepper featured lightly cooked scallops with good natural sweetness. The numbing sensation of the Sichuan peppercorns was nicely controlled and the chilli bite did not overwhelm the delicate flavour of the scallops (15/20).

Kung po prawns came with cashews and dried chillies. The prawns were of reasonable quality, nicely cooked and there was a pleasing touch of fresh ginger (15/20). Singapore noodles were exceptionally good, remarkably delicate and laced with beansprouts, onion and chillies. I can’t recall having a much better version of this old stalwart dish (16/20). Crunchy vegetables were a mixture of carrots, lotus root and sugar snaps, all lightly cooked (14/20). Fried rice was also excellent, the grains distinct and carefully cooked.

Service from our Lithuanian waitress was very good indeed. The bill came to £203 per person, but that was with a bottle of Louis Roederer rose champagne. If you ordered more abstemiously you could just about get away for around £95 or so per person. Imperial Treasure is never going to be a cheap outing, but there are few Chinese restaurants in London cooking at this level.  

Further reviews: 09th Jan 2019