Great setting, food is of good quality. If you're not fussed and in the area, definitely head to Phoenix Palace. But there are better dim sum places out there. To read the complete review, please go to http://chopstix2steaknives.blogspot.com/2010/12/phoenix-palace.html read more

Excellent chinese food in beautiful surroundings with friendly service. We ordered dim sum platter, wasabi prawns and prawn toast. Big suprise was the prawn toast which was aeons away from its takeaway incarnation. Bulging with prawns it was absolutely delicious. Mains included crispy belly pork, lamb with ginger and spring onions and orange duck. All were wonderful. The more adventurous can have a ball with amazing seafood, abalone, duck, and even ostrich dishes. Don't bother with Chinatown and enjoy the quality of the offerings in Marylebone. read more

Chose on basis of location for an early Friday night meal. Lovely facade and interiors albeit a bit 80's. First contact was greeter on Facebook. Walked into restaurant to find service staff. Dim Sums were goof especially the wasabi one. Peking duck better than your average effort, duck was moist and perfectly crispy. Unfortunately I think the kitchen was having a meltdown. Food took ages to create to table and we had to eventually leave missing seasons. Service a little disorganised with several different ladies asking us if we had ordered..... Got the impression this was a bad day in the kitchen rather than the norm. read more

The food was very good! The atmosphere was very nice and friendly. Also, they were able to spontaneously arrange a dessert with a candle for the birthday girl :) The waiters did occasionally forget to bring water or toothpicks, etc. though.. read more

Really excellent Chinese restaurant serving genuine Chinese food, not "Chinglish" Chinese! The food is really fresh and well cooked. It's best to go here with more than 4 people so that you can sample and share dishes! The best way to enjoy Chinese food is in company! The prices are OK for London and the location is very central. If you are a connoisseur of genuine Chinese food you will enjoy this! If you like sweet and sour with egg fried rice then you won't enjoy it and there are many other cheaper places for that. This is very popular with Chinese visitors and those living in London. I really enjoy an evening here. read more

This place is always busy and the ambience combined with the hustle and bustle make it an inviting try. Having eaten here now a few times, I must say the food is quite good but a lot of dishes are hit or miss. Not quite sure how else to put it. The chicken corn soup is nice and most dishes are fine but nothing is extraordinary or makes me want to crave this place. Location is great but prices are steeper than most Chinese restaurants. read more

Ok I don't want to sound like a snob here. But I am from California.(Don't hold that against me ha ha I assure you I am always appreciative and gracious when I go out here in the UK. I don't expect, for example, like most Americans living abroad and used to the 'faster is better" mantra to eating out that I will walk into a place, sit, be served, eat, and out in a half of an hour flat, as if I was at a KFC.....but I do expect good food and a receptive atmosphere.) I digress...... When I say I don't mean to come off as a snob, it's just because we have a LOT of Chinese restaurants on the US West Coast. So I have eaten a lot of Chinese in my life. (For reference I have lived in LA, San Francisco, and Las Vegas, all of which have some of the BEST China towns in the world.) My Hubby and I lived across the street from this place when we first arrived in London, so we gave this place 2 attempts. Here was my last attempt.... I guess I was just expecting more. ESP when this place comes so highly recommended. What can I say? NAH!. Greasy, bland, and horrible, unfriendly service. The host sat us with only one menu (I was dining with my Hubby) and we had to ask the waitress 4 times and wait 10 minutes for an additional menu. Strike one. Strike two were the duck rolls. Bland, limp, mealy duck strings.... of something supposedly resembling meat, I guess. And they didn't even bring us duck sauce on the side, even though we asked twice. Good duck meat doesn't necessarily need sauce to be tasty, but this duck meat (if you could call it that) did. And, no, we didn't get any sauce. Strike 3. My chicken stir fry noodles ( I ordered them crispy) were overly mushy and AGAIN, bland, and the veggies were pretty watery. I don't even remember what the hubby ordered, as I tried his entree, made a face, and went back to my crappy plate of soggy noodles. Strike 4. (And there isn't even a Strike 4 in Baseball. BAD.) The place was packed, but I suspect, with first time patrons like myself. Tony Blair supposedly ate here back in the day, that's why it has the rep it does, but that's ancient history as far as I am concerned. By todays' standards, this place sucks. read more

Phoenix Palace is one of the few Chinese restaurants in London that delivers top quality Cantonese cuisine, no gimmick, no creativity, just old school Chinese food done properly. The service was also outstanding, very caring and well mannered, which is totally the opposite to most of the Chinese restaurants in China Town. It is a very popular restaurant so booking in advance is highly recommended. read more

I've always wanted to try this place. So many people I know have been here and have really rated it as a go-to restaurant for slightly more expensive, quality Chinese food in London outside of china town. And dim sum is one of my most favourite foods in all the world. Unfortunately I had to work, so I couldn't catch the full dim sum selection menu in time. But we went here after work to check out their evening menu. Firstly, love the decor. The place is huge and feels very cultural. More than that though, for a large place it didn't feel cavernous and cold or shabby and below par. We sat down and I was pleased to see a reduced dim sum selection, excellent! Unfortunately one of our party wasn't a seafood fan so we couldn't get all prawn dim sum, which are my absolute favourite. So we got the pork and prawn instead, she concede at us having one seafood one. Also some vegetable dumplings, some lamb in chilli dressing, crispy aromatic duck pancakes, monk vegetables and shredded chicken soft noodles. Everything arrived quickly and was hot, good start. The duck was amazing, not dry at all but crispy skin with succulent meat inside. My favourite dumpling (as expected) were the pork and prawn, I just love them!! The lamb dumplings were a bit strange, I've never had lamb in dumplings before so it was a new experience. The monk vegetables were really nice, aside from the huge lumps of tofu which were a bit much to be honest. But all in all, not disappointed. With a couple of bottles of wine, I can't complain at £35 each really read more

Not only does this place have excellent food, the atmosphere can't be beat. From music playing over speakers in a way that sounds like someone singing Karaoke, to brightly coloured garish lighting, and all sorts of crazy people. A great place to go for either an unusual date venue, or a big family meal. read more

Fabulous good and service! This is authentic Chinese food. Great value, flavor and atmosphere. We are from Las Vegas and it was a wonderful experience for this family of 5. read more

I regularly visit Asia and have had my share of authentic Chinese food, so I know what to roughly expect. Visited this restaurant twice during my stay in London for dinner as my friends and I were craving dim sum. Ambience is very nice and reminds me some of the large dim-sum restaurants in Hong Kong and the US. Staff was quite friendly, but got a little annoying towards the end trying to up-sell us on our 4th bottle of wine and we were already tipsy lol. Food was delicious and on point. Must try the wasabi prawns! read more

Went here with a party of 4 & basically had delicious, traditional dim sum. The food tasted fresh & non greasy, the service was very efficient despite it being a busy restaurant & the prices were quite reasonable. read more

Great setting, food is of good quality. If you're not fussed and in the area, definitely head to Phoenix Palace. But there are better dim sum places out there. read more

Decent dim sum, but a tad expensive. Really enjoyed the steamed wasabi dumplings and the crispy beef. Also, it's a bit kitsch, but I loved the 'celebrities who've eaten here' photo collage at the entrance. Very convenient to Baker Street tube read more

Excellent food, incredibly friendly service and very family friendly. An amazing list of previous customers too including Tony Blair and David Tennant. Only quibble is that it's not cheap. Ordered a relatively small amount of dim sum and it came to £20 per head. read more

Been coming here for years for the excellent dim sum and friendly staff. This time I was taken aback by just how expensive it's got. £3:60 for basic dim sum, so didn't leave much change out of £100 for a meal for the family. A rare treat from now on. read more

Great place for Chinese food, it is well managed, the bathrooms are clean always and more importantly the food and service are very good.

One of my favourite things to do, as a part of my exercise regime, is to catch the 274 bus from Baker Street, and ride it all the way to primrose hill to go and let some steam off. There's something very relaxing , and conveniently cathartic about Primrose Hill. It's small enough to pop in and get some greenery, without being overwhelmingly open like say Hyde Park, for example. I come out of Baker St tube station (on the Baker St side), then turn right, then cross over at the first pedestrian crossing, then cut through the Gloucester arcade that houses a little Japanese restaurant called Nambu Tei (I must try it out sometime, it looks lovely), then hook a left out of the arcade, past Tescos, and onto the 274 bus stop which is just across the way on the other side of Gloucester Place. I've been doing this ritual for ages. But there was one particular day, (I can't remember exactly when), when I was casually sauntering along the route, when I was literally bowled over by a whiffy waft of 'Chinese smells', seemingly coming out of the side street adjacent to Tescos. You know the smell, that irresistible classic Chinese restaurant smell, that is the same no matter where you go, or what calibre the restaurant is; the quintessential Chinese smell. Just like those Walt Disney cartoons, whereby an odour or a smell is depicted as little whirls of white clouds by the cartoonist, here too, just next to Baker Street, I was being pencilled in by Baker Street's own 'Lolf Hallis'. MMM I thought to myself, as one of the whirls whisked me down the side street, titillating my olfactory nerves, as I followed the scent back to its origin. The aroma trail led me to a white façade of a restaurant, which was situated on the street level, right at the centre of a monolithic Art Deco block of flats. The writing on the wall said Phoenix Palace. I couldn't see much through the front window, apart from a glitzy bar on the left hand side, some very chinesey lacquered chairs and tables, shelves decked with oriental ornaments, some sort of fish tank, and a preacher's pulpit directly facing the front door, the pulpit supposedly meant to be manned to receive the guests as they enter the restaurant. It is never manned, so just nod to the invisible preacher, upon arrival. My first impressions of this place were wow, look at this. Fancy that, finding a Chinese restaurant on a back street, like that. And wow it looks really nice inside, I bet the food is good in there. It did look a little bit like mutton dressed up as lamb, from the outside; a bit pretentious, a bit 80's. In fact, so 80's was it, that I was expecting Alexis-Morrell-Carrington-Colby-Dexter-Rowan to be receiving me from behind the pulpit. Nevertheless, when I got home, I googled it, and it turned out to be hailed as one of the best Chinese restaurants in London. Apparently tonnes of Chinese families flock there on the weekends to scoff down good dim sums. So anyway, when my father texted me one night asking me to pick a restaurant of my choice, to take me out to dinner to, I said lets go to the Phoenix Palace. This place is absolutely HUGE. You cant judge the depth of the restaurant just from looking from the outside, because three quarters of it is tucked away behind a wall, and there's a further two or three private banqueting rooms which are hidden away from view too. I was really really surprised when I walked in for the first time. After saying good evening to the invisible man, I veered myself towards the channel that lies between the bar on the left and the first screened private dining quarters, which is on the right. It was then that I witnessed the true extent of the dining room. In fact, when walking down this channel, it feels like you are being cast away into the sea; like the mouth of a river, or something. Two or three waiters/managers/people that look like they're ranked above the waiters, swarmed in front of my father and I, and it felt like we were being intercepted by a shiver of shark, circling and surrounding us on all sides. I didn't know whom to turn to, so I just tried my luck with the older looking male of the school. Hi, table for two please, I announced, doing a pan-American double-thumb-whammy in a vain attempt to try and inject some enthusiasm to the prospect of having dinner with my father, then simultaneously wiping the trail of saliva that had started to drool from the corners of my mouth. He just stared at me blankly (like I was the village-idiot) and then looked straight down at my calves (which were on full show because I was wearing Nike shorts). Cantonese calves he probably thought to himself as he began to lead us on a voyage to the other side of the room. My father, having the same physique as a beached whale, didn't like the idea of sailing the full breadth of the dining room, and so chose to sit right in front of the counter, which is in the middle of the channel, right next to the 'cutlery and menu trolley', which was read more

Since Chinese is quite popular and readily available in london you to expect a certain standard when having Chinese ate here twice both take away. The food was okay nothing wrong with it but far from acceptable price wise. This place really makes me feel like a money laundering joint if you go eat there you will see what I mean. read more

Authentic Chinese food with a good dose of Chinese vibes! Huge place so good if you're in a big group.

I went here with 5 girlfriends, 4 of whom were Chinese. They all praised the food - that's the evidence to support my rating. We had a bunch of different types of dumplings, chicken and mushroom buns, octopus patties, a couple of noodle dishes, and the red bean pancake for dessert. I really enjoyed the food - particularly the seafood noodles, dough wrapped in rice pasta, vegetarian and prawn dim sum, and red bean pancake. Was less enthralled with the octopus patty and shredded duck in rice pasta. I'm not usually a fan of Chinese tea, but really enjoyed the tea that they served - so it was good that it was unlimited :-) Service was friendly and I like the atmosphere of the place. I would definitely go back! read more

Very poor service. Seeing a customer waiting for a long period of time, they will not approach to the customer to ask for any drinks etc. Awful service. There are quite a lot of waiter however the service is slow and poor. Furthermore, there were quite a few empty desks and waiters refuse to clean them. The waiters are unfamiliar with the dishes they have to offer. The menus are also written in traditional Chinese, not simplified! No to mention, the dishes are way too salty (e.g. Fried rice, noodles, veggies, etc.) Not suitable for pure Chinese at all. Waiters here are mostly Cantonese, some of them don't speak mandarin. Overall, I didn't like it at all. read more

The best Chinese restaurant in London! I used to go here all the time when I worked in London, and always make the trip back whenever I'm in the city again. Delicious dim sum, generous portions, great value, excellent service and nice décor. What's not to like? Go there - you won't be disappointed! read more

I am surprised by some of the reviews for Phoenix Palace, as I find that the service is far better than in many Chinese restaurants, with smiling and helpful staff. We go there for Sunday lunch for their dim sum menu, which we love, the quality is excellent and the prices are reasonable. Especially recommended are the steamed prawn dim sum and the prawn and chive, though today I deviated and had the soft shell crab with chilli, garlic and peppercorn salt from the main menu, quite the best that I have had anywhere and really fresh. Their house white wine by the glass is a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, which is most drinkable. read more

Good quality cantonese style food. And impressively for a Chinese restaurant, the service isn't horrible but it is pricier than your average Chinese restaurant so that is expected. I don't think there has been a dish I didn't like. My only complaint is their non-Chinese staff lacks a lot of knowledge about what is on the menu. read more

- Food is authentic, one of the best Chinese restaurant in London food-wise. - Very pricey compared to other Chinese restaurants. Be prepared to pay at least 30 pounds per person if you want a decent meal. - Service, however, is horrendous, either eat-in or delivery. Delivery person literally shouted at me for ordering 'just 15 pounds' worth of food, that I wasted his time to deliver the food (well I live just 5 minutes walk away), and refused to give me back my change of 85p. When eating in, do not expect anyone to fill the kettles for you or help you. Even though they've made eye contact and seen that you are waving to them, they would look away and pretend that they haven't seen you. read more

The dim sum is erratic. The first time I went I thought it was great. The last time very average even compared to many spots in Chinatown. The wasabi prawn dumplings were rubbery. The briny pork croquettes were soggy and greasy. The shu mei and har gou were fine. The doughnut Chung fun was soggy. The spareribs in black bean were good. Very mixed bag. The suckling pig and roast duck were good as were the vegetables. I liked the decor if you don't mind a little bit cheesy. Teakwood and lacquered chairs, lit by rows of little red paper lanterns. It feels quaint and amusingly stereotypical Chinese down to the wall with pictures of famous people. One guy on the wall didn't have a name, just labelled Richest man in Nanjing Province. I would go back for lunch or dinner with friends but would go elsewhere for dim sum. read more

Tasty food, nice big restaurant which is quite impressive inside but the service was awful! Staff seem like they really can't be bothered to serve you at all it's almost like you're inconveniencing them by being there! Our waiter took down our order, repeated it back to us and then walked away without saying a word, very brusque attitude. Later on we asked for some chilli sauce and he actually seemed irritated that we called him over! It's a shame because the food is really quite good, but the rude staff and customer service let this place down completely. read more

The interior is amazing and the food was great but the waiter wasn't. One of the older waiter served us and he was quite the grumpy person. The rest seemed fine but not him. Other than that, it was a really nice place. read more

Food was good but service was weak. I waited a while for someone to take my order Finally flagged someone down who was not the friendliest. Once I placed my order it took a while to get my food No one ever checked in on me. Wanted another glass of wine but could never order it When I tried to get my check it took 3 attempts and then they added 13.5% gratuity Really disappointing read more

A disappointing rip-off when having a lunch for two today. Deep fried bits of lobsters: difficult to taste the seafood (which seemed fresh though) under the oil. The consommé of mixed vegetables was a very small portion of lukewarm water with some random vegetables. My friend who had enjoyed this place in early 2012 ordered again kangaroo meat (sorry I can't remember what dish exactly). She found it dry and flavorless this time. She also had a sweetcorn based soup (sorry again I can't remember precisely which one) and found it bland. The biggest mistake was to order the spinach; at 11.80GBP, we expected more than basic spinach with too much oil - and that was it. We didn't order dim sums. The waiter we dealt with bored, never smiled, and answered to 'what is the beef soup ' by: 'it is a soup with beef'. We had to ask many times both to order and to have the bill. So when the bill came at 72GBP (we only drank tea), we asked for the service charge to be taken off. It was done immediately by a smiling waitress that time, who seemed genuinely sorry by our experience. At that level of price, I found that basic paper napkin don't fit. On the plus, there is enough space between the tables to have a business conversation. Were we particularly unlucky? Next time, back to Edgware road/Bayswater where we can enjoy the same kind of food for half the price. read more

http://hungryinlondon.com/2011/04/phoenix-palace-marylebone/ (for photos and more :) For me there is no better Sunday lunch than dim sum. I like the sitting together and sharing. In addition after a week(end) full of gluttony, it is a healthy option, particularly when you manage to stay off the fried stuff. When asking trusted foodies about their favourite dim sum place, Phoenix Palace is popping up again and again. As this year is my year of the dumpling, it was about time to visit Phoenix Palace located in a little side street just off of Baker Street to test their vast variety of dim sum. When we went to Phoenix Palace on a sunny Sunday afternoon, the place was packed. I would estimate that at least half to two thirds of the patrons were Chinese, which promised authenticity and quality. I rather liked the Chinese decor and style of Phoenix Palace, and it is not as stuffy and claustrophic as for example the famous (but in my opinion overrated) dim sum joint Royal China. Interesting were the Cold Tossed Baby Octopus (3.80) which came in a chili and lemon sauce. Half of the table hated it; the other half really liked it. I was part of the latter and really enjoyed the chilled pieces of tender octopus with the flavoursome sauce, spicy but not overwhelmingly so. On the insipid side were the Noodles with Spicy Hot Meat Sauce, Sichuan Style (6) they were not spicy at all and for me there were no Sichuan flavours detectable at all unfortunately. I would not order these again. My favourites were the steamed Wasabi Prawn Dumplings (3.80) thin and translucent dough filled with plump and tender prawns followed by a fierce wasabi kick. A definite must have! Something I always order when I see it anywhere on the menu are the Pork Buns (2.80). At Phoenix Palace, the dough was the revelation of fluffy and light, filled with perfectly seasoned and non greasy bbq pork. Nothing to write home about were the sticky rice things (their correct name being Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf Wrap). I have had them much better at Leong's Legends. Excellent however were the Vegetarian Spring Rolls (2.80). I usually never order spring rolls. The greasy variant filled with low quality meat that we used to eat when the first Chinese restaurant opened when I was a child, put me off them forever. I therefore was glad that someone else on my table insisted on ordering them as the light and crispy batter with the fresh and tasty vegetables were a real pleasure. The Grilled Chicken Gyozas (2.80) and the Prawn Cheung Fun (4.40) were solid fare. Not spectacular but definitely in the upper range. None of us liked the Cheung Fun with Dried Shrimp. Sometimes it just doesn't pay off to order something weird sounding Now we come to the desserts. I have a weakness for desserts that are not too sugary and you often find this kind of sweets in Chinese and Japanese cuisine. The desserts we tried at Phoenix Palace had a rather mixed reception on our table, but that's the thing with Chinese sweets, they are definitely an acquired taste. I thought they were actually the highlight of the meal. Red bean ice cream (3.80) with little red beans sitting on top like tiny insects was almost savoury and highly addictive. Even better and so pretty were the perfectly round and white Cream Custard Buns (2.80) filled with a sweet and salty vanilla custard. Everyone liked the hot and glutinous black sesame things (3), which funnily enough were decorated with a couple of parsley leaves. So much for non-sweet. Verdict: Even though it is overall not the best dim sum I have ever eaten, some of the dishes were truly outstanding and considering that the atmosphere is rather pleasant, I can only recommend Phoenix Palace for some serious dumpling feast. read more

Is it worth going? Yes! Better than any other dim sum place I have tried in London so far though of course not as good as Hong Kong dim sum establishments. I recently went with a group of friends and we feasted on tons of amazing dim sum treats, and the bill came to 13 pounds a head. It was an absolute steal at that price, and I am still dreaming about the pork buns. read more