Bamboo Basket

This was one of favourite restaurants for decent take away dim sum. Unfortunately they have decided to stop honouring the American Express card. So they have lost my business. As an international traveller, I will patronize those businesses that want business travellers.

If I’m completely honest with myself, the food at Bamboo Basket is not actually that great. Largely, the reason I keep coming back for a fix is that it’s quick, decent-​ish food that I can scarf down before going to see a film at either the Vue Westfield or the Vue Shepherd’s Bush on a Thursday evening, and because it’s quite a lot better than, for example, the execrable Phở or the disappointing offerings usually found in Starbucks or Pret, and faster than waiting for a tastier dish from the rather good Ooze Risotto. Whew, that was a long sentence, apologies. I should also add that I come here because I feel more comfortable eating at one of the take-​outish stalls at the food court than I do going into an actual restaurant on my own, on the occasions where I’m not with a buddy. It’s a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ attitude I have in London where I feel I am being judged for eating on my own and I am judging myself from eating on my own, but this probably (definitely) says more about my own insecurities than it does about food so I’ll move on.
Bamboo basket offers a few basic dishes with rice (which is what I usually end up ordering) such as Chicken in Black Bean sauce (quite nice), chicken in sweet & sour sauce (predictably disappointing) and prawns in Szechuan sauce (good but often not available), as well as some strangely dry noodle dishes, and an assortment of side plates which range from tasty (satay chicken) to bland (duck spring rolls) to always sold out (the dumplings). For what it is, the food is pretty heavily overpriced and I certainty try my best not to make a habit of coming here, but the portions are generous (perhaps a little too generous) and the staff are chatty and friendly. Overall you could do better but you could do a lot worse (see, or rather don’t see, the previously mentioned Phở).

Agree with previous review. They serve seemingly home made dim sum — saw one guy making dumplings but cannot vouch for the rest — in bamboo steamers. I had a roast duck on rice which was so so. The only plus point was that their queue was nowhere as long as Phở’s!

It’s a Chinese takeaway in the middle of a shopping mall, but this being Westfield, the food and presentation is a cut above the norm. Very tasty food. Alas, the prices are also a cut above the norm. £8 for fried rice, anyone?