London's best Chinese restaurants

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Feast of flavours: Daisy, left, and a friend tuck in at Phoenix

Family favourite: a waitress serves up authentic fare at Phoenix Palace

Punchy: dim sum is a must at Yauatcha

Tasty: Four Seasons is famed for its duck

With the Olympic Games gripping London, now's the perfect time to sample Beijing-style cuisine - without leaving the capital. They say Beijing locals are so obsessed with food that the phrase "Che fan le ma?" - "have you eaten?" - is used in place of "hello".

The cuisine of Beijing (formerly Peking) is a melting pot of flavours and ingredients, where dishes are shaped not only by the regional diversity within China itself, but also by that of its many neighbours. While dim sum is ubiquitous throughout China, noodles, dumplings, pork, mutton and, of course, duck are more typical of northern Chinese cuisine.

On 8 September, Min Jiang restaurant at the Royal Garden Hotel opens, featuring an authentic Beijing duck oven and great views over Hyde Park. In the meantime, here are our top tips on Chinese restaurants going for gourmet gold...

LEONG'S LEGENDS
If there were food Olympics, China would be wise to field a team from Leong's. Every ingredient at this Chinatown restaurant has been carefully researched, tried and tested so all dishes are works of art. The menu has a Taiwanese influence, but spicy beef noodles - hunks of meat and fat noodles in a gutsy spiced stock (£4.50) - is Beijing to a T.
Portions are big enough to share among an entire family. The freshly steamed dim sum is exquisite and comes in steamers of eight for £6, so they're great value, too.
4 Macclesfield Street, W1 (020 7287 0288)

KAI MAYFAIR
This is modern Chinese dining at its best. Top-notch service and luxurious dishes such as Buddha Jumps Over The Wall soup (£108, it takes five days to make) have come to define this much-lauded restaurant.
Chef Alex Chow has taken Beijing food and rewritten the rule book. Try his Beijing duck tasting menu (£65pp, minimum two people), showcasing five amazing duck courses. There's also a Dom Perignon champagne menu (£280pp). Dining like an emperor doesn't come cheap, but this is gold medal stuff.
65 South Audley Street, W1

PHOENIX PALACE
A head count of Chinese people can be a pretty good gauge of quality. As such, Phoenix Palace scores full marks. It's packed with Chinese families who flock here to satisfy their cravings for authentic, fresh food. Capital spare ribs (£6), Peking hot and sour soup (£3.50) and delicate steamed Peking buns (£2.20) all fly the Beijing flag with honour here.
5 Glentworth Street, NW1 (020 7486 3515)

YAUATCHA
Young, punchy and redefining a genre, Alan Yau's Soho restaurant has carved a niche in world-class dining by elevating dim sum from traditional Chinese breakfast fare to edgy evening meals. There's a huge variety of dim sum and mains to choose from, with jasmine tea-smoked organic ribs (£8) giving a insight into Beijing-style food.
15 Broadwick Street, W1 (020 7494 8888)

FOUR SEASONS
There is one very good reason to head to Four Seasons - roast duck. The crispy-skinned ducks at this Queensway institution are known to have reduced patrons to tears of joy. The setting is far from glamorous but a bite or two of melting duck meat dripping in special secret-recipe sweet soy sauce make it worthwhile. A whole duck (£18) will feed four hungry people and at weekends, queues down the street are testimony to Four Seasons' fame.
84 Queensway, W2 (020 7229 4320)

SHANGHAI
This Dalston gem serves Chinese cuisine from an old pie and mash shop - complete with wooden booths. If the setting (and karaoke room) isn't enough to draw you east, the food will. Look beyond the name and many dishes bear Beijing hallmarks, such as the pork belly stew with mature rice wine (£8.50). On the dim sum menu there's aromatic duck spring rolls and steamed fish dumplings (£2.90 each).
41 Kingsland Road, E8 (020 7254 2878)

 

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