Category: Le Budget (£)
I love going for dim sum on a Sunday for brunch/lunch. Most restaurants serving dim sum in Chinatown however are rather mediocre and the Taiwanese Leong’s Legend is a pleasant exception. Naomi and I were lucky on this particular occasion as we had to queue only for 10 minutes to get a table – when we left, there were easily 30 people waiting. So it is popular and understandably so. Its name refers to a popular Chinese novel and even though I think the atmosphere is much nicer than in other eateries in Chinatown I thought the decoration was weird (but weird-funny). We are talking about for instance lances (I think at least that’s what they were meant to be) and pictures of scary looking heroes/villains (?). The service is quick. Too quick if you ask me, it was a real struggle to finish a dish without having snatched the plate away from us. And not to be able to finish the food would have been a real shame indeed as it was very tasty.
The steamed Prawn Dumplings (2.50) were very flavoursome.
I particularly loved the Roast Duck and Chestnut Puffs (2.20). The pastry was light and the filling delicious. A perfect winter dish and so cheap!
The Steamed Sticky Rice with Chicken Wrapped in Lotus Leaf (3.20) was definitely not the prettiest dish I have ever eaten. Hidden within the rice were some pieces of chicken (as well as chicken bones) and again chestnuts. I would not necessarily order it again but it was nice enough.
The Fillet Seabass Cheung Fun (2.80) were my favourite. I loved the slippery consistency of the rice noodles and the fish inside was perfectly cooked and nicely seasoned.
We dived into the Roast Pork Buns (1.80) as if there was no tomorrow, this was what was left when I realised I hadn’t taken a picture. They were fluffy and very tasty.
For all this including 2 jasmin tea we paid something like 16 pounds and we were definitely had enough to eat. An excellent place if you don’t mind queuing and the rather brusque service. Apparently the non-dim sum Taiwanese dishes are very nice too, I shall give them a try next time.
- Food: 7/10
- Service: 5/10
- Ambiance: 7/10
- Value for money: 9/10
- Chances of returning: 75%
- Verdict: lovely dim sum so incredibly cheap
I went to the sister restaurant (Leong’s Legends continues…) and ordered some of the Taiwanese dishes – they were good! The chicken in soy sauce and sesame oil, which came with Thai basil leaves, was particularly good. I’ll go back
@Naomi sounds delicious, I think I’ll join you
I loooooove Leong’s Legends too! Try the Xiao Long Bao (Shanghai dumplings) next time you’re there. Comes in a tray of 8 I think, but soooo good
thanks for recommendation, I shall try next time! (8 sounds like a good number
[...] are the Pork Crab Meat Siu Loung Bao (£6.50). When I ate Siu Long Baos for the first time at Leong’s Legend I burnt my mouth terribly as this type of dim sum contains not only solid fillings but also hot [...]