Chinese Cricket Club - Crowne Plaza London The City (City of London)

• In concurrence with my ethnicity
• It is London we are in and Chinese is definitely one of the nation's favourite cuisines and yet I can hardly recommend one
• Food is always oily with lots of MSG
• The sauce is so glutinous and gooey from the excessive cornflour that if the dish is left sitting longer the sauce turns rubbery and sets like jelly
• I can confidently say that it is the Chinese Cricket Club
• I have to admit that I was not keen on the idea of Chinese food with such a name
• Chinese Cricket Club - Crowne Plaza London The City (City of London) is embedded inside a hotel (City Crowne Plaza)
• Chinese Cricket Club was named after the newly formed Chinese National Cricket team
• It is not an ordinary Chinese restaurant with an extensive menu of sweet and sour sauce and with your choice of chicken
• Chinese Cricket Club offers a very sophisticated menu with a good balance of meat and vegetarian dishes
• Nicely decorated with gold (which is my current favourite colour) and furnished in a modern style
• We had six main course dishes with two bowls of plain white rice to feed the four of us
• The dish was presented with the duck meat already shredded
• Meat slightly dry and tough with the lack of crispy skin that I was looking forward to
• The only criticism I have with the restaurant is that I find that the waiters and waitresses too dressed up in suits and ties
• My personal preference is to a more relaxed environment
• The eagerness of the waiter in recommending the food is so overzealous that it comes across as imposing
• They are indeed quite knowledgeable about their dishes and have been educated well with the pairing of wines and food
• Chicken with sweet vinegar this is my favourite dish
• The sweetness of this dish seeped in well with the vinegar used
• Served with mayonnaise Surprisingly these were quite crispy on the outside
• Steamed scallops with black bean sauce This dish arrived cold and the black bean sauce did not have the expected salty fermented taste
• The waiter seemed a little stunned when I gave him my opinion of the dish (he should not have asked me if he is not ready for an answer)
• Claypot duck with lotus The sauce has the right thickness consistency
• I was confused as the menu did say that it was served with lotus
• I can quite confidently say that it was accompanied with only carrots and water chestnuts
• Seasonal vegetable Pak choy stir fry with shiitake mushroom was perfectly done
• The vegetable was crisp and natural sweetness of the pak choy really does not need any fuss
• Shiitake mushroom with spring onions This is also
• Shiitake mushroom is of good quality
• It is cooked with the sauce which is not too overpowering
• (including the seasonal vegetable and shiitake musroom with spring onions)
• Pork belly with coriander This was very good
• Did I mention that this dish is also one of the chef's signature dishes
• Chicken meat is moist and the sauce not too gelatinous
• The ginger taste is very subtle
• Chef's seafood noodle with King Prawns This is what a proper prawn looks like
• Taste wise it is very ordinary
• The Chinese Cricket Club is a rather elegant restaurant in the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Blackfriars
• Whilst the Chinese are famous for many things &ndash
• The restaurant is named in honour of the original Chinese National Cricket team
• S beautifully themed with old cricketing prints and memorabilia
• D be in for such a feast and when the menu arrived my companion and I were trying to pick which dishes to chose
• Actually you get everything so there was no need to try and pick
• Our welcome glass of fizz was a lime and midori champagne cocktail &ndash
• Ve been so spoilt with our food offerings here in London that the promise of meat (for those of us who eat it) always seems like we&rsquo
• The Chinese Cricket Club is headed up by head chef
• The dumpling pastry was excellent too
• We knew we were in safe hands
• Egg tofu and mushrooms make up a very unusual dish which was full of textures
• Either way it was too good to matter and we couldn&rsquo
• Ed vegetarian abalone with lettuce wrap
• A huge pile of crisp lettuce leaves are on hand to spoon this dish into and created a wrap
• Again there was that meaty depth to the dish &ndash
• Singapore pineapple rice was as expected &ndash
• One of the highlights of our meal here was without a doubt this gorgeous yu shang aubergine
• Chunks of lightly fried aubergine were piled high and doused in a lovely sweet
• Was the stir fried mixed greens with cashew nuts
• The vegetables themselves were all perfectly cooked however
• Another standout dish was the wok fried water spinach with garlic sauce &ndash
• We finished our meal here with an exotic fruit platter
• The restaurant is named in recognition of the Chinese National Cricket team
• Other than that there is little visible reference to cricket or its oriental influence
• The restaurant is known to specialize in Sichuan cuisine
• The day that I realised that I clearly was meant to be a THE Master of Dim Sum
• The Chinese Cricket Club Restaurant is one of the only dim sum restaurants in London that create house made dim sum every day using the freshest ingredients
• Mai Lan (previously of Hakkasan) we were taught a few trade secrets on how to fold the perfect dumpling
• Is not to over stuff it with the filling (pork
• The class passed the initial test with flying colours
• The wonton filling was made with minced prawn
• Our dumplings were sent off to the kitchen to be steamed and then we could reap the rewards of our efforts with a dim sum feast
• My absolute favourite melt in your mouth pork with a rich sauce that almost had that umami flavour
• The seabass was cooked to the point that it was still moist
• The duck had a very crispy layer yet the flesh was still moist
• Needless to say it was quickly demolished

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