London Restaurant Review - The Royal China in Fulham

I've just had the most delicious pudding in, of all places, a Chinese restaurant. In my experience, Chinese restaurants let you down when it comes to sweets. A scoop of ice cream, a dish of pineapple, a fortune cookie and you've run the gamut of desserts that appeal to western palates.

But, at the Royal China in Fulham, southwest London, the iced mango pudding was sensational. Creamy and velvety, refreshing, fruity and milky all at once, this mild, subtle sweet was the perfect finish to a fine collation of dim sim that will soon have me returning for more.

Royal China is a small, London based group. There's a full Cantonese menu but the restaurants are known for their superior dim sim. At the Fulham Road branch, opened in January 2007:

• Cheung Fun, a folded, stuffed rice noodle, arrived bursting with roast pork and fat prawns.
• Each of a trio of steamed seafood dumplings was topped with a generous chunk of fresh seafood - prawn, scallop, crab.
• Fried scallion cakes, so dry and fat free they could have been baked, were filled with bright green, flash fried spring onions.

And then, of course, the wonderful pud to finish it off - a great dessert in a Chinese restaurant, what will they think of next! I'll have to go back soon for the black sesame and ice cream dumpling.

Given the quality, which equalled more expensive restaurants, the bill of £14.95, including tea and gratuity, was a pleasant surprise.

Dim sim are served until 6 p.m., after which only the full menu is available. If you are visiting or passing through London and want a reasonably priced meal of good quality, this group is one to look out for.