London,

The best restaurants for dim sum in London

Basket cases: Take your pick from the delicious dumplings at Ping Pong

Sublime design: The perfection of Yauatcha

Exotic: Ordering is easy at Pearl Liang

Glamour: China Tang

Cheeky: Drunken Monkey was formerly a strip club

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Are you a dim sum daredevil, tempted by ducks' tongues, tripe and finest chicken feet? Or a play-it-safe type who prefers familiar barbecued pork, spring rolls and prawn toast? Whichever you may be, you'll find London's thriving dim sum scene has something for you.

Based on Cantonese tea and dumpling tradition "yum cha", dim sum is now a London obsession. From hungover brunch to late-night snack, we now want our dumplings all day every day, with cocktails, loud music and lashings of glamour.

Yet sometimes we want them old-school style, served from trolleys in a cavernous Hong Kong-style restaurant with neverending pots of tea.

Whether you're a traditionalist or a modernist, an old hand or a novice, we've the place for you.

New World
One of the last of a dying breed, this vast Chinatown institution still serves its dim sum from trolleys. Mostly helpful, sometimes harried, waitresses wheel them round piled high with bamboo steamers, barbecued meats and jellified puddings in strange brightly coloured shades.

Trolley service is great for novice dim sum eaters who just want to just point and eat - but you may inadvertently order a plate of tripe. New World may not hit culinary heights, but for cheap and authentic Hong Kong-style fun it's hard to beat, attracting queues so long you may have to take a ticket and wait at weekends. Dim sum is served all day, but the trolleys do their last round around 5.30pm.
1 Gerrard Place, Chinatown (020 7734 0396)

Ping Pong
The clue's in the easy-listening soundtrack: this is dim sum at its most populist. The polite welcome, easy set menus (from £10.50) and all-day offering make this seven-strong dumpling and cocktail chain the entry-level option, the very opposite of an authentic Chinatown experience.

Menus have a pan-Asian slant and nary a webbed foot in sight. Even the tea experience is sexed up: "flowering" jasmine tea in tall glasses. But there's a reason for the queues out the door - Ping Pong gives good glamour at a great price.
45 Great Marlborough Street, Soho (020 7851 6969)

Pearl Liang
A year-old challenger for best dim sum in town, Pearl Liang pairs exotic looks with authentic Cantonese cuisine. Ordering's easy: tick what you want on the menu from popular favourites such as barbecued pork puffs (£2.50) or prawn dumplings (£2.80) to acquired tastes like chicken feet in black bean sauce (£2.50) or steamed ox tripe with ginger and spring onion (£2.50).

Though the Paddington Basin setting is quiet at the weekend, inside Pearl Liang, it's teeming with families and cool young things. The weekday set lunch is a steal at £9.60. Dim sum available 12-5pm.
8 Sheldon Square, Paddington, (020 7289 7000)

Royal China Club
A new-school eaterie from an old-school brand. There's only one place to see and be seen on a Sunday, and it's the Royal China Club where, every weekend, dumpling-mad glamourpusses wait in line for a table with champers, fresh juices and a wodge of Sunday papers.

This sleek joint specialises in top-notch dim sum and sparkling ingredients, such as Dover sole cheung fun (£4.80) or lobster dumplings in yellow wine sauce (£5.80).

Prices are higher than the norm but the standard's several steps up. Take the tea list: there are nearly 40 choices with prices from £4.80 a pot but, for that, you get quality. Dim sum served 12-5pm.
40-42 Baker Street, W1 (020 7486 3898)

London Hong Kong
A casual Lisle Street restaurant offering an extensive menu complete with full colour photography, so you know exactly what you're getting.

Duck tongue with chilli and sesame oil (£2.80), goose feet with abalone (a type of shellfish) sauce (£3.80) and bowls of congee (rice porridge) fall into the only-if-you-dare category.

Thai-influenced mince prawn skewers or chive dumplings are more familiar territory. It has a bigger, flasher sibling near Heathrow. Dim sum served 12-5pm.
6-7 Lisle Street, Soho (020 7287 0352)

Yauatcha
Alan Yau's Michelin-starred eaterie inaugurated the new school. Gourmet ingredients, a wine list (gasp!), pretty cakes and sublime design have made it a touchstone of London's international food scene.

Expect the classics with a Western gourmet touch - for example, venison puffs or asparagus cheung fun - but your bill will likely hit £40 a head. You can take the lifestyle home with candles, teapots, cakes and macaroons all for sale.
15 Broadwick Street, Soho (020 7494 8888)

China Tang
Comprising one stage of Kate Moss's infamous marathon 34th birthday bender, China Tang is London's most glamorous Chinese. The Cantonese and MSG-free dim sum are above average (£4-£8) while some dishes - lobster dumplings (£22) and egg noodles with lobster (£38) - have you reaching for the credit card. The art deco-style décor makes a fab backdrop. If it's good enough for Mossy...
The Dorchester, Park Lane, Mayfair (020 7629 9988)

Drunken Monkey
This cheeky east London original has thrown old traditions into the mix along with happy hours, DJs and cocktails for a drinking den with a difference. The moody interior's lanterns and mirrors give it an appealing, seedy edge (it is a former strip club, after all). Moreish drunken ribs (£3.80), salt-fried squid (£4.20) or Peking potstickers (£3.80) make a great sop for cocktail pitchers (from £12.50).
222 Shoreditch High Street, (020 7392 9606)

Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.

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