Imperial China Restaurant in Richmond upon Thames

Absolutely beautiful Cantonese food in a charming neighborhood restaurant that was buzzing and full on a Friday evening. Generous portions, hot food and smiley service. Can’t ask for more! (Tricky parking, though)

The best of the best. I’m from Hong Kong and coming here feels like home - the dim sum is incredible, you can’t miss it!

Before coming here, I was warned by a friend that I should look carefully at the price before eating. Because the restaurant is very crowded and they always want customers to eat quickly to catch the next customers. Many people have complained about the restaurant always "miscalculating" the price. 120 pounds for a plate of lobster and more than 60 pounds for 6 scallops. The price of drinks is listed on the menu but when calculating the bill, they always add £1-£2 to the price. They think customers don't know and will continue to do so! Be careful to check the bill when you eat here. Dishonest and I feel like I'm being cheated but can't do Anything!

I consider myself to be fortunate in having Imperial China so near to my home. The chefs accurately re-create the tastes of Hong Kong/Cantonese cuisine. Staff are knowledgeable, helpful and family friendly. This restaurant is, in my opinion, beyond criticism. Thanks 🙏

Incredible restaurant with impeccable service. Would highly recommend this place to anyone and if you’re looking for something to start your dining experience, try the scallops first… exquisite.

Lovely food. Staff very friendly and helpful.

Dim sum are cold and the taste of foods are bad! Extremely bad service as well as keep asking customer to pay and leave, so annoying, blacklisted !

Average food but it is way too expensive. Not value for money and felt misguided into ordering the more expensive dishes. Will not return.

Great Chinese food. Service is ok. They charge for water so make sure you know.

This has been our go to Dim Sum restaurant almost a decade. The chef and the owner have always been excellent. Dim Sum is excellent and authentic Cantonese. The rock star dish is the stir fry beef ho fun is fantastic. Definitely a good dinner menu too. If my review is based on food alone, they will get 4+ stars. Staff and service is what you will expect in most Chinese restaurants. However a recent staff change resulted this poor review. As long as you are not Chinese, the head waiter/manager will happily greet you. You can’t miss this middle age with quite a distinctive hair style, thinning hair, pointy in the middle. Yes, the new staffs discriminate their own kind. If you made no prior booking, despite only 1/4 of the restaurant is occupied they will turn you away by putting you off by saying it is cash only (they do accept card of course). There is a cash point nearby, however it’s 800m away and out of service most of the time. It’s understandable if he made the assumption my family of 3 will order fewer dishes (less than £40). But being a fairly regular customer, other staff would recognise my family on average order 10+ dishes, bill comes to £80+. Honestly, I can’t remember when was the last time I carried £100+ cash on me since contactless and Apple Pay has been around. Perhaps bring along a non-Chinese in your party to be safe? It’s really a shame the recent experiences we had encountered meant we won’t be returning for a while.

Food average. Staff rude. Popular because it is the only HK/Cantonese option in the area, so has a captive clientele craving Chinese food. Was a regular, but that would be my last visit

If I can give zero star, I would. The restaurant food is below average, service is bad, and has this self-made-up rule of cash only on Monday to Friday and card accepted only on weekends (even if theg have a sticker on the front door to say that they accept visa or mastercard). £71 for three people is a reasonable price but I don’t think the whole dinning experience is worth £71, I think I would be happier and more satisfied eating in Nando’s or Mc Donalds.

Definitely overpriced. Serving in London with very insufficient staff! I won't recommend you to go to a Chinese restaurant just because of what you look like. You can have much better experiences I didn't know whether I was eaten or beaten.

Excellent authentic dim sum Updated 2024 - still excellent 👌

Extensive chinese menu including the typical English orientated Cantonese classics as well as some more exotic Sichuan dishes which cater to those liking something more authentic. The only let down I have is the ambience which is dull and uninspiring.

Worst restaurant ever!!!! It was a nightmare dining there oh my god 1️⃣super rude service from two male waiter. We didn't order watermelon juice, he served us. After we corrected him, he took the juice away without any apologies!!!! And had a look at us as if we did something terrible! !!! 🤯 2️⃣ridiculous price!!! 3 bowls of steamed rice cost us 16.8 GBP!! They’re just normal steamed rice!!!🥲 3️⃣the stare. They stare at you as if you’re prisoners. Hospitality simply does NOT exist. 🥲 we’re so anxious when we eat, finish all the meals in half an hour 🥲🥲🥲 4️⃣all the food are in super small portion. we spend 89 GBP in total, three adult, I’m ok but my two male friends are still hungry after the meal. 🥲 My worst worst worst experience in a restaurant ever. You paid and you’re stressed and you’re still hungry. The manipulation and toxicity for god’s sake. I thought it was Chinese food, so I took my friends to eat it. Help me, this is really terrible. I have never been treated like this. Am I a guest or something, as if I owe them money. Don't eat it, whoever eats it will regret it.

Brilliant Chinese restaurant and really quick service. Crispy chilli beef recipe batter is way too thick but everything else is excellent

Restaurant saved by the chefs for so many years. Slightly above average food, but overpriced. Super small portions. Not many alternative restaurants around the area. Service is consistently bad though, especially from the main waiter. We unfortunately always find additional item(s) not ordered on final bill. If it happens occasionally then can be a mistake but if it consistently happens, then we have to start doubting the integrity of the servers. No apology either when questioned. Discount if we pay by cash.

Good food overall food is expensive. £30 for 10 pieces of dim sum and £2.40 for 3 plastic container is day light robbing

This place used to be excellent. Now…adequate at best, poor service With higher prices. They charged me for the plastic takeaway container!!!

Great atmosphere, authentic cuisines and prompt service.

The best dinner ever! It was super yummy and addicting!£££ the best Cantonese pork!!!

After I ordered food, I will never do it again... How Chinese Food Can Be Made With Deep Oil... tragedy

Typical Japanese and Chinese cuisine. Very good

Visited a couple of years ago, bought takeout dim sum. AFTER payment, I was told eat-in orders will take priority over my takeout and would take longer to prepare. Shame, haven't visited since. Would rather have frozen or travel into London Chinatown.

A restaurant where you can enjoy delicious and diverse Chinese food. The seafood dishes are especially fresh and good. It is helpful to refer to the recommended ingredients that come in that day. It is better to make a reservation before going.

Some of the best Chinese food I've had in a long time. Restaurant is unassuming but pleasant, with the staff attentive and friendly. Food was delicious, with a wide selection of every day favourites and chef specials. Very recommended. Book in advance!

Fabulous dinner as always and well worth paying a little extra. We had the Imperial Set Meal and everything was delicious. Friendly service … our go to Chinese when in the area

Tasty and legit Chinese. Will return.

Staffs were all rude, no smile at all, kept chasing us to finish quickly because they wanted the table back in 1 and half hours. Dim sum were just average. Roast pork and roast duck were bad. I didn't take any pictures as I wasn't prepared to give a review but after I spent over £100 for dim sum and received this sort of service. I think I should let other people know.

UK rudest restaurants. Staff treats you like worse than a bug. Food is ok since the shxt is OVERPRICED. If you think you are a bug, go there, suffer and give your money to the rudest people on earth for no reason👍

Genuinely shocked. An Irish family of 3 sat on the table next to us dressed in their Sunday best, looking to have a nice quiet family meal out together. Until the restaurant insisted they pay upfront. Nobody else in that restaurant was asked to pay upfront. All they could tell them was that it was ‘their policy’. No it wasn’t. White couple here. We weren’t asked to pay upfront. Didn’t see anyone else asked to pay upfront either. Now I know it would be naive of me to say I'm surprised this still happens as there are still of course rotten apples in the barrel when it comes to racism. But I am saddened to have seen it first hand. And even more upset at myself for not speaking up as I was completely speechless that it was happening in the first place. Disgusting behaviour from the restaurant. Shame as the food was good but will not be returning on principle.

Cash only, we were told that there was cash machine on the opposite side of the street but it was broken, we then go to the nearest ATM at Tesco, 3 min drive, get the cash and came back, and the restaurant told us that they don’t have seats anymore. Very disappointed, I’ve drove 45 minutes here for lunch but ends up with nothing.

Service very poor we have travelled from Roehampton me and my family and before we travelled we rung the restaurant twice at the time we got there the guy told us that we need to pay cash because it's Saturday and we had to ring ahead so that we can reserve a table however we told the guy that we rung before. It's not acceptable to setup a conditions to the restaurant of it's not advertised online. So we preferred no to eat because they were not very open in terms of customer service as a consumer.

Good food but unacceptable services. The staff are pushy and rude. They only allow you to order the food once, as they say they are busy in the Saturday lunch session, which I have never went to a Chinese Dim Sum restaurant that does the same.

The dim sum is incredible: order Siu Mai, chicken feet, belly pork, crystal prawn, chiuchow, chilli pork, rice parcels, smashed cucumber, clay pot, could go on - we’ve never had a bad dish here. We thought we’d hit the jackpot when we moved/found it in 2019 and didn’t have to schlep into Chinatown anymore. Service has always been fine, until our last visit when the Sunday manager was frankly abusive, wildly inappropriate and totally ruined what was supposed to be a birthday celebration. Go, get fed (very well!), get out.

Most friendly and welcoming staff - professional and warm. "Kelvin" made sure we were happy and really cared about our experience - even though it was just lunch he really wanted to ensure we were happy - Thanks! Great food, great service, great team - well done, we'll be back 100%.

so we had booked a table 2 weeks ago for 4 of us, we walked in and gave our name, the lady at the desk had a look on the computer and called over a man which looked like he was the manger, they had spoke in there own language then the man says .. I’m sorry but you have to pay now for your food, we said but we aren’t to sure what we would like to eat yet as we haven’t even looked at the menu, we also said is this the same for everyone here as we were so confused and none of us have had experienced this before, he then went on saying .. no because you are not regular customers, we explained we have cash and showed him and even said you can have a card, still no, we said to them so every time we want to order food or even more crackers we have to then pay there and then, and he’s answer was yes, I would understand if we were loud or not dressed for the “occasion” or underdressed for them, we are 30-40 year old and not going to run off over a Chinese that was recommended to us! Absolute joke and rude people!!!

Delicious food, authentic service, great atmosphere!

Amazing Chinese dim sum restaurant and tasted like we were in Hong Kong. Highly recommended!!

Fantastic food and an excellent service. As usual I ordered a little too much, so a doggy bag for later. If I lived nearer, I'd always be in there... 😋

Wonderful dim sum at lunchtime. The best I've ever had outside Chinatown. The place was chocka on a Friday lunchtime which tells a story...truly excellent Not as cheap as town but you'd expect that, but not expensive either. Great great food. Highly recommend if you love dumplings

Great restaurant and very good atmosphere the only downside the the guy who greets you very is quite strong but having lived in HK I am used to it

this used to be a reliable local saving us from going to Chinatown in London but the service and atmosphere has gone way down. The day we went was meant to be a celebration of a recent engagement but it was ruined by the waiter coming to our table every 5 minutes giving us a countdown of how much longer we could be there for - Despite the fact that he was still serving us our food. he started this from a 25 min countdown. really rude and I gather from other neighbours that this has happened to them too,. This is not how to make your customers feel welcome. In fact so bad that one household refuses to ever go again. I am hoping that manager will read this review and do something about the service.

Had my first and last take away from them today. Utterly inedible sweet and sour pork. I guess the fact that it took less than five minutes to be ready should have tipped me off that it was old food reheated. I have put it on the lawn for the foxes - I wonder whether they will enjoy it? £33 for this plus some very soggy prawn toast is dreadful. It will never happen again.

Having read a number of reviews for this restaurant before booking for dinner on Friday night with my kids and one of their girlfriends, I knew we could expect good food, but was wondering about the service. I have to say, our experience was entirely positive. The restaurant was full, but despite this the service was very attentive and positive. The food was really very good and the wine list is reasonably priced. Finally, the decor was great. We had a really good time. I am sure we will be back.

Always loved this place, consistent quality and lovely staff. The menu is on the pricier side, especially with rising costs and all; but the dimsum is all handmade in house and the dishes are always top notch!

Excellent dim sum with big variety

Got here at 12:05pm (5mins after it opens) and apparently all the tables were booked, i.e. no tables for walk-in at all. This is pretty ridiculous for a dimsum restaurant not to have any tables for walk-in. Don’t recommend and won’t come back again.

Ok food, lovely staff, expensive

Food was hot fresh and tasted good. Place was very busy but cramped. Definitely worth a try. Need 2 book b4

Poor service. Never visit again.

Guy was rather abrupt when we arrived but the waitresses were more friendly and helpful. All the food was super hot (temp) which was great. Had to ask for certain condiments but they were available. Overall enjoyed the food.

The food was really good and the waiters were really attentive we were a party of twelve and there was food left over so we asked for doggy bags to take the food home bearing in mind the amount of money we collectively spent I felt the charge of £4:80 for the boxes was inappropriate and for that reason I won’t return

Had a lovely meal here, great service, really helpful with a large group with suggestions.lovely food, great staff.

The food is so fresh and the service is very fast even on a busy day.

The food is pretty good, standard Chinese menu, service isn’t great, it feels like you’re putting them out asking for something. It isn’t cheap either. My wife and I have racked up a bill of over £120 on one occasion. But you know what, I’m not going there to make friends with the staff. I go there because the food puts a smile on my face, as long as I don’t order a lot.

Love the dim sum here! They are the best I found in London post covid lock down. Booking advance for weekend specials. When you come more than once you notice regulars. Easy parking here.

poor food and one waiter was very rude!! I recently dined at this restaurant and had an extremely unsatisfactory experience. The quality of the food was poor, and the prices were on the higher side. However, what disappointed me the most was the service. The attitude of the staff made me feel disrespected, and they seemed more interested in upselling rather than ensuring a pleasant dining experience. Throughout the meal, I was approached by four different servers, all trying to sell me the same dish, which made me feel very uncomfortable. It appeared that their primary focus was on sales rather than providing good service. What surprised me the most was that the server directly asked my child which juice they wanted while we were ordering, which was clearly inappropriate. I not only felt dissatisfied but also deeply disappointed with the restaurant's service and food quality.

We were in three, we had the set menu seafood gourmet, absolutely delicious and varied, great service, and very friendly and welcoming, nice atmosphere there too.

Came to the restaurant and it’s closed, even though google says it’s open. Please update your timings.

Delicious best Chinese dim sum in the area. Bit pricey but as good as restaurants in china town. Honestly the service is what I expect when I go to a Chinese ran restaurant a bit blunt and direct but doesn’t take away from the experience.

Excellent food!! Great service, really nice staff and great banter. Best in this area!

Used to be a good place for dim sum but it is now very expensive and not that great. It's a very popular place for Sunday lunch so you will need to book in advance. Be aware that the Food Standards Agency rated this as 3/5 'generally satisfactory' for hygiene and food handling in August 2023.

Pretty good dim sum and the best one can find anywhere south off the river. Would recommend. :)

terrible service especially a hk guy and not feel welcomed by any stuff, never come back again

One of the best Chinese food iv had, quality ingredients and very tasty easily comparable to the high end restaurants. Not too price and really nice decor. Friendly staff

Very nice staff and very good food

My favourite Chinese **Amazing food** I love this restaurant. My husband and I sometimes eat in however every Friday we visit and get a take away. First the people are lovely and friendly. We order hor d oeuvres. So the salt and pepper squid is so fresh and tasty. Good quality food. Usually I dislike spring rolls in all Chinese places but the spring rolls are obviously hand crafted. They and mushroom and the most amazing flavours. So addictive. My husband says I’m a creature of habit but only if it’s as good as Imperial china’s food. So main course we have fillet beef and asparagus. Again amazing cooked to perfection. Perfect succulent beef and large thick tender asparagus. If I had one negative thing to say I’d like a bit more in the portion size for the money. They give free prawn crackers to us and chilli oil. Try it You will love it!

One of the best chinese restaurants I ever visit in UK. Down to earth type of deliciousness. Stay true to authentic Chinese cuisine from Hong Kong/ Canton

Our Go To place for Dim Sum outside of central London. We go there for the crispy fried noodles which are excellent and difficult to find elsewhere

Too much salt in the food though - please cut it back a bit!

The Best Chinese Restaurant Around

I would definitely recommend this for authentic chinese cuisines! The foods are delicious and great flavours. Dim-sum is though not the best! Fried options are better here than the dim-sum. We ordered Fujian fried rice which was very good. Compared to other dim-sum restaurants, it is a bit high on the price. But overall, it is a nice and authentic restaurant around the area.

Probably the best dim sum in London. Great experience and throughly recommend

The second time we eat here and am sure we come back..Everything was nice.. Thank you ❤️

They keep claiming to not be open when they are which is questionable service over the phone. Wouldn't recommend based on this.

Ordered around 6 dishes and made wrong for 2

Yum cha for several times. Authentic flavors of the dim sum. It’s one of the best dim sum restaurants around these areas:) However, 1.5 hours only for enjoying the dim sum during lunch time. You may need to order the food once sitting down or the staff may keep asking you.

Food was ok however was shocked at the final price of the meal. Very very expensive. Was then charged additional £5 when I asked if I could take some of the food home. They claimed this was the price of the containers used. Sadly I will not be returning.

We always experience good food and attentive service, alas not on our last visit - the food was OK (one of the dishes was wrong, food was warm not hot). Will try them again for Dim Sum on a weekend.

We have visiting Imperial China for 10years, but last night possibly worst experience. Food cold, waitress rude, incorrect order disappointed with overall quality 😥

A nice place for Chinese Yumcha. Foods are good, with average service.

烤鳝鱼要提前打电话定，基本每次来都会点，偏甜口。可以提前和老板打电话定个汤和想吃的海鲜。烧排骨很好吃，不过限量的，卖完就没啦。

The waitress was very pushy and annoying , so I didn’t enjoy the dinner very much. The food was so so and the portion was very small

Quite authentic Cantonese food. Most of the dishes are good, but the Crispy chicken is not that crispy and disappointing.

Simply put, one of the best and most authentic Chinese food experiences that are available. Superb food, presentation and not massively overpriced. Can't recommend higher.

Good and delicious 😋 It will be a good place for me to have dinner with my family.

Lovely authentic restaurant, yummy food and amazing interior too. Price was not cheap but not too expensive as well ,just right. We really enjoyed ourselves,thank you 🎎🎐🎏🧧🎍

Really recommend this place good food drink and service. Thanks

Extremely poor service. I am now avoiding this restaurant even I crave for Dim Sum or just drive a bit further. There are just so many unreasonable rules each time we go and they add new ones every time. - 1.5hr dining time - get rushed to order - only allow to make 1 order, waiter explained there wouldn’t be adequate time to place another order. - charge £3 for a glass of hot water (assuming that’s to make customers to order drinks) - charge £3 for chilli oil for the table - accept cash only

A branch of the Imperial China in London’s China Town. Nice to have one in Teddington serving the same great quality food. Really great place for dim sum. Everything tasted very delicious and freshly made. Tried many dishes such as soup pork dumplings, chicken claw in black bean and chilli, steamed spare ribs in black bean and chilli, char siu bau, fried beef ho fun noodles, stir fried morning glory and other dishes which were all very good. Fast and efficient service. Not cheap but authentic Chinese food.

Tasty food ever and cool atmosphere every time

Definitely one of the best dim sum places outside of China Town and we have loved coming here for their excellent food. However, like other recent reviewers have mentioned, the portion of the dim sum dishes have shrunk noticeably compared with just a few months ago, and together with the increased price, it is becoming difficult to justify coming here. The quality and the taste of the food, thankfully, have not changed. Edited 2023: still the best dim sum around.

I am not a fan of yum cha. But this place gave me a positive surprise. The food was full of flavours because it was freshly made; its ingredients were genuine and substantial, better than many restaurants in Hong Kong. But the booking time slots were very strict on the weekends. And you cannot stay more than 90 mins. Besides, they accept cash only.

Wow! What a wonderful restaurant with friendly, sincere service with delicious authentic Chinese food. They are very tasty. Service makes you feel very comfortable and welcome. The atmosphere is very authentic. If you like Chinese and looking for some in the area, this is the place to go.

Great food but they rush you to leave as soon as your time is up. Like 75 minutes

Best dim sum is this area. Had a really nice meal. Thank you. Definitely will come back again.

Food was ok but I feel there are better venues for this higher price bracket. The service left a lot to be desired. Rude and patronising, as if they were doing us a favour letting us eat there. And when we pointed out we had been overcharged on the bill, we were told we were wrong when, clearly, we were not. We will not return.

They only accept cash in this modern world.