Remember that scene in Titanic when the double doors open and Jack walks into first class for dinner? That is exactly how you feel when you walk into Park Chinois. A row of waiters in white jackets and black bow ties greet you as you enter; you see a lavish room filled with red drapes, plush comfortable seating and a gorgeous grand piano.
As you’d expect, Park Chinois is themed around colonial China. My sister said she felt like she’d gone back in time and I totally agreed. The colonial vibe seems to be a trend these days, with Karam Sethi’s Gymkhana just around the corner. But I digress…
The atmosphere at Park Chinois is one of the best I’ve experienced not just in London, but around the entire world. The jazz band (and pianist in particular) were hypnotic with all the tables and chairs angled so that you get the best view.
Park Chinois is famous for its Peking duck which you should pre-order or allow 45 minutes for. We promptly placed an order and settled back to study the drinks and food menu in more detail. My sister ordered a gin cocktail and my mum, a virgin mojito. The gin cocktail was the perfect mix of strength and sweetness and my mum’s virgin mojito was made perfectly to her liking – not too much ice.
I had a large glass of Viognier to relax after the stress of the previous week. And I am still thinking about that wine glass…it had a short stem and was the lightest glass I have ever handled. It sounds silly but I almost feel as though light glasses were chosen to specifically add to the atmosphere – a sense of weightlessness you feel when you’re in a kind of dream world.
So you have this stunning restaurant, exemplary service, lovely wine and cocktails…and then there’s the food.
Why Park Chinois? Why? Why is your food outrageously expensive and yet distinctly average? In fact, if I’m being completely honest, with the exception of the Peking duck, the food was below average. I wish there was an emoji to sum up my disappointment.
The Peking duck is £75. Let’s let that sink in for a moment. For £75 I was expecting one or all of the following 1) a giant duck 2) some showmanship e.g. duck carving at the table like they do at Min Jiang 3) explosion and intensity of flavours. But no. We did have a really lovely juicy soft duck, with plum sauce, fresh pancakes, cucumber and spring onions. Sound familiar? That’s because it was.
Our waitress did recommend that we only order two starters to follow the duck and no mains at all. She said we would have too much food, which was very considerate. We ordered three.
The Spicy Vegetable Dumplings…
Too many Szechuan peppercorns for my liking. They made our tongues go numb.
Salt and Pepper Squid with Green Papaya Salad….
Too dry.
The Bang Bang Chicken Salad…
Pretty flavourless and not a patch on the Duck Salads at Novikov or Hakkasan.
The above were highly recommended by our waitress so I wonder what the standard of the other dishes is like…
Desserts followed suit. As an aside, they’re not Chinese, which wasn’t an issue but it’s just a point to consider.
My sister very much enjoyed her apple tart.
I can’t remember the name of the other dessert but it was some kind of panacotta with chocolate and passion fruit. It looked a little sparse on the place.
To finish we tried the Shanghai hot chocolate – pure cocoa, cinnamon, clove, vanilla pod and milk. I liked the novelty of it but couldn’t drink a whole cup.
I strongly encourage you all to visit Park Chinois for the experience but not necessarily the food. The ideal way to do it would be to order a Peking duck, a couple of drinks and enjoy the incredible surroundings and the wonderful jazz. Dress to the nines, enjoy being spoilt and then go home – with no real need to return.
Rating: 
(for atmosphere only)
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