Duddell's London has sadly closed
9a St Thomas St
London SE1 9RY
Nearest Tube: London Bridge
4.5 Yummy Stars
Price £££ Starters £8-£23 (Whole Peking duck £82); mains from £16-£38 (Wagyu beef £88) (at time of writing)
☏ 020 3957 9932
Buzz Factor 4.8
Food 4.7
Value for Money 3.9
London Bridge, known for Borough Market as a foodie sensation, the majestic and gleaming Shard and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, is not an obvious choice for the first overseas site of a Hong Kong Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant. Whyowhy then? The former St Thomas’ Church is a stunning and unique venue.
You can’t help but be struck by the clever juxtaposition of materials, objects and colours in Duddell’s, a fine dining Cantonese restaurant. The interior of the listed building features wood-panelled walls, some with emerald green tiles, leather-clad turquoise blue stitched sofas and a 3D-effect pattern floor. Tall arched windows add to the grandeur and, fittingly, clusters of enormous chandeliers with copper cylinders dangling from the sky-high ceiling looked like gold church bells.
But the extraordinary building does have its downsides. With no proper extraction (perhaps because it is listed?), a fog of steam ascended to the mezzanine level from the dim sum cooking away behind the bar, giving those sitting directly above a free but obligatory facial. Trying to create theatre by having the steam kitchen in centre stage has come at a price.
Daren Liew, former executive sous chef of Hakkasan Group, delivers some stunning star-worthy dishes. Peking duck is one of the best in London and is skillfully carved at the table. The beautifully roasted mahongany brown skin, sweetly christened with sugar and cinnamon, was slightly crispy. It glistened as if to shout, “Eat me”, which we gleefully did, with cucumber, spring onions, pink pomelo and pineapple (though not altogether though). Just add a bit of plum sauce (strong and piquant – a little of it went a long way – which was terrific with the pineapple slices), peanut butter dip (which went surprisingly well with the pineapple) or Hoi Sin sauce.
As is usual with Peking duck, you eat the duck skin as the first course. The duck meat is served as the second course with a choice of a number of sauces. We chose black pepper and brandy sauce which was superb and pungent and the dish was only let down by some of the duck being a bit on the tough side.
Truffle Roasted Black Cod with lily bulb (a Chinese vegetable) and Nameko mushroom was sublime. The clever combination of lily bulb and Namenko mushroom really brought out the truffle flavour (unlike Hakkasan’s version of truffle turbot). It was so moist and soft, while retaining its texture. You only had to nudge it a little and the flakes came away easily. The accompanying sauce was thick, rich and intense. The Braised Beancurd with morel mushrooms was soft on the inside with the skin slightly chewy; the few stalks of tenderstem broccoli were perfectly cooked with a bit of crunch.
I also came for lunch. Stand out dim sum included Har Gau (steamed prawn dumplings) – with pink prawns peeking from behind the translucent wrappers. The crispy char siu bun (BBQ pork puffs) were super light and buttery although the sauce inside the bun was a bit too sweet for me. The chicken and glutinous rice in lotus wrap was delicious but the rice was completely over steamed; a cross between a sad porridge and tasty glue.
The place has a sophisticated arty feel which is very different from the trendy setting of the likes of Hakkasan and Yauatcha. (The restaurant is apparently to be used to showcase art, like its mother restaurant in Hong Kong). The staff here felt greener too with the manager showing a waitress how to better fit all the glasses on a tray. However, service was generally good, attentive without being intrusive. Everything came without the need to ask for anything. Even the clientele seemed different from those at Hakkasan and Yauatcha. They weren’t obviously designer-clad from head to toe with many more Chinese customers, all looking rather content.
I will definitely be coming to London Bridge even more often (and hopefully not to go to the hospital down the road).
