Chinese Experience

  1. Oh dear. Avoid at all costs.
  2. Below expectations.
  3. OK. Met expectations.
  4. I really enjoyed this.
  5. Amazing. Would unreservedly recommend.
  6. rating

118 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 5EP

The Chinese Experience prides itself on giving diners excellent service and true Eastern hospitality.
Nearest Transport
Piccadilly Circus (Underground)

Reviews for Chinese Experience

Last week my partner and I tubed to Chinatown excitedly for dimsum at our favourite 40% discount joint, only to discover it was emptied out and shuttered, with a sign plastered on saying "non-payment of rent".


Guess the recession doesn't discriminate when choosing its victims. Goodbye Chinese Experience.

Reasonably priced food in a casual environment.

You can have dim sum here at half the price they charge in the rest of Chinatown. Lunchtime is the best value. The Chinese tea here is quite good, not great or horrid. Some of the dim sums are quite spicy. The bowls of Congee are quite filling, bland and healthy, they're a nice compliment to the dim sum. Less weighty and wheaty. This is a good place to know about for an economical eat. The place is usually busy. Service is good. Decor functional. Not a place to come for meal to remember but for reliable, solid fare.

My friend Michelle had come up from Brighton for a few days to work (she's a facepainter at the aquarium). She's half chinese and missed eating chinese food, especially dim sum so we agreed on a meal out. Problem was that she finished work at 6 which is when most places stop doing dims um and that's how I came across Chinese Experience.

The place didn't look bad, they'd made an effort to present themselves well compared to other chinese restaurants in the area and this was also reflected in the dishes. We hadn't booked so we ended up waiting for 20 minutes which was fine. I noticed that apart from me and Michelle, there weren't any chinese people in the restaurant.

We ordered 6-7 different dim sum but it seemed to be a bit expensive in the end. I think it was £30 for 2 but usually I pay around £20 for 2. The dim sum were really average on flavour and texture and were nothing special. The presentation was a bit nicer and looked more contemporary than normal dim sum. I think I'll only go back if I was really desperate for dim sum in the evening.

girlswear at 19/08/08
You should go when they have the 30% off time scale. I find that they were better compared to a few others in the area. New World isn't bad.

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We went as a party of 5 for a birthday lunch.

We arrived at 2:30pm and were quickly seated without a reservation which was a bonus.

All of us thought the food was amazing. one of us eating had just come back from China and was really surprised by the quality of the food. We didn't go too mad and ordered both the set menus and some Dim Sum.

Portion sizes were just about perfect but the best thing about the place was the nice relaxed atmosphere. We ended up staying for about 2 hours with no one rushing us before we'd finished.

The only thing that wasn't my cup of tea was the desert of fired milk (reminded me too much of baby sick!!) but the others really liked it!

We ended up paying about £20 per head including service etc which for the centre of town for a sit down meal is fantastic considering the amount of food that was brought to the table.

Definately the best chinese i've had in London........there is however another place i need to try in Wandsworth Town that was recommended by one of the guys there...when i find out what its called i'll post it!

If you were wandering around Chinatown looking for a place to eat, Chinese Experience might not be the one you would go for - very plain windows, canteen-style feel to the dining room, and a menu with photos... But if you are interested in delicious food, and a range of choices which you don't see in other Chinese restaurants, you should definitely choose this one. I'm sure everything on the menu is excellent, but I have always ordered from the "Chef's specialities" on the menu, or the "this month's recommendations" (a separate laminated page, with the heading only in Chinese - fortunately the dishes are also described in English) - and it has always been fantastic...

I've been told that England has BAD Chinese food, unless you go to Liverpool.

Being the Dim Sum queen and my recent relocation to London, my mission is to seek out a decent place in London. I have pretty high standard as I'm from Toronto.

I've experienced the "Chinese Experience" recently and I was surprised that it was actually good. A little more contemporary than the traditional Dim Sum.

The mixed dumplings were good. I like the taro (corner) nest, it's filled with salad instead of the traditional savoury meat filling. I love the salty duck egg custard bun.

They also off 30% off at a certain time of a day.

This is the best Chinese I've had in the Uk.

I highly recommend the San Choi Bow (Lettuce Parcels) and the Chilli Salt Squid starter.

My other half worked with a girl from Hong Kong a few years back and she gave us a list of London chinese resturants to try. This one was top of the list and we have never thought to try any of the others. The staff are so friendly, there's regular special offers on dim sum/set menus and whatever you choose you bound to love it. Have taken many friends and family there and no one's been disappointed yet. The strawberry spare ribs and the deep fried crispy milk are my personal recommendations. Enjoy! x

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