Tao Tao Ju in City of London, Westminster

OVERPRICED! Ordered scallops for £12.99 and received 1 scallop. I repeat, 1 scallop. If you have a family it would be impossible to feed them here unless you are willing to spend a fortune. There are better places in London where the quality of food is great and you get what you pay for.

Extremely tasty food. Clean environment and impeccable service! I recommend!

Tao Tao Ju, located in the vibrant Piccadilly Circus area of London, is a hidden gem that promises an authentic Chinese dining experience. From the moment you step inside, you're greeted with elegant decor and a warm ambiance that sets the stage for an unforgettable meal. The menu at Tao Tao Ju boasts a wide array of traditional Chinese dishes, each meticulously prepared with fresh, high-quality ingredients. Whether you're craving classic dim sum, savory stir-fries, or flavorful noodle dishes, you're sure to find something to satisfy your palate.During my visit, I had the pleasure of sampling several dishes, and each one was a true delight. The dim sum selection was particularly impressive, with delicate dumplings filled with a variety of savory fillings. The Peking duck was another standout, perfectly crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, served with all the traditional accompaniments. In addition to the delicious food, the service at Tao Tao Ju was exceptional. The staff were attentive and friendly, providing helpful recommendations and ensuring that every aspect of our dining experience was perfect.Overall, Tao Tao Ju is a must-visit destination for anyone seeking authentic Chinese cuisine in the heart of London. Whether you're dining with friends, family, or colleagues, you're guaranteed to enjoy a memorable meal at this fantastic restaurant.

Some of the best Chinese food I've ever had. The classics and the dim sum were excellent, better than any I've had in London, but what blew me away was the barbecued duck. Sweet, salty and sharp - so good. Staff were very friendly and the restaurant is lovely inside and well located. Prices are competitive for the area, would recommend to anyone.

Amazing dim sum and other traditional Chinese dishes, highly recommend! Friendly and attentive staff. Book in advance to avoid disappointment, although the queue goes quicker than you'd think!

This is without a doubt the very worst chinese meal I have ever eaten. I had it sent to my via Deliveroo and it was so horrible it is hard to describe. The braised pork was something I would hesitate to feed to a pig.

Decent Chinese food. They got a good amount of vegetarian and vegan options and what we got tasted good. The portions were a bit small and the interior is a bit run down upstairs where we sat. Had a good time there anyways.

The service was awful and this was the main for £15 - just uncooked vegetable with store bought sauce on the side?? We requested to opt out of the service charge and the waiter argued with us.

The restaurant had really good food and a really good service also, the atmosphere was good, we were upstairs and it was good, not perfect but good (downstairs it's better). All in one, was it a really nice restaurant.

The food was excellent as always. Staff kept our wine & water topped up; easy to get attn if we needed anything. It’s always a busy place but we weren’t rushed. Two hours for 5 dim sum, 3 mains, 3 sides, 2 bottles of wine. 12.5% service charge for table of 5 was earned. Vegetarian & meat eaters were both happy.

It turns out it’s not Taotaoju in China, and it’s really not that delicious. The price is more expensive than other similar Cantonese restaurants in London.

Horrendous smell, food not great. Avoid.

Poor customer service which ruined the dining experience. Food was overpriced. Unlikely to revisit this place.

The starter was good, main course was okay (although I don't think the food was quite worth the price of it, we spent a lot for food that was just okay overall), but what has ruined the evening and final rating was some unpleasant interactions with someone who works there.

Restaurant specializing in Dim Sums in the Chinatown area of ​​London. Very tasty food. The duck with pepper sauce is a 10. Very friendly service. You have to wait a little as there is usually a queue.

Enjoyed a fantastic evening here with a party of eight last night and the food and atmosphere was top notch. My personal favourite is Won Ton Noodle Soup for a starter followed by roast duck (on the bone) with egg fried rice as a main. We all thoroughly enjoyed the evening an will not hesitate to go again. You will need to book well in advance to avoid disappointment, but it is well worth a visit. Thanks to all the staff for making it such a great evening. Dean

Excellent food. Definitely recommend.

Overpriced, way too sweet and just everything you don't want in a takeaway. How is a main dish costing £20 without rice and still going to end up being one of the worst Chinese meals you can get? I am happy to spend money on good food, but this isn't that.

Food was just ok, insanely overpriced for what you get. Missing flavor. £50 for one person

Will not get back here. I love Chinese restaurants! We ordered 3 dishes. Chicken Curry which was ok ( sauce too thick), lemon chicken which was terrible (chicken too dry, sauce too sweet) and above all we wanted a nice dim sum dumpling. Ordered by mistake beef tarp which was horrible ( not dumpling but shredded stomach) and though the owner saw we did not even understood what we ordered and didn’t touch it he didn’t offer to take it or offer something else. Just pay for it cause you ordered it. Feels like working on tourist one time visit - so no need to be kind or give good service.

We ordered different dishes from the menu. The dish I ordered was spicy but the person who took the order pointed out that it should be served without spicy. They made it spicy and it was so spicy that I almost couldn't eat it (I add that I tolerate spicy food quite well). Otherwise the dishes were correct. We don't think it makes much sense to require a minimum expenditure per person of 15 pounds, since the portions are quite large and in the end there is leftover food.

Decent Chinese, food came out quickly. The best was the prawn cheung fun.

Food was good, a good selection, more catered for tourists, staff friendly needs more then one toilet per gender

Mediocre food Definitely not worth the 4 stars

Disappointing. Waiter was unclear and gave me attitude upon arrival when I politely asked how long it would be for a table (I could see there were plenty available and he told me to sit and wait). I had been to this place about a year ago and had a number of delicious dishes with a friend and had been dreaming about the crispy chilli beef. Though not a traditional Chinese dish it’s hard to find a nice light and crispy version that has the perfect balance of chilli & sweetness in the sauce. Tonight they did not deliver quality at all. The beef was on the chewy side of crispy, and the flavour was more honey than chilli. Had the morning glory with garlic and it was mostly stem rather than leaf. It was very salty and had a slightly fishy taste (not eh confused with the belacan version which I did not order). I imagine they added fish sauce as well as garlic, but it was too much. Cost me £35 just for these two disappointing dishes. Not worth it at all and a big let down.

The service was fantastic and the food was delicious, especially the char siu bao and the beef brisket noodle soup.

I never really post reviews but this was very poor. Food took too long to arrive. When it finally arrived it was cold. Crispy chilli beef was overcooked/over fried. Sweet and Sour chicken was rubbery. Chow mein noodles were average. Crispy duck was good but we were limited on the cucumbers, sauce and spring onions. No one came to us to check on how the food was whilst we were eating. We complained on the timing and quality of food. They argued saying why not just go up and tell them that we werent enjoying it. Given it had been an hour since we had our starters and Between 4 of us we could only have one spoonful of each main before it was finished, there wasnt a real opportunity to do so. I also reiterated no one came over whilst were eating to check on our food. 50 quid per head including wine. Everything was pretty poor. Aggressive servers when we complained, no apology given. Slight reduction on the bill then the service charge (which they still comically included). Do not recommend.

Food was fantastic we just had dim sum as there was such a big selection and it's our favourite. Bit pricey but well worth it. Service however wasn't great quite slow to begin with although not that busy in the restaurant and not that friendly either. But I would come back as the food was so good. You also need to book in advance but if you don't turn up or cancel last minute you face a hefty £25 fee per person!

Average food. Was really forward to a great chinese food experience but this one was average. Atmosphere and service was average. Portion size was good and it had decent vegetarian options too.

The best genuine Chinese meal I've ever had. Outstanding cuisine in tranquil surroundings with pollite, attentive staff. Thank you

Pretty average in my book. Duck and crispy pork belly much better elsewhere.

Take out only. Food is fantastic.

We went here for dumplings on a Saturday evening - best to book in advance as it is quite popular. We sat in the backroom which is very light but not as traditional as what you see from the street. All the food was delicious, the best are the Baos. There’s a minimum of 15£ per person to pay, which is easily reached. Great to try

We had the best dim sum in our lives here 🫶🏽 recommend EVERYTHING specially. My mum loves pork puff pastry and prawn cheung fun. For me, I love everything. I promise you won’t be disappointed by this restaurant.

Won't come back and won't recommend. Congee has the texture of wall paper glue and taste like cooked with left over steamed rice rather than proper Cantong stylr.

The food was very good, the restaurant is nice, the price is good, however, the staff were not very welcoming

Friendly staff, good food, reasonably priced👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 really nice soup dumplings

The dish potions could not be smaller.

After dinner here few hours later, we all diarrhea badly. Not recommended.

Absolutely disgusting delivery. Watered down plum sauce that was lumpy, chicken dumplings that genuinely looked off (threw them away immediately). Dry duck and pancakes that crumbled and were stuck together. Stay well clear this is some of the worst quality I’ve ever seen

Lovely restaurant. Very welcoming and very busy at 5pm. No booking but got seated within a couple of minutes. Staff were very friendly and efficient. The food was amazing. Recommend the prawn toast , pork chop in honey and black pepper sauce and the special seafood rice in xo sauce. Will be back next time we're in London.

Really good authentic Chinese food

This was a celebration meal for 3 which the restaurant were advised when booking - no acknowledgement on arrival. (no expectation of a freebie but nice to be acknowledged). We arrived just before our booking and were brusquely told to sit down, getting to our table later than the booked time. Somewhat annoying when text confirmations received and the booking reminds how long you may stay to eat! Food was ordered from the very extensive menu and we asked that it could be brought slowly. Within a few minutes the two starter platters, the crispy duck and pancakes and all the dim sum were on the table - you could not move! The food started to go cold (The dishes themselves even as they arrived weren't hot) and was as a consequence less than unctuous. The final course of sweet and sour pork - a chinese restaurant staple arrived about 10 minutes after the rice (Obviously decided to slow down then. The pork was gristly Even as food initially arrived, we asked for them to slow down. The waiter seemed to choose not to understand? Plates from dishes that were eaten were not cleared without us asking, which also led to a poor experience. At £130 for 3 without drinks an expensive lunch. The "not optional" 12.5% service charge - you "have to pay" is not worth it! Not one to repeat.

Very poor quality dim sum. Cold fried squid, portions was very small for the price. The rest was poorly made and me and my partner suffered bad stomachache in the morning. Over priced and bad quality. Also long waiting time for service. I've eaten in many Dim Sum restaurants in China town, this one I will avoid in the future.

Generally a safe bet for consistency in good food. Today we went for dim sum and the quality was good! ‘Crystal clear’ coloured rice pasta covering the prawn dumplings - not white and mushy…the deep fried taro cubes with XO paste and egg and chilli - my favourite dish! Udon seafood - pretty fresh tasting and no fishy after taste, good quality Udon. And most importantly Hot! (Temp wise) the fried ghost in Cheung Fun….the ghost was crispy and not a soggy mess! Hallelujah! Also the staff were very honest in telling us we had over paid when we split the bill. They didn’t pretend we had been generous in tipping

This restaurant has some of the best dimsum you can get in London. The dough is thin, and the stuffing so tasty and well-cooked. We ordered the bamboo basket set for two and that was enough - a great combination of the best thing you can try. We also tried one of their honey pork meat dishes which was amazing. It's a great place to go with anyone. As with most Chinese restaurants led by Chinese owners/staff, it's pretty standard in terms of atmosphere and service. Just very straightforward, no chit chat, just getting the job done. Which is fine - because the food is fantastic!

Just fine. Bit of a wait for a table, food was not hot, mains quite pricey for standard fare, nice enough

Braving the winter chill, we ventured into Tao Tao Ju in Chinatown last night. Despite a short wait, we were whisked upstairs to compact room thst didnt appear to be part of the resturant. The service was impressively speedy, with dishes promptly arriving at our table. Unfortunately, the food's temperature matched the inconsistent weather. Some dishes arrived piping hot, showcasing their delicious potential, while others were lukewarm at best, dampening the enjoyment. While the overall taste was decent, nothing truly stood out, making the £35 per person price tag feel a bit steep. Though Tao Tao Ju might not be a culinary revelation, its rapid service and efficient turnover could be ideal for a quick bite on a busy night. However, if you're seeking a memorable Chinese dining experience, you might want to look elsewhere.

Pretty good dim sum, about as good as it gets in Chinatown at this price. Not amazing, but then nothing ever is anymore (in London).

Delicious dim sum and quick and efficient service!

J’ai pris des nouilles au bœuf dans ce restaurant et c’était délicieux. Le plat était différent de ceux des autres restaurants. Les nouilles étaient fondantes et les morceaux de bœuf bien cuites.

I have ordered delivery from them a lot and when I saw the actual restaurant was very excited. I then saw a good recommendation on TikTok from a well known Chinese critic. I can only assume the more traditional food is what you should go for as the dim sum is terrible. The shanghai soup dumplings were gloopy and had no soup, and didn’t taste of anything. Same for the hargau. The char siu portion was TINY, they slice it thin like wafers and it’s dry. The only thing that was good was the salt and pepper ribs. So disappointed. Back to gold mine or leongs legend I go and I’m not trying anywhere new again.

Amazing food. A bit expensive though but I guess it's for every restaurant due to inflation.

Very tasty Dim Sum and noodles! Quick service and nice atmosphere. Definitely recommended. 5/5

Service was shocking despite being charged 12.5% service...all standing around chatting to one another. Food wasn't much better. Crispy chilli beef was like eating shoe laces. Brought the wrong starter and tried to convince us that we had ordered it. The correct one came when we were finished the main course. Never again 😒. Have still to find a decent Chinese restaurant in Chinatown 😢

We wanted an authentic Chinatown Saturday night experience with excellent shui mai. We certainly achieved that here. We had to wait 15 minutes to be seated, once sat down service was polite and well paced (we never felt rushed). We ordered set menu A with some additional shui mai. We received our starts, the spring rolls were hot, the sesame prawn toast was the stars, the beef rib and sauce was excellent. We did though feel like the accompanying sauces were a let down, one was virtually a sweet and sour sauce you would expect with a main course and the chilli oil lacked any flavour. We would have loved a spicy sauce to go with it. The Shui Mai was the highlight really well done and actually at £7.50 for 4 even with a 12.5% service charge, would have been worth coming for them alone. The main courses were hit and miss, the rice was as expected, the asparagus veg dish, had asparagus that was tasteless and unseasoned where as the carrots and mushrooms in the same dish were superb. The chicken dish was really nice but the crispy beef was not very good at all. We had a couple of beers each and in total spent under £50 per head. We are glad we choose this restaurant and had a good evening but we are also unlikely to return.

Horrible!! Es war ungenießbar! Ich habe noch nie so ekelhaftes Hühnerfleisch gesehen.

I considered this restaurant the best in Chinatown but now dim sums are tasteless as well as the crispy aromatic duck. The bill is expensive & surely not in line with the low quality. We will not come back.

Such a lovely meal. Highly recommended

Wir mussten eine Weile warten bis wir einen Tisch bekamen und wurden dann die Treppe hoch in einen kleinen Raum geführt mit ca 6 Tischen. Das Ambiente war dort nicht mehr ganz so schön wie unten aber dennoch war es ganz nett. Das Essen war wirklich authentisch, würde ich behaupten. Nur gab es leider sehr wenige vegetarische Gerichte und sehr viele Gerichte, wo Garnelen mit drin waren. Dennoch haben wir für uns was gefunden und es war sehr lecker. Der Service war freundlich aber gehetzt, da es insgesamt sehr voll war. Nichts desto trotz kann man hier gut essen :)

Update - been here many times now. Always good. Beware of the 1 star reviews left by people with no other reviews!

Poor portion. Poor service. Served wrong item and Ordered custard bun & they gave pork buns. Very disappointed Don't recommend.

***updated December 2023** Disappointed with the food. Dry crispy duck Dry bbq meat and tasteless Pricey Staffs were nice though ******************************* When I'm in London and craving for dim sum, this is where I had it fixed. Great service, tasty food, reasonable price.

Poor Food , Don't recommend. There are way better options.

Good dim sum, efficient service

Même si il y avais la queue on a pu rentré rapidement, le menu n’est pas facile à comprendre quand on s’y connais pas trop mais les plats était très bon et bien servie.

Great service. Great food. Big portions

Probably the best Chinese restaurant I've been to in the UK. I could spend hours in here

Το καλύτερο στην China Town!!! 💙

Food was one of the best I've had! Would recommend 100% 👌🏾

We visited having read good reviews, sadly our experience didn’t meet 4/5 stars. It was fairly quiet, after one hour several of the dishes did finally arrive but one had to be sent back as it wasn’t cooked properly and the other tasted terrible. We asked for our rice to come time and time again and by the time it did the few dishes that had arrived were cold. Really very disappointing. Poor quality food and bad service. We cancelled the rest of the order as it still hadn’t arrived and somehow our bill was still £77.

We didn’t mind waiting as it’s was a busy restaurant on a Sunday, by the time we got a table we were pretty hungry as it was around 8.30pm. Even the food served quickly then we expected the food was too cold, small portions. We ordered roast pork and duck combo it was tasteless. Can’t believe how others find this place is great.

Sehr leckeres Essen. Leider ist es im Restaurant selbst sehr laut.

I was ordering the takeaway from deliveroo with a new joiner discount. In total we spent only about £23 for 2 dishes and 1 side. It was amazing!!!! It tasted really good and would definitely order again. Also quite fast delivery at night, so it's a nice meal to enjoy for dinner

Wij bestelden 'Menu A' voor 2 personen en de smaak was goed. Er zaten onder andere loempia's, kip in zwarte bonen saus en witte rijst bij. Het was voor ons duidelijk dat we ons eten snel moesten opeten om plaats te maken voor nieuwe klanten. We werden ook weggestopt in een hoek waar een nooddeur veel kou naar binnen liet. Bovendien was het zo lawaaiig dat we elkaar niet konden verstaan.

Excellent dim sums, mains can be more flavourful but poor service - that is what sums up Tao Tao Ju. Their servers are a confused bunch and lack courtesy. The food is actually to my palette.

Went twice in a week as we enjoyed it so much. 😊

Hier heerlijk gegeten, de tofu die ik had was goddelijk. Ik denk dat dit de kwalitatief beste plek is geweest waar ik gedineerd heb in Londen. Het was wel erg druk en werden niet meer dan 1 drankje aangeboden, vandaar de 3 sterren voor service en sfeer.

Really loved this place. Chinese broccoli, crispy beef, sui mai were delicious.

We liked the dim sums and the crispy chilli beef and egg fried rice. The service is fast once you are in but it may take some queuing outside at rush hour. It is a good idea to pick your time carefully actually. The atmosphere is neither bad nor good, it is just average and not very interesting. Nothing bad to say however. But the food is really worth it so I recommend it 👍

Great food with excellent service and a welcoming atmosphere. Very popular and busy.

Very expensive for ok food. The worst ever personnel I had during decades. They were all super rude with all. We wittnessed four times for ourselves and five times on our neighbors. Like you should order 15 pounds per person minumum, eat quicker, you should leave soon for next persons,....

One of our favourite restaurants in Chinatown London!

Some time since visited 'China Town ' for a meal. Family meal out and wasn't disappointed. Great food especially non meat / vegetarian options . Service was good and not rushed .

Me encanta! Jamás imaginé encontrar un sitio así en pleno China Town … muy razonable el precio para ser Londres, èl restaurante es súper agradable, siempre te dan mesa a pesar de estar hasta arriba, la comida buenísima, muy diligentes!

Super tasty food, customer service could Improve. Jasmin tea is a lovely experience

The restaurant is like a tardis - the front dining room definitely has more ambience but there's also a large area out the back and a smaller room upstairs. The menu has a lot of variety and service is swift. We enjoyed the duck pancakes but the green beans and aubergine were extremely salty and the dough on the xiao long bao was thicker than we're used to :) All the food came out hot. The restaurant can get very busy and although there was a big queue to enter the restaurant, it didn't take long to get seated.

There was a very rude personnel at the front desk who shouldn't be working there due to lack of customer service skills. We were a group of 3 and there were available tables. When I told him that 1 friend is joining, he asked us to wait and gave the available tables to the people who came after us. He rudely said "This is our company policy". So it's your company policy to make your customers wait and feel discriminated. Such a disgusting attitude! Would not recommend this restaurant at all. You are better off with other Chinese restos within the area.

I dined at this restaurant several times before and I love their food. Yesterday my 3 friends and I made a plan to eat at this place. 1 of my friends will meet us at the restaurant so she was not with us upon our arrival at the place. The male personnel at the front desk refused to give us a seat for 4 people and said that we have to wait for our friend to arrive first. We said that we know what to order and would like for the food to be already served before our friend arrived. He was so upset at us and won't let us have our table. There were vacant table and this guy, without explanation gave the people who came minutes after us. He let us seat there and wait for the next 10 to 15minutes until I decided to approach him and ask for proper explanation. He was saying that it was a company policy. How can it be a company's policy to wait when we already know what to order? Although we really want to have our lunch at this place we don't feel comfortable anymore with the male front desk personnel so we just moved to another restaurant called Canton at China Town. The personnel at Canton restaurant are very welcoming and warm. We travelled from Sheffield to London and always considere this restaurant before. This restaurant may have good food and good ambiance but if the people that works there are rude and not understanding we can always explore other restaurants in China TOWN London. We will never dine here again. We felt so discriminated. The guy personnel did not even apologise. I will make sure to tell all my friends about this experience and not to go to this place again.

Loved eating here tonight. Food was fresh & delicious. Egg fried rice, dumplings, spring rolls and crispy pork belly were all great. Good service too 👍🏽

Excellent food reasonably priced

Went here for dinner, the Cheng Fun was ok but the Yam Dumplings were really bad, deep fried dumpling which is cold is just not good. Super greasy and bland! Won’t come back!

Currently our best place for Dim Sum in London. Best to avoid busy times (including Sunday evenings). Great atmosphere.

Good Dim Sum! Has lot's of options. Food was fresh and tasty. Make sure you reserve as it get busy!

I'll jump straight in, the food was a disappointment. Not terrible, just not very tasty. I had the 'Crispy Chilli Beef Strips of Deep Fried Beef in a Sweet & Spicy Sauce', which with noodles came to almost £25 for my dinner alone. It was a deep fried chewy blandness, no chilli spiciness, I couldn't see or taste any beef either! My friend's food was equally bland, the meat was just poor, but that's Chinatown meat for you. Service was good, restaurant looked nice. Visit this restaurant, just order the chicken.

Excellent restaurant in the heart of Chinatown. Excellent food & service.

Authentic Cantonese restaurant makes me feel like home. Also the service is better than quite a lot of Chinese restaurants in London which probably have zero services ( maybe it's part of our culture )

Delicious selection of dim sum, quick service and a good vegetarian selection

I went there as i saw on a research link they are on the No. 1 list. Service is zero, not even a single smile or Thank you. Food is cold. The quantity is poor. One of the dish I had DO PO pork belly tasted terrible.

Very average and massively overpriced restaurant. My main dish came before the starters, just for me, my husband got nothing. By the time I was ready for the main, it got cold (fatty duck, you can imagine). My husband ordered roasted duck and roasted pork platter and if duck was OK (though mainly fat and bones), pork was only fat. We didn't even know you can eat it. Just pure pieces of roasted fat, menu didnt mention anything about it being just fat. He was too polite to send it back and hungry but he was feeling sick after that. My food was OK, just the duck was too fatty. I eat a lot of duck and it's not always like that. Also avoid ox stomach, it's inedible. By the way, you need to order rice separately, which brings the bill up although the price for mains is a bit higher than other places around anyway. Anyway main complaint is his food and service. His starter was also disappointing, some buns with a lot of dough and very little meat inside. Considering the price - we paid 86£ for this with only 2 bottles of Chinese beer, it's too expensive for the quality provided. Normally it would be a regular bill for a nice meal with wine. So we're fine with price level when its good food. Unfortunately it wasn't a good experience. Also before being seated we had to wait about 15-20min without being said anything even though people kept leaving the place and tables were getting free. You'd expect that there's not much waiting time if you're not told so. But no, they silently kept us and 2 more couples waiting without a courtesy of letting us now about the waiting time.