Joy King Lau

Brian Linke (9 November 2007)

We have been coming to Joy King Lau for years. The dim sum is excellent and exceptional value for money. The manager and staff are kind and efficient. It’s totally reliable.

Clive Collins (26 August 2005)

You know you are in the right place because the predominant languages spoken at the tables around you will be Mandarin and Cantonese. If you do hear English, then, likely as not, it will be coming from a table of foreign-born Chinese using it as a lingua franca.

This restaurant also gives the lie to the myth of snippy service - on a recent visit the manager could not have been kinder and while the waitresses don't do chit-chat, they are friendly.

The decor is a little tired, the men's toilet could certainly be cleaner and there is no non-smoking section (however, if you ask, efforts will be made to seat you away from tables where people are smoking).

The food itself is very good and most reasonably priced. Three of us ate lunch at Joy King Lau three times in a week recently. We had a mix of fried noodles with vegetables, glutinous rice, prawn lasagne, fried prawn dumplings, yam croquette and almond bean curd for dessert. We drank tea, which is always good here and a much better accompaniment to the food than alcohol. The cost? Just over £20 for the three of us each time, plus tip.