I walked into Park Chinois last week and was overwhelmed by the opulent decor, gorgeous Londoners and loud live music. I met a girlfriend of mine and we sat at the bar (waiting on late-working Husbands) for a pre-dinner glass of champagne. “This place is beautiful!” I said. We sat there on the red velvet banquette for almost an hour catching up and people watching. Park Chinois, the new Chinese restaurant in Berkeley Square which takes inspiration from the jazz clubs in Shanghai in the 1930’s, was going to be my new favourite place to dine. I already started to think of all the friends and family visiting me from the States that I would bring here.
“It feels like we’re in a completely different country!” “This is incredible. I love it in here”, we both gushed as we swayed back and forth to the jazz classics.
And then I ate.
We ordered everything that our waitress recommended. We started with a selection of dim sum, a chicken salad, and then came the entire Peking duck. (Probably not best to order at Park Chinois on an empty stomach after two glasses of champagne.) Not only did we end up with way too much food (after the duck came a huge chicken dish and an entire fish), but nothing was as delicious as it sounded. After we finished the meal, I left longing for a great Chinese dinner at Mr. Chow.
This is my conclusion. I think you should go. You have to see it. Sit in the bar, listen to the jazz music, have a glass of champagne and by all means, do take it all in. But don’t stay for dinner. Walk around the corner to Mark’s Club instead.
Park Chinois, 17 Berkeley Street, London W1, 020 3327
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