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Dragon Castle
114 Walworth Road
Elephant & Castle, SE17 1JL
London
Tel: 020 7277 3388
Food type: Chinese
Food rating: 2/10
Nearest tube: Elephant & Castle
Website: Dragon Castle
The restaurant was packed during Sunday lunch when I visited with a table turn-over time of one and a half hour. The restaurant’s business seems to be going strong despite the ongoing economic recession. Having heard that head chef Felix Yu has departed from the kitchen, we went with great trepidation. Prices of the dim sum menu seem to have increased significantly since our last visit although, at least, the portion size remains generous.
We tried the usual dim sum fair of Har Gao and Siu Mai which were slightly better than the last time we visited (3/10). Prawn Cheong Fun had noodles which were sticky and did not have the silky smoothness that I had come to expect. The prawns were of a better quality this time around (2/10). A special, the Crispy Duck Spring Roll with Pepper wrapped with a bit of seaweed was virtually grease-less although the pepper completely overpowered the duck flavour. (1/10) Better was their Squid Fish Cakes which had good texture and good squid flavour. (2/10) Deep Fried Custard Bun was very poorly executed – the bun greasy and stodgy when it should have been light and airy. (1/10) Worse was the Egg Tart – not because it arrived a good 30 minutes late when we were about to pay up and leave, but because they thought it would be a great idea to serve us burnt tarts with the custard so overcooked that it had split. (0/10)
Service was trying at times, bordering on rude. Getting them to top up our tea was a task unto itself, as was the case when we tried to pay up. It is disappointing to see one of my favourite local restaurants go downhill although I am sure the management don’t really care when they are still able to draw in a huge crowd. Frankly the food I tried this time around was very poor and hence I am adjusting my score to 2/10.
gen.u.ine.ness 
Oh dear, shall I not bother then? I hadn’t planned to go, but I’m updating my post on where to eat dim sum in London, and a few people have recommended it. I have to say, I’ve never been keen on visiting Dragon Castle.
Oh no! I was going to visit but I won’t bother. I had heard the service was bad but thought I could put up with it if the dim sum was good. I should have tried it when it first opened perhaps? What a shame, it could have been a diamond in the rough in a virtually barren part of town.
Wow, that sounds rough. I’ve been to Dragon Castle a fair few times since it opened and I’ve always enjoyed the bling it brings to that part of the Walworth Road. But the food can be hit and miss and anything other than the dim sum a tad over priced, especially for the area. I haven’t been in a couple of months and didn’t know the head chef had left… Have you tried Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec on Newington Butts? To my shame I haven’t, but have only heard good things so far.