Imperial China

An extraordinary anomaly. Up there with the best Hong Kong food in a boring shopping parade not quite in the middle of nowhere, but close to it. Dim Sum fairly standard choices, but brilliantly done. A la carte full of surprisingly unusual dishes and just wonderful. Also very friendly — and busy at peak times, especially weekend lunchtime.

An excellent and authentic dim sum lunch.
When you walk into this restaurant you will immediately notice the usually tacky Chinese décor! Don’t be fooled by appearances. There are loads of Chinese and Asian diners, which is always a good indication that the food is pretty good. I sit down and the waiter is lovely. He pours my tea for me, which is something that I am accustomed to in Australian Yum Cha restaurants. I was delighted by the excellent service Imperial China offered
The food is divine. I try my usual order honey roast pork buns, prawn and spinach dumplings and Cantonese roast duck with rice. Everything tastes balanced. The pork buns are fluffy with a gooey delicious pork filling. The roast duck tender and no gloppy horrible sauces.
The service is excellent, food amazing and the restaurant is in a quiet accessible location. You don’t have to go all the way to Chinatown for authentic and delectable Chinese. I highly recommend Fulwell’s best kept secret — Imperial China!

You wouldn’t expect it in Teddington but believe me, I have ventured far & wide for my dim sum fix, or yum char as the old bean would say. I can truly say that this is the best tradition dim sum restaurant in the UK, ultra fresh steamed dumplings & light on msg — the places in Chinatown are average & my other local place Tai Tung on the Purley Way doesn’t cut it. The only small gripe is that I wished the selection was bigger, some favs such as chicken, sausage & mushroom claypot isn’t on the menu any more. Dim Sum fix done.

If you care about the imminent extinction of sharks in our oceans, then do not go to this restaurant as it serves that most odious of dishes shark fin soup.

I was walking the neighborhood, as I’m working close and had time to spare during lunch time. I saw that restaurant, some Asian folks inside (quite a lot actually) and thought myself if there are so many asians inside, why not? It is one of the best Dim sum place I’ve ever been, world wide. The hakao are all crunchy with the fresh prawn, the taro dumpling also known as wu gok are just fresh. I would treat the place as a little gem far from the maddening crowd, where only insiders know and try to keep it for themselves. Service is good, fast and of course mostly old comers, which hints you at the quality of that place. Vivons heureux, vivons caches.

Imperial China in Teddington is proper old school and has everything I look for in a dim sum restaurant. However, I can’t take the credit for unearthing this hidden gem, as it was my sister who suggested coming here for a family get-​together. We reserved a table for 11.30am, as this was the only slot available for a busy Sunday. The dining room was near empty on our arrival but by the time we left, the restaurant was full and there was an expectant queue.
It wasn’t surprising that it was busy, as the food at this unassuming suburban restaurant is of a very high standard. The dim sum is freshly made, well seasoned and cooked with a light hand at the steamer and the fryer.
There’s a lot to like about Imperial China with its quality food, good service, value for money, and warm family atmosphere. Prices of dim sum start at £2.30.
Compared to other dim sum joints in London, it’s better than Camden’s much-​lauded Yum Cha and is streets ahead of anything Chinatown can offer. In fact I would go so far to bracket it alongside Pearl Liang and Phoenix Palace as my go-​to dim sum restaurants.
I know Teddington might as well be on Mars for some but if you don’t live too far away then I highly recommend making the trek to Zone 6.