Chinese food with a side of chic. If you’re after fragrant, well balanced and memorable flavours in a beautifully charming setting, then House of Ming at St. James’ Court, A Taj Hotel should be on your list, says writer Sanjuna Budhani
Located in the 4-star St. James’ Court, A Taj Hotel in London, House of Ming brings luxury Chinese dining to St James’s Park. A fairly new addition to the London dining scene, House of Ming boasts a classically clean interior with soft lighting and traditional Chinese inspired motifs with flecks of red and gold spun throughout the decor.
To herald in the Lunar New Year and celebrate one of the most important dates in the Chinese calendar, alongside their a la carte offering, House of Ming curated a special menu to honour the festivities.
What We Ate
Our meal kicked off with an ever-mandatory dish when you’re at a Chinese restaurant, dim sum. To begin, juicy prawn dumplings were served smothered with a fiery chilli and garlic sauce that cut through the sweet prawn mince. Soft pillowy dimsum takes on a western flair with mushroom, cheese and truffle dumplings.
Truffle can be an overpowering flavour, but this was balanced perfectly with the cheese and one particular flavour didn’t stick out as dominant. The House of Ming is onto a winner with the chilli and garlic packed sauce, it could work on anything.
Next came the small plates. The soft shell crab was seasoned with the notes of umami, salty and sweet that is reminiscent of the salt and pepper seasoning we’re used to in UK Chinese restaurants, and it works. The crispy coating yields to the soft buttery crab underneath.
Lamb skewers, smokey and tender with earthy and sweet cumin, quickly followed by the pork loin which featured on their celebratory Chinese New Year menu. Despite being fried, the pork loin was light and had a satisfying bite.
The sea bass was the final act in the main course of the evening and a sizable catch of fish. Quickly steamed to retain the flavour and soft flaky texture and finished with fragrant ginger and spring onion, the sea bass was delicious by itself or with the steamed jasmine rice.
Despite being happily full, the simple act of handing us a dessert menu was enough to unlock our dessert stomachs. And so the Lunar New Year festivities continued.
Who knew that chocolate and pineapple went so well together! And they come together beautifully in “Elements”, a chocolate marquise – a rich chocolate mousse – served with a pineapple gel and caramelised pineapple in filo parcels, which did resemble mini samosas, a playful tribute to the House of Ming’s Indian origins.
And because one dessert never feels quite like enough, we also opted for the Matcha and Raspberry Opera, a cake with layers of rich buttercream cut through with sweet/sour raspberry jam and light matcha sponge.
What We Drank
We have China to thank for tea and our cocktail choices paid tribute to Chinese tea culture. The House of Zhu cocktail combined oolong tea, vodka, pandan and grapefruit.
Served in a beautiful teapot, the House of Zhu was light and fragrant, just like a cup of Chinese tea. Our next pick was The Great Wall, a tall cocktail that infused lapsang souchong tea with basil gin, the lemon and pineapple accents adding a moreish tartness.
The Wordrobe Verdict
If you’re after fragrant, well balanced and memorable flavours in a beautifully lit setting, then House of Ming should be on your list.
Make it happen
Where: 54 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6AF
How: Visit houseofming.co.uk to find out more and to make a booking.
