Cuisine: Chinese

Cost:

Rating:

Where?: 37, Monck Street, Westminster, London. SW1P 2BL.

Closest station(s): St. James’s Park, Victoria, Westminster.

Telephone: 0207 222 2218

Website: www.madeinchinarestaurant.co.uk

I seem to find it surprisingly difficult to find a decent Chinese restaurant in London these days – I therefore did not go to Made in China holding out any great hope. The welcome I received was warm and we largely had a free pick of tables as it was largely empty; which it seems to be on most occasions.

The menu offers a small selection of Dim Sum alongside a substantial selection of dishes that are pretty standard for any high street Chinese. I was slightly perturbed by the speed at which the starters came from the kitchen, a possible sign that the food may not have been cooked to order. I could however not have been more wrong. Both the squid with salt and pepper and the sesame prawn toast were excellent. I have come all too accustomed to eating chewy, stale and oily sesame prawn toast. These however were crisp, without the slightest residue of grease in the mouth and with a covering of prawns that allowed me to tell what it was. The squid too was delicious, beautifully cooked so that it was crunchy and bursting with flavour without being overpowering.

The crispy aromatic duck with which we followed was again a fine example of this dish when cooked well – I could happily have spent hours sucking the bones and nibbling every last crisp morsel. The mains kept up the high standards; fresh and flavoursome produce cooked in an expert manner.

The only reservation I have regarding Made in China is the price, the starters aren’t bad at around £6.50 and the duck fine at £12 for a quarter. I feel however that £6.00 for egg fried rice is rather a lot. That said this is not a hideously expensive restaurant and you certainly get excellent food; it just comes to that little bit more than I would like to have paid. The wine list is quite reasonable, house wine for under £20; though then rising sharply.

I do not know why Made in China is not busier – it certainly deserves to be a lot more popular; though I don’t think it is helped by the location. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed made in China and would certainly recommend it for classic Chinese dishes cooked well.