Dim Sum near the US embassy

Back from a few days in sunny London, just missing out on the super-hot (30 degC!) Friday and coming home to a wet and windy Edinburgh. The purpose of our trip was for an interview for a non-immigrant visa at the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square (which went well apart from my future employers' failure to pay the SEVIS fee).

After confirming that the embassy was where it said it was (you never know with these security-conscious people), we had what must be the poshest dim sum I've ever eaten at Princess Garden on North Audley Street (a recommendation from my brother). The menu is quite expensive compared to even Royal China, but the dim sum was priced pretty much the same as most other dim sum joints in the UK (~£3 per item).

The decor was definitely not typical of Chinese restaurants, with an airy atrium to lounge while waiting for a table, and large glass windows in the eating area with crisp white linen and clean-line furniture. It's more what you'd expect from a Conran eatery. The main menu looked enticing, but was a little on the pricey side. But we were in the mood for dim sum, so that's what we had. Apart from two Chinese tai-tais (ladies-who-lunch), we were the only non-suits in the place, and the only ones to have dim sum. Because the lighting was so good, and the dim sum looked particularly pretty, I had to take some photos. The only thing I missed out was the "wu gok" (deep fried mashed yam with pork filling). Six dim sum items plus tea came to £20, with dessert thrown in for free because it was 3pm, and the dim sum kitchen was shutting down for the day. Short descriptions of the dim sum dishes can be accessed by following the photo links to Flickr.

Technorati tags: dimsum, londonrestaurant, princessgarden.