Yi Ban (Custom House)

• Bright sunny morning with clear blue sky
• The building is a long grey cement building that although sits at the front of the dock
• Reservations are only for after 1700 hours
• When our number is finally called
• Unfortunately they were covered with blinds otherwise
• Three rows of tables filled the dining area with space enough to walk comfortably between the tables
• The tables are prepared with cutlery and a numbered pictorial menu with an order sheet
• Small plates of dim sum range (similar to the old fashioned with less pretension of fusion flavours) from GBP 2.50 â
• Noodles and rice dishes are from GBP 7.00
• Eager to get on with our dim sum order
• My patience was certainly tested
• They hurriedly passed our dim sum order through and were told that we had to re join the queue because they messed our order initially
• Delicious filling with well balanced flavour of char siew
• This is silky and a little chewy (in a good way) with a good filling
• Paired well with the mayonnaise sauce
• I find that it is not up to par with the rest of the dim sum dishes
• These are the best that I had ever had
• Flaky pastry without being too buttery with a warm and soft centre that still holds it's structure after the first whole half bite of the dim sum
• Good food and service with a lovely view of the river and london City airport
• The ginger and spring onion lamb was tender and the Asian flavours packed a nice punch
• Some of the cups came out with big smudges of them which had to be sent back to be cleaned
• Gets very very cramped when it is half full so I think they need to rethink the seating arrangement
• Also the food is not a good representation of good dim sum and ruins the concept of it
• Finding a consistent dim sum restaurant in London is always a challenge
• ) and whilst dependable dim sum eateries are a dime for a dozen in Hong Kong
• On my most recent visit Yi Ban performed well on the whole and can very nearly be classed as dependable if there is such a place in London
• I'm not sure I would venture all the way here if I was coming from north/west/south London
• This contemporary eatery likes to shoot itself in the foot and is let down by inconsistent standards and its disengaging staff
• Getting to this remote and isolated eatery is a mission on public transport and a bit irksome by car
• You realise that the unattractive concrete box of a building is in fact the London Regatta Centre
• The interior is more welcoming and contemporary in style
• Steamed Sea Bass with Onion &
• The Dim Sum is case in point
• They do seem to be friendly with their regular clientele
• Customers can be ferried in and out and it is very busy over the weekends
• Yi Ban is a pretentious eatery which tries to be more upmarket than it actually is and generally ends up charging too much for the quality and standards it actually delivers
• That is not to say that Yi Ban is not a good eatery
• As Yi Ban does have some good dishes and with improved customer service and a little love
• Went there last Sunday with a group of friends
• The restaurant was catering a party and the noise from that end drowned the whole restaurant
• At 10pm we were told if we do not order mains in the next 5mins we will not be served
• Even though the kitchen is open till 10
• Maybe on par with the local take away but thrice the cost
• Yi Ban is located right opposite of London City Airport with a stunning view of the runway and riverside
• It is very popular with the local Chinese community and it used to be my regular hangout joint on a sunny weekend
• The staff was a bit annoyed and rude when we asked to make everything spicy but the food was so amazing that we forgot all about that
• Fine dinning with a good view
• Their fried rice and the dishes i had are really good
• Another good thing is from the restaurant you can see the city airport
• If you are a vegetarian and you are not very comfortable with non indian cuisines
• Their food quality is great as well for this area of London
• Caring and cooperative as well the food is also very delicious the Chinese cuisine is blissful and delicious

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