Goldfish
16 Hampstead High Street
Hampstead
London NW3 1PX
Nearest Tube: Hampstead
3.7 Yummy Stars
Price ££ Starters/soup/salad £6.80-£13.80; Mains £12.50-£38.50 (at time of writing)
☏ 020 7794 2828
Buzz Factor 3.7/5 stars
Food 3.9/5 stars
Value for money 3.5/5 stars
Eat In or Take Away, Home Delivery
A better than most local Chinese restaurant in the heart of Hampstead Village. A cosy and long narrow place tastefully decorated with a view of the tiny kitchen hard at work with searingly hot woks at the front of the restaurant. The roaring woks add to the ambience of the restaurant. If you want to watch the skillful chefs in action, ask for one of the 4-person cubicles at the front but beware that it will be noisier. If you want a tête a tête and to be able to whisper into each other’s ear (or you plan to propose), I would go for one of the tables at the back.
Service is perfectly acceptable. You may need to try a bit harder to get their attention if you are sitting at the back.
For starters, my favourites include:
Deep fried soft shell crab with garlic and five spice salt – you just eat the whole thing, which is coated in a light batter, together with the crispy garlic and diced red chillis. Dip it in sweet chilli sauce to add an extra dimension.
Aromatic crispy duck – you can conveniently order ¼, ½ or a whole duck depending on the number of guests or how hungry you are. The duck is shredded into pieces and comes with the usual hot pancakes, spring onions and hoisin sauce (Chinese barbeque sauce). Yum.
Vegetarian crispy “duck” – deep fried bean curd rolls. They are ever so slightly crunchy - delicious on their own or with steamed pancakes and hoisin sauce
For main courses, my favourites include:
Signature wasabi prawns – It is quite unusual to find wasabi prawns on a Chinese menu. Wasabi is a Japanese horseradish. The prawns are smothered in a wasabi sauce. Don’t be put off by the light green sauce. The amount of wasabi is just right so that it doesn’t go up your nose.
Tofu/beancurd with pumpkin sauce – one of Goldfish’s signature dishes. The beancurd is done to perfection with an ever so slight a crust on the outside but soft on the inside, sweetened with a thick pumpkin sauce
Braised spicy aubergine with mushrooms – cooked till really soft in a mixture of sauces with just the right level of chilli
Chilean sea bass – so tender that it melts in your mouth. Spoon the sauce over the fish on a bowl of rice – heaven.
Another tip is to ask your waiter which of the vegetables are freshest. My firm favourite is Chinese broccoli, which is not listed on the menu as such. They are delicious stir fried in ginger or garlic.
They also serve dim sum at lunchtime. If you are interested in learning more about dim sum, do take a look at my Dim Sum Guide under Yippie Blog.
