There’s plenty of decent sinophilic eating to be had outside of Chinatown.
Tourists, out-of-towners and people new to London automatically head to Chinatown whenever they’re in need of a hearty meal-by-chopstick. Of course, that lantern-festooned patch of West End real estate doesn’t have the monopoly on corking Chinese cuisine as reviews on this site have alluded to over the years.
Southwark’s Dragon Castle isn’t quite as grand as its name, its high ceilings or its koi pond-equipped foyer would have you believe. But it’s still an eminently comfortable place in which to spend a long, winding lunch with chums while quaffing basket after basket of dim sum.
All of the dumplings here benefitted from thin and supple skins, with those gracing the decapod delegation suitably pearlescent and opaque. Each classic har gau came fit-to-burst with plump, firm prawns. Prawn and chive dumplings took those choice crustaceans and added the distinctive alliaceous crispness of chives. The prawn and spinach variant was suitably bittersweet.
The only prawn-based disappointment was the prawn and scallop variant, where each dumpling was graced with only a wee sliver of mollusc.
The thick and sticky skins of the pumpkin and tremella dumplings came bulging with plenty of the sweet potato-like mash, but not enough of the fungus.
A pescatarian take on siu mai was a better demonstration of Dragon Castle’s approach to less traditional dim sum. Slippery yet meaty helpings of fish gleamed with a modest helping of numbing Sichuanese peppercorn oil, all wrapped up in thin, pleated skins that held together well.
Folds of cheung fun were thick, broad, slippery and shimmeringly opaque. Inside were plump prawns with a firm bite, the whole thing reclining languidly in a pool of sweet soy sauce. A variant added wafer thin bean curd that had been fried to a delicate crisp, which contrasted neatly with the slippery cheung fun and firm prawns.
The deep-fried selection wasn’t quite as expansive as the steamed, but there were still gems to be had, such as the firm and springy deep-fried patties of cuttlefish which absorbed sauces with ease.
Deep-fried curls of wafer-thin rolled bean curd were both crisply brittle and addictively moreish.
Dining companion Tetra insisted on ordering the mock duck. Unfortunately the seitan here was texturally one dimensional compare to Tofu Vegan’s effort, with none of the puffiness or crispness found in that version.
For dessert, you can’t go wrong with taro and sago in coconut milk. The smooth milky coolness of the liquified coconut pulp was a fine conveyor of the dense taro and its nutty sweetness. The beads of sago were unusually small, but this didn’t detract from the enjoyment of this dessert.
The Verdict
With Dragon Castle, I am – for once – recommending a restaurant where there isn’t anything uniquely distinctive about the food. Instead, what’s notable here is the option to have highly competent steamed and deep-fried dim sum without having to schlep into Chinatown or out to the likes of Colindale. If you happen to be in this corner of Elephant and Castle/Southwark, you should be very glad indeed to have Dragon Castle at your fingertips.
Name: Dragon Castle
Address: 100 Walworth Road, Southwark, London, SE17 1JL
Phone: 020 7277 3388
Web: https://www.dragoncastlelondon.com/
Opening Hours: seven days a week noon-23.00; dim sum served noon-17.00.
Reservations? probably a good idea on weekends.
Average cost for one person, including soft drinks, when shared between four: £33 approx.
Rating: ★★★★☆