The Opium Den, Oxford

...Oh well. I went to the Opium Den last Monday - I was taken there by my Dad who was visiting at the time. I could say that it makes a change from kebabs, and I'd be right but I'd also be doing the Opium Den a huge injustice because with the possible exception of the Yang Sing in Manchester it's the best Chinese Restaurant I've ever been to.

In order to give you a true picture of what its like I should first tell you what we had this ...
...by gum it was good! The Spring Roll was much of a muchness - there isn't much you can do either good or bad to a spring roll but the rest of the dim sum was exceptional - The Satay and Slat & Pepper chicken were both very tasty in the flavoursome sense of the word and the Rib was practically falling off of the bone it was so tender. Most Dim Sum tends to just get you in the mood for some serious eating but this was so good and plentiful that it took ... more

Another dreadful pun of a title guaranteed to draw winces from all around. Oh well. I went to the Opium Den last Monday - I was taken there by my Dad who was visiting at the time. I could say that it makes a change from kebabs, and I'd be right but I'd also be doing the Opium Den a huge injustice because with the possible exception of the Yang Sing in Manchester it's the best Chinese Restaurant I've ever been to.

In order to give you a true picture of what its like I should first tell you what we had this evening. It was one of the set menus and was

Selection of Dim Sum
[Salt & Spicy Chicken, Spring Roll, Satay Chicken and Spare Rib]
----
Crispy Duck with Pancakes
----
Sweet & Sour Chicken
Mixed Meat with Mushroom
Stir Fried Vegetables
Special Fried Rice

And by gum it was good! The Spring Roll was much of a muchness - there isn't much you can do either good or bad to a spring roll but the rest of the dim sum was exceptional - The Satay and Slat & Pepper chicken were both very tasty in the flavoursome sense of the word and the Rib was practically falling off of the bone it was so tender. Most Dim Sum tends to just get you in the mood for some serious eating but this was so good and plentiful that it took a bit of an edge of my appetite by itself!

Next was the Duck, which was also excellent - very crispy and succulent with the usual pancakes, plum sauce and veg. 3 Pancakes worth each is which is a very decent portion for an entree.

By this time I was starting to fill vaguely full already and hadn't even begun the main course which was swift in following. The S&S Chicken was tender and tasty and the Mixed Meat with Mushroom also good. The special fried rice was packed full of prawn and veg and was substantial in and of itself.

What a feast it was! A few hours later and I was still totally full. At about £45 for the two of us it's rather beyond student budgets and thus very much limited to the parental visit but it's very very good.

So good in fact that we decided to back the day after for a light lunch - it had to be light because neither of us had yet regained our full appetites! This time we just had a Dim Sum selection - The same as the Dim Sum we'd had the previous evening except it was Salt and Spicy
Prawn instead of Chicken. And it was even better than the stuff we'd
had the night before. About £13 for that for two with a drink each.

A few general comments: The atmosphere is good apart from the obligatory dodgy music, which sounds like it came from the Chinese equivalent of Eurovision (and no, that isn't a compliment!) The service was reasonably quick and friendly, chopsticks rather than forks were provided but if you ask the waiter they'll get you a fork (so I'm a peasant, so sue me!). All in all definitely worth a visit if you've got the money. Alas, usually, I don't.
 

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