Ken Lo’s Memories of China

This was my very first proper chinese restaurant in London. Actually, call it my first proper chinese restaurant ever — only been takeways before that. I remember being there with my then boyfriend and his friends, enjoying the atmosphere (upmarket, but not in an oppressive way), marvelling at the prawn crackers (don’t laugh) and feeling very grown up and sophisticated for ordering dessert wine. :)
Embarrassing nostalgia aside, this is a good place. The spicy salt and pepper prawns on a bed of salty crispy seaweed have to be my favourite version of the dish ever. I remember, on that first time, a waiter taking the plate away from the table before I could grab the last one. That prawn trauma lasted for a couple of years untill we returned and I could order the same again — this time vowing to defend my prawns with my life (impatient waiters risking hashi stabbing).
We tend to go with the gastronomic tour, as the set menus offer great value and you get to sample a wider range of dishes. It’s not terribly cheap but not bad for that part of London and a restaurant with some tradition. The crispy duck is on point, and the lamb with garlic and spring onion is also very good. I’ve never been disappointed here.
The restaurant is tastefully decorated, well lit and, due to soft surfaces, the noise levels are kept low. The clientele is a bit older than in Chinatown. I’ve seen people complaining about the service, but I never had any problem. It’s smiles and politeness all around. But I’m sure every place has its bad days. Maybe I’ve just been lucky to never have witnessed one, and so I’ll certainly be back many times.

I was horrified at the experience. We turned up before Christmas, with two New York friends who love Chinese food, and wanted something a bit more upmarket than some Chinatown restaurants.
My partner has been to this place since childhood, and always found it pleasant. No longer.
We ordered the set menu for four, and the first courses were dumped on the table by the Eastern European waiters without explanation. Pork or chicken — we couldn’t tell. We asked, very nicely. We got a shrug of the shoulder. We asked again. «Don’t know,» came the reply. We asked if any of the waiting staff knew. Eventually, someone else came over. «Chicken,» she said, without any pleasantry.
The food was half cold.
The duck then appeared and was cut with a blunt knife, leaving quite a lot on the bone. We asked for the bones. The waitress laughed nastily and walked away. We called her back, and she eventually gave us the meat on them, but with very bad grace.
As we were with guests, we tried very hard indeed to be happy and pleasant. But when we asked for water, it was slopped over the glasses onto the tablecloth.
Despite this, we paid the bill and left with a polite «Merry Christmas». The waiters stared sullenly at us.
The meal was expensive. Normally, we wouldn’t mind, if the food was good. At Ken Lo’s Memories of China this time, however, the pigs were not in the cooking. They were wearing waiters’ uniforms. And we shall be actively telling our friends and neighbours — who live very nearby — to stay clear of this wretched place.

Came here last night. We were a very large group and had hired one of the private rooms. We were not given a choice and had to have the set menu which was the ‘Gastronomic Tour of China’ with a few additions. The management was not that accommodating about the table set up and so we had to have two round tables which was not conducive to family harmony.
As to the food itself the salt and pepper prawns were OK not the crispy duck was overcooked and somewhat chewy. The cold Bang bang chicken was perfectly horrible. The Cantonese beef was the star and the Singapore noodles were tasty but the spicy prawns with pine nuts and the chicken with cashews were left uneaten.
I did enjoy the Peking sugar glazed apple and banana with ice cream.
As to the service it was quite slow although polite.
I had high hopes for this restaurant having read the reviews but it did not live up to the hype. Distinctly average. I won’t be back.

I’ve been going here for years and it never fails to please. Great service and great food.

Gut, aber nicht aussergewöhnlich. Wurde uns empfohlen von einem London-​Kenner. Ansprechendes Ambiente, guter Service. Meine Prawns mit Dry Chilli and Asperagus waren spicy und schmackhaft. Für 55£ bei zwei Personen auch nicht gerade ein Schäppchen…aber wo gibts das in London schon?
Wer chinesisches Essen auf höherem Niveau mag ist hier richtig.

We have been to this restaurant several times and had good food however on this trip I was terribly disappointed and will not return. Our waiter pushed us to order and when we asked for tap water brought bottled only. Other reviews said that this was a business mans restaurant however we were seated back in a corner by a family with 5 children when there was plenty of room in other areas. It was loud and rowdy as the kids played with the lazy Susan in the middle of the table. I felt I was treated like a stupid American. The food was only average. NEVER AGAIN Too many good restaurants that would like our business to fool with this experience again.

Came for dinner and were quickly seated. Upscale chinese place with beautiful décor. The owner was very friendly and accommodating. We ordered a few different items and they were all pretty good. Though they were all vegetarian items, this is a rather late review, so I don’t remember what all we ordered. However, if it helps any, the people I went with used to go there once a week (at least) when they lived closer. =)

I have had the pleasure of enjoying Memories of China twice. On my recent visit, our group of 7 blossomed to a group of 12 before the nights end and the staff handled the whole thing graciously and in stride.
It was an orchestra of flavors and the staff composed our evening to ensure there was a constant flow of food and drinks. We ordered from the pre-​set menus and were consistently surprised. The flavours and textures were worth writing home home about — and — worth returning.
I expect to be back in England and I will be back to Memories of China.

Since visiting London for the first time in 1971, I’ve always said that this city has some of the best Chinese food in the world. Well, outside of China itself, I suppose. But Memories of China bears out my original theory.
Finding the first two restaurants recommended by our hotel booked, we found this one on Unilocal.Like Mattie R, we also had the «Gastronomic Tour of China» (you can check out the menu selections on the web site). The items were wonderful and plentiful, and came out hot and perfectly prepared. The service was impeccable. Particularly delicious were the prawns, but the chicken with cashew nuts, which my wife wanted to have for dessert as well, was sublime. But instead we did go with the fruit sorbet, which came with lychee fruit. The meal and service were delightful from beginning to end. And going with the set menu helped keep the final check within limits.
We can recommend this one highly.

You have to Have the Duck !

I always go for the ‘Gastronomic Tour of China” accompanied with a nice bottle of white wine. This must be visit number 20 by now, yet to be disappointed. The service is always exceptional and the food always speaks for itself.

My family and I have been going to Memories of China since the 1990’s, on Kensington High Street and Ebury – and this is the last time we ever go there again. Maybe the most tasteless awful spring rolls i’ve ever tasted (shocking, since even frozen spring rolls can be half decent) and bland uninspiring food generally. The service was forgettable; décor quite dull. But the most irritating thing by far are the preposterous prices. For 4 (yes, just 4) scallops as appetizers it was more than £23, and in the end they charged us a £5-​something cover charge – for what i don’t know. Why anyone would charge ridiculous prices for food and then add a cover charge is beyond my understanding. Maybe they don’t know how food costing works, but this is just plain stealing. Definitely my last time at Memories of China.

The grown-​up Chinese restaurant. This is where to bring people higher up the food chain or parents celebrating an anniversary. Located in a quit section of Ebury Street, the food is traditional but seasoned exceptionally well and cooked to perfection. There is always a large, rich international clientele here so naturally the prices are high but it is great for an annual or seasonal treat.

Nice, swanky Chinese restaurant in Victoria Station area with professional looking crowd during dinner. Considered one of the good Chinese places in London… but I found this place expensive and not worth it for average Chinese food.
Peking duck (2.50 stars, cost: 45 pounds) — definitely not worth it. They skinned the whole duck so all we had was shredded duck on a plate instead of nice pieces of meat and crispy skin as I am used to having it served. And they gave us these wimpy flour skins instead of chewy white buns. The hoisin sauce was weak too.
Sichuan diced chili chicken with peppers (2.25 stars, cost: 12.95 pounds) — wimpy lil dish and did not taste spicy at all. Panda Express in the U.S. tastes better than this.
Mange tout (3 stars, cost: ⁶⁄₉₅ pounds) — aka snowpeas. Funny how they have a funny name for snowpeas. Was okay, nothing special.
Now I am spoiled by great Chinese food in the San Francisco area but for the prices we paid, dinner was very disappointing.
Bottom line: If these are my memories of china, I’d rather forget them. 2.5 stars for the food but will give them + 0.5 stars for the nice environment and decent service = 3.0 stars.

Delicious food, somewhat sterile corporate ambience, efficient but robotic service. Could be the best Chinese food I’ve had (and I’m counting San Francisco, Honolulu, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, and Taipei here). Four stars for food (and very reasonably priced) but misses a star for not being fun or interesting.

We were misled here by the usually spot on Lonely Planet guide and our hotel concierge. Really, the only culinary disappointment I’ve ever had in London. Here’s the thing, I love Chinese food, the best Ive had was in Hong Kong, San Francisco, Honolulu, and Chicago, not surprisingly. I’ve traveled around the world, and one of the peculiar things my family does, is where ever we go, we try to find a Chinese restaurant. I’ve found good Chinese restaurants in Buenos Aires, Colombo, Dublin, Casablanca, Ottowa, Mayaguez, Tel Aviv, and Paris. But so far, the only time I was ever afraid in a Chinese restaurant, it was here in London. Earlier in the week we found the perfect fish and chips place in Greenwich, and in terms of gastronomic experiences that would be hard to top, but we wanted a special place for our anniversary, so we decided to go to «the best Chinese restaurant» in London. The restaurant is absolutely beautiful, down to every little detail of furnishing, décor, dishes, and lighting, so initially we thought we made a wise choice. We went with a recommended fixed meal plan of courses. The appetizers were delicious, but that would be the end of the positive experience, and the transition to becoming part of a «Twilight Zone» episode, only starring us and not a young William Shatner. You see, we requested white rice when our entrees came, and our Chinese server looked baffled, as if no one had ever requested white rice ever before. He repeated the request, dumfounded a few times, «White Rice?» he asked, with a scared expression, and every time we responded, «Yes, white rice,» he looked even more frazzled, until he ran off, returning with another waiter, who asked us what we needed. Now, with trepidation, we asked slowly, carefully, enunciating so we were not misunderstood, «we were hoping to get some plain, white glutinous rice with our entrees.» They looked at each other as if we had just announced that we had a small thermonuclear device and threatened to detonate it, and with a quiver in his voice, the second waiter asked again, «you want… white rice?» We nodded, and they ran off, terrified. They returned with some kind of supervisor, and the bizarre exchange was repeated. They ran off again, but this time returned with fried rice. We acquiesced. Apparently, in this Chinese restaurant, plain, white, Chinese style rice was just not possible. Uneasily, we progressed through the meal, but the stress of the white rice episode had exhausted us. We attempted to skip dessert. Big mistake. We got the white rice treatment all over again. We couldn’t get the check, instead they kept sending us different waiters who would ask us, with great fear in their voices, «are you ready for dessert?» and each time we made the mistake of responding, «no thank you, we’d like to leave now, can we please get the check?» Which caused each waiter in turn to scurry off. We were trapped in an elegant restaurant, in some kind of strange time loop, and we finally realized, if we didn’t get dessert, they would never let us leave. We took the dessert. They watched to make sure we ate it. Two and a half hours after we came in, they finally brought us the bill and we were liberated. So, if you choose to try this place out, remember: You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a strange land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead — don’t ask for white rice!”

Gehört in die Kategorie: nie besser gegessen.
Wer das mongolian lamb Barbecue gegessen hat, wird das immer wieder tun wollen!!!

I think I just met Ken, and I think his daughter Jenny gave me the bill! The food here is probably the best Chinese cuisine I have ever eaten. For £19.95 I guzzled down hot and sour soup, crunched my teeth into homemade spring rolls and licked my lips at smoked chicken Chinese style.
It was all delicious, I just had to fill my bowl 3 times and scrape the sauce off the bottom of every dish. It would have been rude not too! I don’t think I have ever been to a Michelin Star restaurant before and my first experience of the food was seriously awesome. It was all screaming 5 stars, even the fabulous service that was so efficient it was like a military operation but the one thing it lacked was a little atmosphere. Even the extensive wine list that had our eyes popping couldn’t make up for this place being almost empty. Yes it was a very late lunch we were eating so I think I’ll just have to go back and sample this all over again one evening. See if it can squeeze that last little star out!

Even my memories of China weren’t this good. Seriously Ken, you’ve outdone yourself.
Sure the atmosphere was a bit sterile at lunchtime, but for the amount of delicious food I enjoyed for £19.50, you could have served it to me in a barn and I would’ve been happy. (In fact, that would have reminded me more of my student-​budget experiences of China, to be honest.)
Service was impeccable. Food was divine. Price was more than fair. 5 stars is well deserved. I will be back again, and again, and again, to my waistline’s dismay…

The best Chinese I have ever had! (sorry Sammy’s NY)
Maybe the fact that the vice prime minister (of my country) was present in our table had something to do with having the chef put in an extra touch of expertise in the offered delicacies. This I can not be sure of, so this might be a one off, but considering that most of the patronage was of executive fashion I will but have to assume that it is a well frequented place.
The ambiance offers clean edges and a corporate feel which is not conducive of romantic dining, but that would make it a good spot for group dinners, celebrations etc.
i wouldn’t go cookoo about the service, the staff looks slightly untrained (as I just don’t want to admit their carelessness). Obviously I have no personal qualms about the service, as I was in the governmental one. but one lady that was celebrating her birthday just a few feet away with a party of at least 6, started (at some point) screaming to the Maitre D as the service was just atrocious!!! As much as I love watching drama, i honestly felt for the poor thing. Anyway, that aside, the food was DELICIOUS!!! we had about 15 courses (at least), so i pretty much tried and enjoyed EVERY single dish!!!
The chef has been there for 30 something years, so he does know a little bit about good food. So def 5* for food, but I had to drop one for the service.
hope you get to try! Groups will get you better value, unless you’ve just gotten your bonus :))

top class chinese food in top class surroundings, with quality of service to match.
Menu is a tad pricey and can quickly rack up if theres just the two of you wanting to try out dishes you’ve never seen or heard of before, so its a great idea if 4 or more of you can go and that way order lots of dishes to blast your tastebuds chinese style — theres more a of mainland china feel to the food ie: Schezuan rather than the typical cantonese style found in most provincial chinese restaurants.
The ebury street site is the haunt of the famous so don’t be surprised to find yourself rubbing shoulders with a ‘face’or two.
The wine list is extensive and expensive but stick to good old chinese lager beer and you can avoid a hefty bill — to which is automatically added service charge btw.
Overall though, a really good chinese restaurant and one of my favourites whenever in London. Enjoy

The reason this place is called Ken Lo’s memories of China is because the chef is Ken Lo himself. I think it’s a fantastic name for a restaurant and it is indeed one of my favourite places to eat. Once you eat Chinese food here, you will never ever be able to have cheap Chinese take away again! This is 5 star quality food which is very special and pretty much everything on the menu is as tasty. However, I do think it is rather overpriced and dinner for two can come up to £70 (not including booze!). The atmosphere is very nice with low lighting and the service is excellent. Beware though, if you drive here check all parking signs as it’s residential parking only until 10pm and I managed to get myself a fine the other day because I just assumed that because it was late evening it would be ok to park there!

I’ve eaten here on several occasions, both privately and when entertaining Chinese visitors. I’ve always been a little nervous when dining in restaurants linked to a celebrity chef, but Memories of China has always delivered for me, albeit at a price.
The food is of high quality, although is not the most adventurous: cutting edge, it is not. One guest (from the Chinese Embassy, no less) said that the food was of very good quality, but that some dishes were rather Westernised. That seems to sum it up, really: most of their clientele seem to be slightly older and well heeled (well, this is Belgravia). The last time I went we passed Cilla Black and her entourage leaving as we entered.
It’s in the upper price range for Chinese food: the set dinner menu is £30 a head for four courses, onto which are added (and this is the main irritant for me) a cover charge and service. How much the bill will come to depends on your choice of wine — the list is extensive, and varies from House wine at £19.50 to around £50. With a little care, it’s possible to dine for around £50 a head, whereas going a la carte will add about £15, depending on choice.
Service can vary a little, but the older staff in particular are very good indeed, with a genteel efficiency that seems to be a rarity these days. They have always coped with large-​ish parties without any difficulty, although Chinese food it well designed for this.
Overall, then, it’s good for a special meal where you’re prepared to fork out for reliability and service.

A great non greasy chinese food in London. Like the special fried rice!