Avoid Grand Imperial Yum Cha at all costs! Laney and I had been told by a friend that this new restaurant at Victoria had an all you could eat offer on their yum cha on Sundays. We arrived disappointed to find that this wasn’t offered to us and, after looking at the prices, we were too embarrassed to even broach the topic with our waitstaff – tea, for a start, was priced at £4.00 per person (!) and dim sum dishes started at about £4.00 (on average they should start at £2.50ish!) Hilariously I don’t think I’ve ever had quite a large teapot for my Chinese tea before. I could barely lift it!

Deep Fried Ice Cream was intriguing at £6.00 (on the menu outside) but a total turn off when we looked at the menu inside and it had jumped to £8.00! Oh boy. Anyway, we had made our reservation and now had to eat it. The Grand Imperial is attached to the Thistle Hotel just outside Victoria station so it couldn’t really be in a more convenient spot. You’d think we would have been wary of a restaurant attached to a hotel but to be honest there are so many restaurants attached to hotels in London that I didn’t even think about it. No doubt about it Grand Imperial certainly looks the business – high ceilings, black lacquer tables and chairs, chandeliers, and embossed serviettes but did it deliver on food?

I actually had Grand Imperial down on my to-eat list, but that was from the regular dinner menu. My mistake for thinking that just because that menu sounded good the yum cha would be good too! At the prices we were being charged I was expecting something spectacular – plain and regular was what we got instead. And tiny! Our steamed prawn dumplings (priced at £4.80) was absolutely miniature (that I didn’t even bother taking a photo) as was the steamed pork bun. Two staple dishes done very disappointingly.

And our Prawn Cheung Fung seemed to have had a third cut off! The only highlight was the Pan-Fried Foie Gras and Beef Dumpling (3 for £4.20), which was actually quite delicious, in an otherwise ordinary meal.

Since we had our wallets out we also opted for the Chocolate Dim Sum “Platter”. Don’t be deceived – it was a mere four pieces of various different chocolate dim sum: Canton Cracker, Coconut Delight Pumpkin Bundle, and Cashew Crescent for £6. Pretty is about as positive I can be about this platter.

I don’t think I’ve ever walked away from a yum cha meal quite so hungry. Still, there are good reviews out there for this restaurant so I’m willing to give it another chance to see if their other food does the reviews justice.