Imperial City Chinese Restaurant and Bar in City of London, Westminster

The price is “ok” but not the food and the staffs. The food are just disgusting and if you want to try some disgusting Chinese good , go on.

Food disgusting and that is it, maybe we picked the wrong night but honestly most of the food was left and the waitress came to clear the table there wasn't even an enquiry as to why so much food was left

This restaurant is quite hard to find; its entrance is in a narrow shopfront outside the Royal Exchange. Service was very friendly but quite slow, not enough staff for the quantity of diners. Food was good.

Lovely underground space with vaulted ceilings and exposed brick, gives a surprisingly soft sound in this cavernous hall FULL of be-suited city-types knocking back the noodles and sparkling water. Service was old-school Chinese, they come come when they come and certainly not just because you have called them, which I like. Its business like, a bit rigid, as it should be. The food is good and expensive. Half a 'Peking duck', three mains and two rice with 6 beers will cost you over £110, no problem. Service charges are high for what is not so much service as supply, but its all rather tasty, well presented and such a perfect mix of western-power-lunch and Eastern no-nonse, i liked it. Expect to be ushered in and spat out onto the street within an hour having spent £2 every minute you were seated. Look out for dishes marked Szechaun, which are listed as 'hot'. Again no messing around, my Szechaun Chicken, had 17 whole chillies in it and gave me a buzz that i guess keeps the city guys going until theycan score the coke. Verdict: Great place to discuss setting up your first hedge fund.

IC is still a very good Chinese restaurant which I find hard to encounter, even in london Choice and quality of dishes is great but was underwhelmed by the duck, both the preparation and the quality Also , service was quite mechanical that evening, and not very warm and welcoming

Never heard of this place before but a lovely hidden gem under the exchange Food was Fantastic, there was no rush and great atmosphere. Will be going back soon

A smart Chinese restaurant with several gluten-free options. Good service. They are prepared for gluten-free, as soon as you mention your requirements they propose options based on modifications of the menu card. Even better if they also had gluten-free beer!

Decent mid to high end Chinese with good menu and nice atmosphere. Good place to come with a group. Good busy lunch spot as well, as it stay busy past 2pm

Booked online with open table. It was fancy city style Chinese restaurant - quite different from the Chinatown style I'm used to. They had all the typical Cantonese Chinese dishes I had been dreaming about and everything was very good. We had a quarter duck, hot and spicy soup and ribs as starters followed by chicken with black bean sauce, sweet and sour pork, curried Singaporean noodles and egg fried rice. It was way too much food but we hadn't eaten Cantonese food for a while and we got too excited by the menu. The food, although good was really not any better than any restaurant in Chinatown so you are paying extra for the location. It wasn't a cheap dinner.

Food is OK to good, but pricey e.g. £6.75 for a small bowl of chicken and sweetcorn coup, £6.75 for 3 spring rolls, £4.10 for a bottle of mineral water. Also noticed that an 'optional' 12.5% service charge was slipped onto the bill. I prefer to choose what tip i leave, so I don't like it when it's added on and not pointed out.

Tucked away underground but what a delight. Great food, freshly prepared and cooked, with great service. Very busy but they don't rush you.

Excellent Chinese with vaulted ceilings in the historic Royal Exchange basement. Wonderful staff and tasty menu. Set menu option here are really good, and it's great for business lunches.

From a restaurant in an iconic setting in the heart of the City, one has certain expectations. These were not met. The food is not authentic - it has more in common with the sort of stuff one used to get in cheap Chinese restaurants back in the 60s and 70s than with genuine Chinese food (and yes, having lived in Hong Kong for many years, I do know what that is). It is always a matter for concern when the menu mixes "Chinese" with "Thai", but they can be done well. Here, the steamed dim sum were soggy and tasteless, the chicken satay acceptable, but dull, and the Thai fish-cakes actively nasty. The "dipping sauces" (Thai sweet chilli and hoisin) were largely unsuited to the mixed appetiser platter, and served mainly to provide at least *some* flavour. The Gong Pao prawns had good prawns (though we were alarmed to be asked whether we wanted them in batter or not - they are *never* served in batter in this recipe!), but instead of having a fiery sauce, redolent with dried chillis and vinegar and soya sauce, these were bathed in more Thai sweet chilli sauce. No heat at all, and not a very good taste, either. The chicken in black bean sauce had more capsicum than either chicken or (especially) black bean. The chicken fillets were dry and tasteless. And the egg fried rice also had little flavour, though perhaps this was because I picked out all of the diced red capsicum (I cannot eat capsicum) which I have *never* been given before in egg fried rice. A dire meal, with no redeeming features. The service was slow and uninspired. The staff were pleasant enough, but not in the least enthusiastic. Seeing what the kitchen produced, I suppose I ought not to be surprised. Avoid it if you want a decent Chinese meal. Actually, just avoid it anyway,

Booked private dining room for 12 people. We choose the set menu £45 p.p. (a bit lumpy) to avoid confusion. Plenty of food but I wouldn't say mind blowing with flavour. I realise that 12 people in private room is difficult to wait on but our waitress was a bit abrupt and lacked charm. Still, the private room is a good choice for a business dinner but please don't expect to be amazed by the food or hospitality.

We had business lunch here Well managed in the classic settings Good choice of Chinese food We had mix of fish and lamb with Chinese side dishes

This Chinese Restaurant is excellent for a business lunch/dinner. It's well located, has a fabulous environment, the food is excellent and the staff attentive. I would recommend the platter for two as a starter.

We had a large party of business people dining for lunch. We ordered off the fixed price menu and had really great food for the shared courses. The pulled duck was a universal hit. Service was great.

The staff are tired and bored and the food is not far behind !Service is non existence - not a word from the waitress who just took the order , and even then forgot the drinks (bar the water). Food is very average and standard Chinese with no excitement .Imperial City has been around too long and living on past glories.

I was recommended Imperial City as a good venue to take oversea's guests for an authentic taste of China,for a lunch in the city.To our disbelief after finally ordering our drinks, when we asked for a half of Duck to start or meal we were informed "we've run out of duck"In addition to being expensive, to not have any of your best selling dish defies logic. What next? ..... we have no rice. Beyond Poor

A nice place, food good, service excellent. Missed a trick on the Peking Duck. Overall a reliable place but many do it better.

I've eaten in this place many times over the years and went last night with 3 other people. Can only describe it as average when it used to be excellent. Service and food were average compared to other places in the City. One person specifically asked if a dish was hot (they don't like very spicy food) and were told no. When the dish arrived it had more chilies than meat, it was like the chef had added them because we had asked for it extra hot.

Visited last evening and was very disappointed the service was ok The food was appalling duck and chicken both came out cold the prawn toast was soggy and the egg fried rice had every thing in it accept rice .Very poor and will certainly not be returning .i can say this is the worst Chinese I have ever had .

We shared the Spring set menu for 2 (GBP45 per head). Sharing platter of salmon and beef skewers, smoked chicken goujons (unusual and rather tasty) and fried and steamed dumplings all of which was fairly tasty and not overwhelming in terms of portion size (a good thing).Aromatic crispy duck pancakes were good and three pancakes each was about right for the amount of duck.Fried noodles and steamed rice with vegetables and a choice of two mains was plenty of food and the belly pork was full flavoured and beautifully crispy. A shame that with only two people you only get two mains with a larger party on this menu you'd get a smaller amount of a greater variety of dishes which would have been more enjoyable.All in all pretty good, though at city prices and nothing exceptional. This is my first visit in about ten years and I do remember it being a little bit smarter and the food just that notch better in it's heyday.Plenty of staff who served us politely and efficiently. This is 'good' 3.5 stars over all, but tripadvisor only offer 'average' or 'very good', and I don't think I could really say this lunch at the price was more than 'good/OK'.

This restaurant had a great atmosphere. You walk down a black spiral staircase, into the underground restaurant with brick walls etc. The staff were friendly and attentive. I had pork dumplings and crispy duck along with tea.About 6 hours later I couldn't stop throwing up and had waves of crazy stomach pain. Lovely atmosphere, not lovely after effects! Perhaps the dumplings were not cooked right, or maybe it was the tea?

I have often lunched at Imperial City over the years and I am glad it can constantly maintain the high standard of food and service I have always experienced. A great restaurant in the centre of the City.

Love this place, hidden underneath the Royal Exchange, it offers an extensive menu of freshly cooked Chinese cuisine.Service great. Decor kitsch but all the better for it!

Enjoyed a set menu lunch here recently when visiting friends in London. Service and food were good but it lacked atmosphere and was very very quiet which was surprising for the City on a week day. Wine was cold, food was hot, can't say anything bad about it, just didn't have any wow factor.

I dined here yesterday with a work associate. I live in Bermuda, an island which has limited Asian cuisine. I was craving this style of food. I was not let down. From starters to "check please" everything was wonderful. Really wonderful. Do yourself a favour and dine here.

I have been here a few times and the food is very good especially the Peking duck . My only complaint is that every time I go here the staff look like someone has died . Quite bizarre but the food is worth it

Was here after drinks at a nearby Bar, it was part of my birthday party, and some of my friends wanted to try...I have been before, many times, and can say Its easily one of the best Oriental restaurants I've ever been to. Service is outstanding, restaurant is perfect, clean and has a great atmosphere. Highly recommend this place.

Not been here for a while and pleased to find same good food and service - going back again soon

Tucked under the Royal Exchange its a good fun place for a meal. A cut above the average Chinese and the location is lovely. Had the festive menu which was excellent value.

Tucked away under Royal Exchange, you could walk past here 100 times and miss it. I was first taken here for a great business lunch, and came back again for a family occasion. Food very good, nice service, well worth a visit.

Had dinner with friends here a couple of weeks ago. The food is lovely and the service is very friendly. Would highly recommend this restaurant.

I don't know why, but I haven't eaten here for years. Bit of a crime because in the City this place is a legend. A 2 minute walk from Bank station up Cornhill, you could easily miss it as it is basically a door with a staircase that takes you downstairs. And then like a magical cave the restaurant opens up before you. 10 of us are there, but it could easily have been 2, such was their organisation. Drinks were ordered and brought out to us in minutes, additional drinks were received just as efficiently. Before bringing items off the set menu, they checked on food allergies. As I am allergic to shellfish, they gave me a separate plate with non fish starters, a consideration I have never experienced before. They have all the usual crowd pleasers, the crispy duck excellent, chicken satay was good, the peanut sauce had a nice kick to it. Rice and noodles all excellent, the standout was the honey smoked pork ribs.... fantastic. The service was excellent, although we took our time the staff were always there if we needed them.The restaurant has a laid back atmosphere that belies its position in the heart of the City and it is very easy to walk in at midday and leave 3 or 4 hours later. Price wise, very reasonable, you will easily spend a lot more elsewhere and not enjoy it as much.It will not be years again before I go back.

We had dinner here and enjoy our evening. The crispy duck was good but then, it is difficult to get that wrong. The rib-eye with black pepper was nice, although drier than I expected. The chicken with mushrooms was very good. All in all it was good but not great. The aircon was also blasting out making it a bit chilly.

jolly location.........been her for ever.so had the crispy duck.went early on a friday after work.nice venue an polite service.the food however is poor.the crispy duck at £16 a quarter was extremely dried up.prawns in a thick heavy batter.some of the courses lukewarm.frankly best avoided.All rather dreary.

I have been going there for years, it has been there for years. Underground feels intimate. The food is reliably good. Nothing experimental, but good quality. Love the sweetcorn soup, the shredded chilly beef and the duck, but anything you have is very good. Private rooms as well for special office outings.

Siamo stati in questo locale per un pranzo d'affari non troppo formale.Locale caratteristino, nel cuore della city, ad un piano interrato. particolare. Il cibo era ottimo, sicuramente nulla a che vedere con i ristoranti cinesi che abbiamo in italia, ma si sa a Londra il cibo cinese è di diversa qualità.Il ristorante dispone anche di una sala privata, con un grosso tavolo rotondo da 10/12 persone, perfetto per pranzi di lavoro. Consigliato

A splendid and tasteful setting with attentive service and good decor. Well-spaced tables allowed conversation without difficulty.We took the four-course menu: starters were not special or very tasty but the duck which followed was excellent. Our main courses were very good too, although the sea bass had clearly been popular and was sold out. The tropical fruit dessert was pleasant and refreshing.

Been coming here for at least 15 years. Always good food and service. If I'm stuck for a business lunch venue this is my "go to" regular.

Restaurant itself is nice location and setting and the staff were very helpful.However, the food was good, not great but okay. Would not say it is worth the visit or to go out of your way for and it is not the cheapest but was nice.

Have been going to this restaurant for many years - best Chinese / Cantonese Restaurant in London, Management and all staff are the best and all excellent and very accommodating, professional, welcoming, friendly, hard-working and very efficient and nothing is too much trouble [they can't be bettered], not opened at weekends due to the city - highly recommended - Score 10/10

Probably not very authentic cousine but good quality, well prepared and presented. Service is very efficient. Prices are usual for the City.

I went there for a business lunch. Despite the restaurant being busy, the service was quick and attentive. Possibly it helped that we were a party of 20. We had the set Summer menu, which was priced at £45. The starters, Peking duck and main courses were very tasty. There was a dessert which most people did not have of pancake and ice cream. Not cheap, but good food and not overpriced for the City.

Although we had the suckling pig as a starter, I can't say that I was overly impressed with the tastiness of the food. Most of it was rather bland or over-salted. The occasional dish stood out. I mainly feel bad that my brother-in-law spent >400 quid for everyone for just an okay meal.

I've eaten at Imperial City three times over past five years. Tonight's experience will be my last. Food a quality and taste was average to fair, but consistent served warm, but not hot probably due to extended time under warming light. Service was almost non-existent. Waited 20 mins just to place drink order, even more time for main order. I had to aggressively flag down a random staff member to receive every course and refill. Not once was I asked if I needed anything or ready for next course. Don't bother with this problem place.

Di solito non amo i ristoranti Cinesi ma a Londra sono mediamente migliori rispetto ad altre parti e questo non fa eccezione. Anche in questo caso, la qualità è nella media ma sicuramente superiore rispetto ai ristoranti cinesi che si trovano in Italia. Ottima L'Anatra croccante e gli antipasti. Buono il servizio

This Chineses restaurant is located in the heart of City, London near the stock exchange and Bank of England. Menu provides standard dishes typical for European Chinese restaurants and are tasty, but nothing rememberable. However I think this restaurant lacks atmosphere and we had one of the big dining rooms downstairs all by ourselves and I think the food i slightly overvalued. Plus for kind and effective service!

We had a table for 20 after a business meeting. The staff were friendly and very attentive, ensuring our water and wine was topped up. The set menu gave a big choice of the menu and it was all good, bar the rice which was a bit starchy. £45 per head, so a little pricey, but only to be expected for the location. I would come here again.

After finishing work a little later than planned, dinner plans needed to be executed with speed.We decided that some crispy duck with pancakes and come noodles would hit the spot and so we tried this establishment. I hadn't been for approximately ten years, but the fact that it's still open speaks for itself.We started with the crispy duck and pancakes and then had a noodles with bean sprouts, which was disappointing, but the sizzling beef cantonese style was so good we ordered another portion.The banana fritters were too battered, for my taste, but then again, they were fritters, rather than toffee bananas.The service was attentive and we weren't made to feel rushed.It's not the best food, but equally not the worst either, but a little lumpy on the prices, but then where in the City isn't?

I ate at the Imperial City just after 9pm on Friday night. The venue is lovely! The atmosphere was a bit lacking - not many full tables and quite a quiet restaurant. We had two starters between four just as nibbles and they were quite tasty. We then had four mains and sides, 2 beers, 1 wine and a bottle of water, plus 3 espresso coffees at the end. The food was really delicious but just astonishingly expensive for the quantity. We left about an hour and a half later and paid £150 for the four of us!! I was pretty shocked as it was an ok Chinese meal but at nearly £40 per head with no real booze in there, half a starter each and no pudding - pretty pricey!

I was really surprised at the mixed reviews for this place....we had a business dinner with 20 people and the service was second to none! The starters were amazing and the portion sizes perfect given the quality! Also the restaurant setting is amazing underground and in what looks like an old vaulted ceiling cellar, very ambient and I would both recommend and go again!!

This is one of my favorite restaurants in London. I usually go with a large group of people and always have the crispy shredded duck. The mains are good, but the duck is the main attraction. Was there last week and the staff was kind enough to serve us even though we turned up 10 minutes before closing. The food and service were great as usual.

I ordered it from deliveroo. The restaurant is charging way more than it supposed to be. I have to say about their portion, I paid £14 for the duck, and they only gave me 5 pieces, besides I've paid £7 for the broccoli, they gave me 10 piecesThis restaurant is overcharging !! And just giving you with a really tiny portionWith £14, I can have a decent dish of duckWill never order from this restaurant anymore.

We had a business dinner at Imperial City on a Monday evening. The restaurant is well located in the City near the Royal Exchange. The highlights of our meal was the crispy aromatic duck and the crispy sea bream, both excellent. We shared a great bottle of French red wine and all had the banana fritter desert. The service was good, but not always attentive. Yet we had a great evening.

Il locale si trova nel piano interrato della Banca D'Inghilterra nella zona del City. A prima vista è molto bello con muratura in vista , ottimo layout dei tavoli e un atmosfera suggestiva. Noi siamo stati nella saletta riservata che ha suo 'charme' .Cibo molto buono con il tavolo girevole per permettere a tutti di servirsi delle pietanze. Ottimo l'anatra alla cantonese , il riso , ed il pollo in agrodolce.Il servizio è attento e molto buono .

Got taken here for a business lunch last week.It was the second time I have been here and both times the food was great!I particularly enjoyed the crispy shredded beef (this is my favourite Chinese dish). We ordered a range of dishes however, all of which were lovely. The only thing that was slightly disappointing was that the waitress serving us seemed rather unfriendly, kept on trying to clear our plates away before we were finished and just seemed as though she was in a really bad mood. Small gripe, however I would still highly recommend this restaurant. Decor inside is lovely too.

To start with the location and décor of this restaurant is great. We brought a couple of Americans with us who were eager to try some duck pancakes. Well, they didn't disappoint. We then ordered various meat dishes and rice and noodles. All of the food was steaming hot and the service was very efficient throughout. Our clients were very impressed with this Chinese and we shall definitely heading back.

business lunch in this long established Chinese. had the set menu with crispy duck. the service was good but the food is just average which is a pity as the setting is so nice in the arches under Royal Exchange.

Xmas party for 12 in a private dining room. Really excellent food, well prepared and presented. Had a set menu which with wine/beer came to around £80 per head

Underground - no mobile signal - great start.The pace is large but has a nice warm vibe to it. Service was excellant, quick and warm and friendly. Table revisited many times to check on us and see if we needed more drinks.We had a selection of starts (soft shell crap, dumplings), a duck course, two mains - all very good.Some Asian beer and a half decent bottle of Malbec.No idea what the price was but given the location I am sure its not cheap.Really enjoyed it and would return.

the food was excellent. there is no mobile service in this restaurant since it is underground. the service was ok but the place was packed.

Usually a visit to this cavernous restaurant, located deep in the bowels of the Royal Exchange building is scores 9/10 but on this occasion its 6/10 for three reasons. The initial impression wasn’t great because we had to negotiate around the freshly delivered boxes of bottled water before descending the narrow iron spiral staircase into the tardisesque basement. Secondly, for both our courses, the food did not arrive at the same time. We had a good five minute wait between the arrival of the non-vegetarian and the vegetarian platters and we waited again for the fifth of our main dishes to arrive. The last demerit points was that instead of delivering the requested decaffeinated coffee, the restaurant provided a fully caffeinated coffee – but I only discovered this when I couldn’t get to sleep, and so at 2am I went to check the itemised bill, which just said “latte”. Grrrr. And they add 12.5% service charge. Double Grrr.

The food was pretty good but not sure it is value for money. There is no mobile signal in the restaurant but that can be a good thing.

Went with a vegetarian client as they had a specific vegetarian menu. The service was pretty much non-existent to the extent where I don't remember ever having someone come to our table without me asking them when they passed. The food was poor - most of it deep fried and the majority lukewarm. I had the 'sizzling beef' - it came pretty much cold and covered in onions drowned in a gloopy sweet sauce. The rice was cold and soggy and pretty unappetising. On top of this was the number of little flies buzzing us...will never return.

I was looking forward to eating under the Royal Exchange building but was seriously disappointed as were the majority of our business group of about 10. I have eaten Chinese food all over the world and have eaten very well in London but this was dreadful.The service was universally slow and my food (chilli shrimps) was bland, cold and without any chilli 'bite' whatsoever. I asked for a dish of fresh chillies to pep it up and received one very quickly but they were fleshy but not spicy. I was then presented with chilli paste which was so old that it was gritty and, again, without any detectable spiciness. The portion of egg fried rice was tiny, cold and with no egg. My neighbour had the duck with pancakes etc. The meat was cold, the skin not crispy and since when has cucumber strips been an element of this dish ?Very poor, over-priced experience indeed.

Came here for lunch during a business meeting and was surprised to see how the quality had fallen. I've visited here a few times but not for some time and was disappointed when compared to previous visits. Could do much better especially considering the prime location.

I love the ambiance of this place. Built underground with stone walls, it feels like an old brewery cellar decorated with Asian furniture and accessories. Food is a broad range of small dishes that go well together and can be shared around, like pork belly and crispy duck.Can definitely recommend this place for business dinners and pivate evenings. It is upmarket, but not overly expensive.

När man är i London hävdar jag med en dåres envishet att jag måste få mitt behov av Crispy duck tillfredställt eftersom det är komplicerat att få det hemmavid för oss Nordbor. Denna gång var det Imperial som antog utmaningen och det gjorde de mycket bra! Som vanligt när det kommer till kinarestauranger vill man ju helst se kineser bland gästerna som en signal om kvalitet. I detta fallet var det både kineser boende i London liksom kineser på besök från Kina. Allt upplagd för en riktig matupplevelse med andra ord.Vi beställde en hel anka för två, medvetna om att det var väl mycket, men, det var längesedan sist...Hovmästarn erbjöd sig att rulla pannkakorna åt oss, men vi avböjde då det är en del av upplevelsen.Smaken på allt var mycket bra och vi var mycket mätta och belåtna när vi lämnade restaurangen för fortsatt shopping! En enda radanmärkning kan vara att ankan kunde varit saftigare utan att ta skada. Oklart hur detta uppnås dock.

Ahhh. I really wanted to love this place - even for being so close to the snobbery of London's Financial Centre and yet being pretty reasonable on first glance. But it wasn't long before the fancy facade faltered. Clearly they've spent on some key features - like leather-bound menus and the moody interior decor, to an extent. Actually, in some ways I admire them for trying so hard - the service was almost oppressive, there were so many different servers asking every two minutes if we were ready to order. I can forgive that kind of rookie mistake, but not if the food suffers.The starter was too....just too. I had scallops 3 ways - (overcooked, over seasoned, over here?) they were certainly over-cooked - although only slightly to be fair...no. Overcooked. And one was swimming in soy sauce and raw ginger/spring onion, one in bottle sweet chilli sauce, one...well i don't remember that one - which is also not a great sign. By contrast the main was under-seasoned (or maybe my pallet was ruined) - the fried rice was delicate and lovely - i will give them that; but the prawn was...meh. Under-seasoned, bland, woolly. Shame - it looked good and they tried hard - and they didn't over-cook the prawn, but I would not go back. Sorry. Cheap is no excuse for under-par food. My advice - pay less attention to attracting the bankers and really focus on your food - you can now - you have a great interior! The menu isn't overwhelmingly huge, like so many Chinese restaurants can be - focus on creating really amazing dishes - oh and when it comes to the seafood menu - not so many 'crispy' dishes. Seafood lovers generally like soft, unctuous seafood...with punchy flavours!

シティーには気軽な中華料理店はいろいろあると思いますが、ここは仕事で使える本格レストランです。Bankの近く、Royal Exchangeの地下に降りて行きますと広いスペースがあります。出てくる料理の味は本格的、サービスも迅速です。中国人スタッフが接客してくれます。

The Imperial City is situated below the Royal Exchange reached via a spiral staircase. We visited on a Wednesday evening and the place was busy but not packed. Although the service was a bit slow, we had a great meal and fine wine. The menu is largely as expected with the usual Chinese fair. Worth a visit if you re in the City for dinner

revist to, historically, one of my fav Chinese resturants in the city proved a very bad move Service and general attitude of staff surly and everything too much trouble mixed platter starter at best mediocre although efficiently delivered and at least hot. main meal of Chicken red curry - more like warm chicken in granular mud with no heat + prawn in black bean sauce - absolutely flavourless, black beans seemingly dropped into the mix for aesthetic purposes only. overall real shame but...

This is my last visit here. My past couple of experiences before this one weren't great and this was the icing on the cake for me. The food can only be described as 'slop'. Ordered the prawns with curry leaves and the scallops as part of our selection of dishes and they were disgusting. I used to love it here, but I will not be returning.

Hidden in the vaults of the Royal Exchange, and reached by a spiral staircase opening into a Dr Who-esque expanse. Although sub-terrainean, it is attractively designed with brick arches but has and is warm and inviting. The food is good but we avoid the set menu. Best choices are sizzling beef and tiger chilli prawns which are excellent and, when accompanied by the best Singapore noodles in town, are a winning combination.

Ate in here on a Monday eve with some business colleagues and clients. Had the set menu at £40 per head. The food was ok, not amazing but perfectly acceptable. To sum up I would say a little under seasoned. Situated in the royal exchange vaults....

I ate in this restaurant with two colleagues and was very disappointed. The location being in the Royal Exchange gave me high hopes and the building was lovely. However, the food was extremely bland and of poor quality. As a starter I had Dim Sum and couldn't even detect what meat was in it. The waitress told me it was pork and prawn, which I could not taste at all! She offered to take this off of our bill, however upon checking later she had not. As a main I had a red curry which was basially water. No flavour or spice at all and very disappointing.Lesson learnt - Always trust the TripAdivsor reviews!!

I am not really a Chinese food fan I like it but there are other international cuisines that I prefer. However the set meal C I shared with a colleague was extremely good. Great starter tray followed by shredded crispy duck and pancakes, Very nice main course options with egg fried rice and the service was excellent, recommended

starters were quite good but mains, rice and Singapore noodles etc were overcooked and heavily flavoured rather than light and fresh. Chinese white wine for a change but very thin and lacking flavour.

Wanted Chinese food for early supper , so few in city area , returned to Imperial , like stepping back 30 years , all so ordinary , great location near the Bank but no great effort , food just average , oh dear ....will go west to Mr chows next time ....why do such locations live on past glory and ignore new ideas ....dull

Wanted to go to one of my regular haunts, Pacific Oriental, but it's closed after being sold last year. So instead decided to give Imperial City a whirl as hadn't been there for a while.As ever, the staff and service is really friendly, and very helpful. Much better than most restaurants.Had the fixed menu, hors d'ouvres, duck, main, desert. Food was OK. Rice wasn't the best, and the quality wasn't high enough for the price.Toilets are not a pleasant experience. Need a good clean, and lighting up a bit. So all in all, a good lunch, but not somewhere I'll be rushing back to at £40 a head for the food.

This whole experience is fantastic. The staff, food and personal service at Imperial City really takes some beating! Thank you for a great evening! We will be back!

Attended as a group of 6 in the evening just before Christmas. Had walked past this restaurant many times and wanted to try it as I imagined the food would be authentic. On arrival there was a waitress in a Chinese dress and leather jacket smoking a cigarette outside the restaurant. She was with one of the waiters,also smoking. This gave me an initial bad impression. Not what I expected at The Royal Exchange.We all had a set menu which sounded wonderful in the description. The food was mainly in batter and fried. It tasted like it was frozen food from a supermarket and just heated up. Half way through we were told there was no squid for our main dish and were offered battered prawns again. We had this as a starter.The food portions were tiny. It was overpriced and the worst Chinese food I have tasted.

Took a group of 8 clients to this restaurant and is average at best. Atmosphere is almost non existent and rather expensive. Much better places around with better value

At short notice we decided to get together for lunch as a family as we were all in London. We decided on a Chinese style meal, and imperial was in the area, so booked it at 11 for the same day at 1.30. We were welcomed taken to our table and offered drinks, we had the usual Chinese fair, Singapore noodles, crispy duck with pancakes and crispy beef, all arrive hot, we had a mixed starter pancake roles monk fish all was well cooked and nicely served. Staff were very friendly and helpful, it was no trouble to get a few more pancakes with our duck when we ran out. All in all a very pleasant lunch. One word of warning this restaurant is in the centre of the business district, and is very busy at lunch time, especially at this time of year with the Christmas party season in full swing, this could have effected the service but in our case we were very well looked after. We noticed that other reviews found the service lacking we did not. If you do go to the imperial do take some time to visit the Royal Exchange which is right next door, the building is very grand and has a number of very smart shops inside, well worth a visit.

I love Chinese food. In fact it might be my favourite. I also don't much care if it's a street café, or China Tang at the Dorchester, I would just like something that has been created with some love served by people who look like they care. Unfortunately I don't think the kitchen cares very much, and nor do the staff, and I have tried five times now (it's next to my London office). Mixed starters are depressingly tired and resemble a box set from Sainsburys. Salt and Pepper squid makes you wonder where they got the recipe from. I'm sure there would be some highlights in the £50pp set menu but I don't intend to invest a minimum of £100 to find out. Maybe it's complacency as the busy city location keeps it pretty full. Very disappointing though, I hate having to stand up and wave to order more plum sauce, or a coke. The front of house manager is very polite on arrival. However, I fear I won't be meeting her again.

Went here this week for lunch during the Christmas party season. Restaurant was very busy but despite this the service our table received was amazing. Staff were very attentive and very friendly. For ease we all went for the set menu 2. The food served was great. Very fresh and full of flavours. Will look to return again in the near future.

Had been here before, for Christmas lunch some years ago, Had a great time then. Food, service etc was all very good. Not so good this time. Service was still good but pretty much all of the food was no better than luke warm and the portions were reasonably small. Was tasty but not at it's best when served cold. Not sure I'll rush back. Maybe jsut trying to serve too many people at once. It does have a lot of covers. They were very relaxed about us staying until about 5 pm or so and were quite friendly.Shame.

This was out christmas lunch and at £30per head excluding drinks I thought that it was good value for money in the City. The food and service was excellent- delicious and plentiful. It was almost a pity not to be able to.finish the dishes.

I visited Imperial City with my wife last Friday for an early booking (6pm). On the service side the visit started well with an attentive welcome and our drinks requests taken quickly. However by the time we had finished the mains and were perhaps thinking about dessert all attention had gone, bearing in mind this was only approx 7.30pm this is poor. The sheer size of the restaurant is probably the reason for this poor service. The food, whilst not terrible was bland and average at best, and given the relatively high price point it left a bad taste in your mouth. The decor of the restaurant is dated and needs some attention too I would say. All in all I think Imperial City would be fine for a quick lunch break meal or to drop into after (quite) a few drinks, but should not be used for any kind of occasion / evening meal in my opinion. We definitely won't be going back.

I've been to Imperial City before a couple of years ago and it was excellent so booked for a business lunch with confidence, and whilst still nice it wasn't as good as it had been previously.So the still good bits - nice decor, it's in the basement so no natural light but is still well lit and the waitresses wear traditional Chinese dress. Nice touch.And the not so good bits, the starters arrived about a minute and a half after we ordered which I hate. I don't know why restaurants do this except to increase their throughput. Note to anyone that does, if you keep food prepared and hot prior to people ordering it then at least delay for 10 minutes so that I think you've cooked it specifically. Also the service was a bit abrupt, good but abrupt and it didn't need to be, the table was cleared 2 mins after we'd finished the starters and we were asked if we'd finished our main course when it was clearly obvious we hadn't. I wouldn't have minded so much but the place wasn't full and they didn't need our table.So nice food, nice atmosphere but as is often the case a few easily fixable things that would have made a big difference let it down. Not as good as it was.

I found this restauant to be amazing!!!! I was taken there for a business thank you lunch and the food, service and overall ambience was incredible. I could not fault it at all.

Although the menu hasn’t changed for years, this is a well run established restaurant serving a western version of Chinese food but with genuine Chinese staff. On this occasion it was good to see small groups of Chinese on their own which is rare. Its a little like going into Dr Who’s Tardis, the cavernous restaurant is underneath the Royal Exchange and you enter via a small spiral staircase from Cornhill which opens out into a vast area. The food was, is always good, hot and tasty and its close to fine dining with tablecloths and white napkins. The only grip is that the menus are always left open at their expensive and gargantuan set menu page, a classic tourist trick which this establishment should not do.

Had an enjoyable lunch here. The starter platter was nice, especially the breaded butterfly prawns. For the main we had 4 different dishes, I wasn't keen on the green Thai curry but the steak dish was very nice. Food and service was a little inconsistent but would return

地下１階にあるお店で雰囲気がいいです（中華料理店ぽくないです）ウェイトレスはチャイナドレスを着ています対応はおおざっぱです。エビがぷりぷりして美味しかったです。またアロマチキン（北京ダックの皮と身の両方のような料理）も自分でクレープン包んで食べて楽しかったです。

Great evening for a Birthday. There was 11 of us around a circular table enjoying really good food and very good service.

A mediocre meal at best . Booked for 13CHiNESE family members. 10 adult,3kids .Bill = £600 - way over the top for value+ taste. Some of the dishes were good - lobsterwith spring onions was lovely.the whole duck tasty.,dim sum, prawn toast , noodles were all uninspiring and yes, mediocre. Dessert was bizarre. we only wanted 6 desserts.But the kitchen really skimped here. The chocolate bombe was cut in half and served with a small helping of ice cream and the banana fritter desserts consisted of one small fritter each.Also be aware that we did not order prawn crackers but they were put on the table and we were charged for them .A very disappointing meal .One of our party had eaten here before for a business lunch and said it was good then . Thats why we booked here.

1st time here with my business partner. Needless to say the restaurant doesn't make good & authentic Chinese food, it is still the old-time China town 'sweet & sour pork' type of rubbish. Service was zero. Waitress were like fighting a war rushing everything without giving a proper attention to the table. And none of them speaks Chinese which was a laughter. Don't go. London has plenty better Chinese restaurants now.

Initially impressed as they offered a separate vegetarian menu. The prawn crackers with chopped up chilli's were good.I chose the vegetarian lettuce wraps which, unfortunately, were pretty flavourless. The main course of chopped peppers in black bean sauce was an equally bland non entity.For three people with two bottles of wine the bill came to just north of £150 which, despite being in the heart of the city, struck me as expensive given the poor food.Best avoid.