Dumplings & Baos — Restaurant in London

I've been here twice with my partner now (to give it a second chance given the good reviews) and it's been the exact same both times. I'll detail our experience below but overall we sum it up as WEIRD.

When you try to enter, the door is permanently locked. No bell no nothing so you push the door and fumble around not knowing what to do when it doesn't open. And then ten seconds later someone randomly appears to open it (you can't really see inside very well). Every guest we saw had the same thing happened to them. It's just bizzare that they lock the door. Never seen this at a restaurant. Also, when someone does open the door they just stare at you until you say why you're there (they seem to get dine-in guests, takeaway collectors and deliveroo drivers all appearing at this door and getting stuck). Unfortunately this does not make for a warm welcome.

They give you COVID masks to wear for the three second walk from the entrance to your table and still have these flimsy cheap-looking plastic roller banner screens up to separate tables. It's July 2022 now. Most of the country is vaccinated and the requirement for these screen separators and mask-wearing has been dropped for over a year now. I can appreciate if the family who run the business are vulnerable and so want to put in these extra precautions but it would be great if they explained this when you arrived because to the average customer this seems over the top if there's no specific reason for it. To add to the strangeness of this choice, all of the kitchen workers do not wear masks and the family who runs it does not wear it properly over their nose.

The decor is old-fashioned and they have used tacky neon lighting to add some colour. Nothing matches. The black leather-covered chairs have no character and the floor looks like that of a school assembly hall. The only thing that resembles an Asian cuisine restaurant is the wooden entrance door and window frame, which is actually rather pretty.

The music is so cutesy it's rather cringe. You feel like you are at a teenager's bubble tea cafe.

Our experience of the food is as follows and sadly does not match the other reviews: The spring rolls are basic - honestly Iceland does the same if not better for a fraction of the price The dumplings look good but are bland tasting and more pastry than filling The chow mein, again, looks good but tastwise is very heavy on the coriander The Pad Thai does not resemble anything we have seen before. It's sloppy in a soup-like form rather than dry. Poor taste too. All of the dishes arrive in a random order. I was served my chow mein first and my partner received the Pad Thai last.

Why is it BYOB? Can they not just get an alcohol licence if they are happy to open alcoholic bottles for their guests - like literally every other Asian restaurant? Could they also not do a better effort than only serving Coke, Fanta and Ginger Beer cans as their drink options?

The second time we visited, the place was empty. The next couple that came in, half an hour later, were placed right next to us just on the other side of the plastic screen. If there were no screen there, we would have been touching elbows. A bizzare choice given the WHOLE restaurant floor was available.

General comment: I have huge respect for family-run restaurants and the family who run it do seem lovely. I do understand they would have made various personal choices on how to execute the restaurant but unfortunately it's fallen short for us for the various above reasons and leaves much to be desired by way of enjoyment of the...

After a very disappointing meal in clapham, my friend and I (still hungry) were walking home when we stumbled upon this place by accident. Straight away we were greeted by a lovely host who explained to us that this is a BYOB place and recommended we get some wine from sainsburys next door after we make our order.

We ordered the aubergine, a cucumber salad, dumplings and some baos. The food was delicious and really fresh which made up for the meal we had before. The menu had loads of veggie and vegan options and everything was presented to a high standard.

What made this place really special was how lovely the staff were. They offered to keep our wine in the fridge to keep it cold and kept coming over to top up our glasses. The whole place had a family-owned-business feel and exceeded our expectations for the price we paid.

In an area that is becoming more and more gentrified, it is great to see that such small, wholesome family owned (i may be wrong, but i highly doubt this is a chain!) still exist and are thriving.

It is a great place to catch up with a few mates and order loads of dim sum all evening. Will definitely make this my...

I'm going to be extremely honest and fair as usual. For me, it just wasn't what I was expecting given the other roaring reviews on here. In my opinion the food overall was just ok, and in some instances a little weird tasting. The duck bao was mostly flour and herbs and hardly any duck, strangely a lot of sage, it was like having Christmas dinner. The prawn toast: hardly any prawn, just terrible. The dim sum was very generic, nothing mind blowing. Oh and the 4 cold prawn crackers that were on all tables (not requested) they charge for!. Perhaps the food would have tasted better if there was any atmosphere but no, it was like a time warp, requesting face masks (granted it's their business and perogative) but it's strange to be sitting with other dinners with the plastic dividers everywhere in late 2022, also the doors are kept key locked! (That's a major health and safety issue) what if there is a fire. Overall very underwhelming. As for the service, I must call out the waitress, very nice friendly lady...