Diana Trimble (25 August 2005)

I went to Imperial City recently after choosing it as the venue for a company dinner party, to honour the 12 year anniversary of the company. We wanted something in the City that would have a festive atmosphere but not be too loud, with good service, nice food, and good prices! My boss had received an e-mail ad for a special offer at Imperial City for a 3 course meal plus half a bottle of champagne for each diner at £25 a head. The interior was very interesting, below the ground, and appeared to be in some converted vaults, with nice lighting. They had set up a long table for all 17 of us, right in the centre and there was also a bar area where we had a drink beforehand. The food was absolutely excellent, gourmet, Chinese food. Definitely not your overpriced chow mein that sometimes tries to call itself that. I hardly ever eat duck because it is so rarely prepared to my picky taste, but their mushu duck was delicious and one of my co-workers, who considers herself an expert on the subject of duck, had to agree.

All the dishes were equally well prepared and attractively presented and the service was first-rate: attentive and polite without being overly in-your-face or too chatty. About 3 or 4 servers attended the group so it was always possible to get someone's attention. Also, the dessert was a lovely surprise: a fluffy banana mousse with a drizzled toffee sauce. Usually Chinese restaurants do not offer much in the way of dessert but this was a creative option that also complimented the other flavours nicely.

Another great thing was that Imperial City has a lift to take disabled persons down to the restaurant. As one of our party was on crutches at the time, this was immensely helpful and all too rare in London. Finally, we received a £50 voucher for our next visit as a thank you for trying the "champagne menu." As if we needed another incentive to go back! Thumbs up for Imperial City.