Seventeen

HOME DELIVERY
Massive letdown. Or rather, not a let-​down, because that implies that you had your hopes up to start off with. I ordered a late-​night delivery meal on Bank Holiday Carnival Monday, and was kinda disappointed with the result. These are the dishes that I had:
1) Salt N Pepper Chili Squid This was the first dish that I tried and I really liked it. It was prepared well, with the Squid pieces being just the right size, and coated in a batter that had just the right balance of crunchiness and oiliness. They were fairly moist, but not soggy. The garnishings were kept to a minimum, which is how this dish serves best, with lashings of chopped red chillies, garlic bits, a few grated spring onions and of course the salt and pepper sprinklings. My only gripe about it was that there wasn’t enough squid Just a few more pieces would have been great. It did seem a little shy upon opening the lid. But all in all, a great start to the meal, that temporarily lifted my hopes up high.
2) Spare ribs in Peking sauce I’m not a great fan of spare ribs, and I don’t eat them very often, but I do know what’s what, and which ones are better than the rest. As far as these ones are concerned, they were okay I guess. Not the biggest spare ribs I’ve come across, and definitely not what one would describe as ‘meaty’, but adequate nonetheless. They were swamped in a fruity sauce which again was not bad, but nothing special. I personally didn’t like the flavour, but it was pretty standard.
3) Special fried rice Very welcoming in the visual department, with a nice pristine slightly glazed white appearance, and loads of chunks of meat etc spread throughout the container. The first mouthful unearthed a secret ingredient there, which I can only describe as ‘tasted like Christmas-​trees smell’. I really don’t know where these floral overtones originated from, but they seemed a little out of place amongst the rice. It could have done without this herb. As for the rice and mixings, it was very nice indeed, with a few colossal prawns added to it, and loads of shreds of meat and the usual mixed fried rice fodder. Fortunately, the herby flavour didn’t completely ruin the overall flavour, and a good splashing of soy sauce seemed to keep it at bay, which was lucky for me. Pretty good stuff, save the herby taste.
4) Sweet n Sour Pork I knew in my heart of hearts that this dish was either going to make-​or-​break Seventeen in my late-​night delivery-​books, and unfortunately for them and for me too, it broke. I was so hoping for the sweet n sour pork to be lush, but sadly it wasn’t. It was pretty awful actually. Awful might be a slightly harsh word to use, but considering I’d had a far superior sweet n sour pork delivered to my house just a few days earlier, from another local restaurant, in comparison, it really did seem awful. Appearance-​wise it looked great, with a very orangey coloured ensemble, with loads of right-​bite-​sized chunks of pork spread out evenly throughout the container. The batter of the pork was superb, almost just right, with a nice chewiness and glaze to match, covering each pork piece. But it was the actual pork itself that really brought everything tumbling down. I’ve had loads of sweet n sour porks, and I’ve seen loads of sweet n sour porks being prepared on Youtube etc, and I’m pretty sure its the belly of pork that they use to form the pork cubes. It’s usually a flat sheet of pork which they dice into cubes. and this cut of pork is undoubtedly chewy and firm in its texture. The pork in Seventeen’s version was most definitely not of this sort. It was flaky, reminiscent of something more along the lines of pulled-​pork or anything that is slow-​cooked so as to form that flakiness within the body of the meat. A serious downer. The light switch was turned off the instant the flakiness came into contact with my taste-​buds. I ploughed on through it, picking out the pieces of pork, just to get my money’s worth, but it was oh so disappointing. The sauce as well was rather lackluster, and watery in taste and palate. So it was the batter alone that was holding the fort, fighting a losing battle. This dish could easily be tweaked with a slight sauce makeover, and a better choice of porkmeat cut, then they might be onto a winner. But as it stands now, it’s a bit of a loser.
The delivery was quick, but the paper bag it was delivered in was soaked to the bone in some of the sauces from my dishes. Quite antithetically, all the containers were wrapped up in a frenzy of cling-​film, which I had a tough time trying to unravel. kinda defeats the object really. but these minor details, although causing inconvenience, can be overlooked quite easily if the food is good. But in this case, poor packaging didn’t do any favours whatsoever to my Seventeen delivery experience.
A bit of a letdown. Not something that I will be eager to order again, that’s for sure. the rice and squid yes, but then I’d have to experiment with some other

Great, cheap, authentic Chinese food! I went there with friends and only ended up paying 15GBP! We ordered about 5 different main dishes. WOW.

The part I remember the most about this restaurant is the décor. It felt like we were having dinner in the V&A museum with interesting art objects on the shelves near our table.
Dinner was good, but not stand-​out. There was a good variety and we chose 6 dishes for the 4 of us. We noticed a hair in one of the dishes, but the staff was very apologetic, we were given a replacement and we were not charged for this.

Good food saved the evening.
The service was a complete let down unfortunately. After the waiter accidentally dropped the water in his tray, all down my back, as though that wasn’t bad enough, he never brought the water to the table. We has to ask 3 times to be served water to drink and had to wait another 20 mins.
Granted there were 9 of us so it was a big table but the service was poor, and when I asked to speak to the manager, I was told that the manager was off duty and was faced with 2 waiters speaking to each other in mandarin, giggling at my request to speak to the manager.
If the service had been better, I probably would have returned as the food wasn’t half bad.

I eat out alot and 90% of restaurants i really enjoy. This restaurant was awful awful awful im afraid. I ordered a mango duck dish which you wouldnt know had duck in because you cant taste it. The sauce was so sweet, it was very much like eating mango juice with an unidentifiable minced meat! I went with a party of 5 and only one of us enjoyed our meal.
There appears to be an sufficient number of staff and yet they didnt really do very much. If you wanted something it was hard to get their attention. We ordered a bottle of wine, which they brought to the table, opened, poured for us then took away so we couldnt pour it ourselves!
They forgot one of our dishes, and took ages to deal with it. They look fed up with their customers!
Even if the food was good (which it really wasnt) the staff are moody and non-​responsive.
Don’t let the décor fool you.

Seventeen in Notting Hill is an art deco style Chinese restaurant that specialises in Szechuan cuisine.
I was impressed with the design and layout as I walked in the door and felt very comfortable seated in the beautifully decorated upstairs part of the restaurant.
The menu is quite large so it’s a good idea to take your time and see what grabs your fancy.
Luckily I had come in just before the half price cocktails had finished (Mon-​Fri 5pm-​7pm) so happily sipped on a ‘Blue China’ (Blue Curaçao, Lychee Liqueur, Grapefruit Juice, Lychee Juice and Lemon Juice) whilst deciding what to order.
I choose the Salt and Pepper Spare Ribs and the amazing Lightly Lotus (Minced prawns, scallops, carrots and water chestnuts wrapped in fresh lettuce, served with sweet chilli sauce).
For mains I had Twice Cooked Pork Belly and Kung Pao Chicken with Steamed Jasmine Rice and Fried Rice Vermicelli, all of which were very scrummy (though I had to pick out some very hot dried chillies).
The prices are a little upmarket, though this is Notting Hill and not China Town and I did have a 50% off food discount, which is worth looking out for online before you book a table.
I would recommend Seventeen in Notting Hill for a romantic first date or a place to relax with friends.

Came here because I found a really good deal on Groupon for £16, which gave me £40 worth of food! (If you haven’t tried Groupon yet, give it a go because it’s a great thing! Always make sure to read the fine print, though.)
Overall, the food was very tasty. My friend ordered the crab meat soup and Dung Po Pork. The Dung Po Pork is basically slices of saucy pork accompanied with soft, steamed buns. I had the Lychee martini, hot & sour soup, and the Scezhuan style fish. The fish was probably my favorite out of everything we tried. It came out in a large family style bowl, with slices of fish soaking in an oil-​based soup filled with red chili peppers. It wasn’t as spicy as Scezhuan food truly is, but it was quite delicious. The Lychee martini was sweet and tasted like candy (which probably is a testament to the little amount of alcohol that was in there, which I am starting to find as a trend in most cocktails I have in London)
For price, I would give this place 2 stars. Without my Groupon deal, the meal would have come close to £67! Mind you, we got a starter, a main, and a cocktail each, so it’s quite a bit of food… but for Chinese food? Yeah… I couldn’t justify paying that much on a regular basis.
On another note, the place is very ambient. If you’re looking for a nice, fancier-​than-​ducks-​hanging-​from-​the-​window Chinese food, then do come here!

Where to start? Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, in this place is amazing. From the décor, which is sleek and modern, as well as intimate and romantic, to the music, the service and of course the food.
The service is worth mentioning it separately, because the waiters are the loveliest and most attentive, and their skills are superb. They seem to have come out of a Mission Impossible movie, all dressed in black, with their ear pieces letting the kitchen know that the next course can be served, which appears immediately. Very impressive.
But enough of all that, what about the food?! SUPERB! I usually eat the same food when I go to a Chinese place but in this one I was more adventurous (it helped the fact that many of the typical dishes are not served in this place, and you find many others that you may have not been aware of instead) and I loved everything. The price is also very good, especially considering the quality of the food, the service, its location, etc. You can expect to pay somewhere between 9 and 13 pounds on average for a main course, but also considering that the portions are very big, you may not need to order a starter. I was stuffed with a starter and a main course, and couldnt order a dessert, although I usually do when I eat out, but the portions of both the starter and the main were so big that it was impossible.
It makes the perfect place for a romantic dinner out, or a special dinner or just to experience different Chinese food.
Oh, I remembered that there was Dim Sum on the menu too, so it could be great for a Dim Sum lunch too.
Give this place a try, it wont dissapoint you!

I recently had a Christmas party in this newly opened restaurant on Notting Hill Gate (this used to be an Italian restaurant for many years before it was sold). I have to admit that I rarely eat Chinese food, which is why I wanted to write a review on this place. I went with an open-​mind and have to say the food was spot-​on! Instead of opting for a rather ‘boring’ stick to the safe option of choosing from the menu, as there were seven of us, we decided to let the restaurant choose the dishes and we all payed roughly £50 per person (including drinks). Each time a dish was served there was an element of surprise, I eat everything that was given to me (which doesn’t happen that often) and by the end of it all, was stuffed! I particularly enjoyed the scallops and crispy duck — superb! The décor was modern and sleek, and the women that served us were friendly & engaging. Ok, so it was slightly expensive, but worth the money and I would recommend to give it a try, perhaps as a venue for a date :-)