Try "My Old Place" 88 Middlesex street near Liverpool Street station. It's a really grotty dining room with surly, inattentive staff, but the food is equisite Beijing style. The portions are enormous, & the prices are obscenely cheap. It's the Chinese equivalent of Lahore. Mostly Chinese locals!

Ed, London,

The Peking Inn in Cookham is excellent. also opposite Maliks which is in the curry top 10. Come on Cookham!

Alex, Cookham,

Oh dear, I went to the China Garden, was more saddened than dissappointed. Tired, hackneyed dishes dripping with too much oil...may be a Brighton institution but it's also very poor. Couldn't wait to get back to Manchester for quality chinese...of which the Yang Sing is very average these days,

Jon Baxter, ALTRINCHAM,

Peninsula in Charlton, Greenwich is cheap and yummy. You can tell that it's quality food by the amount of chinese customers that eat there regularly - including my family.

j, London,

Suprised not to see the Dragon Castle in Elephant and Castle... nice decor, well recognised for its outstanding quality food, even though the staff can be a bit hurried. The won ton menu before 5pm is outstanding, very good value. Best in London by a mile.

Sam, London,

happy gathering in cardiff: popular, yes. best chinese in cardiff? no way.

jr, cardiff,

No Royal China down Queensway?

Laura Roberts, London, UK

for fab dim sum and top atmosphere, try Drunken Monkey in Shoreditch.London.

sal, leeds, uk

Kai, Mayfair - end of story.

Mike, London,

I have to agree with some of the earlier comments. The Tai Pan in Liverpool is, at best, average. There are a lot of far superior resturants in Liverpool's China town, many of them right next to the Chinese gate. The Ma Bo and Yeut Ben are particular favorites of mine.

Andy, Liverpool,

I realise this review is about Chinese restaurants but there are 2 excellent cafes that deserve to be mentioned. The Village Cafe in Birmingham's Chinatown. You really can't get more authentic home and hawker style Malaysian Chinese food anywhere else. Next is C&R cafe in London's chinatown!

sc, England,

Have to say from all previous experience the one restaurant missing from this list is Four Seasons in Bayswater/Queensway. The daily queues out the door should be sufficient evidence to the quality of this place. The roast meats are enough on their own to deserve a placing on the list.

Toby, London,

yer rachel mei mei is hot, and yang sing is good too

kev, cheshire,

I can only assume The Yang Sing is on this list through past reputation as it is now no better than the local takeaway.

ASH, Manchester, U.K

The Yang Sing used to be excellent but unfortunately is now only very average. I have been three times in the last six months and the food was dissappointing, the service was terrible, and the atmosphere is non exsistant. For authentic chinese try the Glamerous restaurant above Wing Yip Supermarket.

Paul Walton, Huddersfield,

Mei Mei, Liverpool!!!!

Rachel, Liverpool, UK

I'm Chinese and I live in London. Forget Joy King Lau and Chinatown establishments. Go to places real Chinese people go - for ala carte - Goldmine and Magic Wok in Queensway; dim sum - Pearl Liang in Paddington, Phoenix Palace, Royal China, Plum Valley (exception in Chinatown), Cha Cha Moon.

Coco, London,

Whose list is this? I've been to several on this list and none compare with the BEST which is Eastern Bamboo , Northgate , Darlington. This is the BEST. Cooking done by Raymond the owner. Second best - beats anything in London Chinatown - is The Dragons Nest , Walworth Road.

Liz McLoughlin, Farnborough, UK

The Green Cottage in north London should be on this list.

Anders, Stockholm

Anders Nordmark, Stockholm, Sweden

I've been to Royal China 3 times in about a year and each meal was awful. Overrated and overpriced. I went back only because my hosts have heard of it. It might have been excellent once upon a very long time ago, but it certainly is rubbish now. Ditto Joy King Lau.

JKL, London,

I have eaten in many Chinese restaurants, some disappointing, some good. Recently there is a new addition in Bristol called ZEN which specialises in regional Chinese. This is easily the best restaurant in Europe that I have been to for years and come highly recommended for its authenticity!

Zhen, Bristol,

I would have to say Joy King Lau is my favourite place for Dim Sum and i've been to many places before, which can't really compare with them. The siew mai is the best, as well as the tripe and curried whelks. According to Chantelle, the ribs were boiled??? Everytime i went, they were definitely STEAMED. The dim sum are just the right size as traditional ones should be - bite sized, that way we can eat more and try different types.

Sammi, Wales,

royal china is overrated. new world in chinatown has probably the best dimsum, it's no plushly decorated place, but the food's excellent. reminds me of my grandmother's food.

Kaori, Paris,

surely you should have mentioned the Mei Mei restaurant on Berry Street, Liverpool. If you haven't been i would definatley recommend a visit.

j murray, liverpool , uk

Armed with these reviews as a guide, we headed to China Town on Friday last week (22nd Feb 08) as an additional treat for my sisters Birthday. We decided on Joy King Lau, as we were after authenticity! IT WAS THE WORST CHINESE MEAL WE had ever had, and that is saying something. The dim sum when they arrived were appalling, ribs? What can only be described as greyish pieces of gristle the size of chopped up pigs tails, doused in MSG’s and boiled, (we couldn’t bring our selves to even attempt this one!), The steamed pork and mushroom dumplings, were what can only be described as tennis ball sized rubber scrotums. The piste a la resistance, a strip of chicken, with a corn cob and a crabstick (yes a crabstick!) loosely swathed in boiled pastry. I can’t go on; just talking about it makes me want to heave. This was such a disappointing experience; we even tried 2 other restaurants as we couldn’t believe our bad luck. To be honest we both felt like they didn’t give a jot for our

Chantelle, Guildford, Surrey

for our business, as there was enough passing trade as not to warrant repeat business. If you fancy Chinese, I would stay in you own local town pick the best one you know and go there, believe me you will have a far better meal than trekking up to London’s China Town. Needless to say, I really don’t feel like easting Chinese food for quite some time.

Chantelle, Guildford, Surrey

Dragon-i is very good, try the pork and tofu dish it's delicious.

Gemma, glasgow,

I can only comment on what's available in London, but in my opinion the best and freshest dim sum can only be found in Kam Tong in Queensway.

Cat, Barcelona,

I think if you must include the Yang Sing surely Wings deserves a place on the list too, there is little between them, perhaps Wings is even better. They serve don perignon like they do water wfrom their wall of a champagne fridge, v.big for a relatively small place. The food is pretty excellent, certainly in the £££ bracket, if you buy carefully maybe just ££ but definitely one i was expecting to be on here.
Where is this Liverpool place you talk about?

Joathan Shields, Manchester,

The reviewers have missed out two landmark restaurants in London.
Four Seasons in Queensway and Royal China in Queensway. (Its upmarket sibling, Royal China Club is poor value and has ideas beyond its station).

Robin, London, UK

Where is Liverpool - quite! Yuet Ben is still owned by the same family I believe, and I dined there last month for the first time after hearing faultless reviews. It does THE BEST crispy duck I have ever had in a really relaxed environment, and certainly deserves a mention, and a visit! In fact Giles...I'm free next Saturday if you're running low on overpriced London eateries to review...

Jenny Needham, Liverpool, Great Britain

Agreed - why no mention of Liverpool's China Town ??

Lynne Park, Cheshire,

210BC in Chafford Hundred, Essex should definitely be on your list.

Kay, London,

When I lived in Manchester, Yang sing was definitely one of my favourites (goose shins anyone?)! Now I'm living in Bristol, I like going to Water Sky (http://www.waterskybristol.com) or Cathay rendezvous (http://www.cathay-rendezvous.com/). Both are not the cheapest, but I find the quality is very good. I hope to see them on next year's list!

Jo, Bristol,

Mmm if The Regal in Berkhamsted is one of the best I don't wish to go to one of the worst!

rjb, Hong Kong,

What - nothing from Liverpool's China Town? and this when its the 2008 European Capital of Culture. Shame on you !

I recall the "Yuet Ben" on Duke St fondly but it is 30 years since I last ate there. A quick search shows its still there though - but I won't post a link in case you have rules about that.

-K in Boulder,USA

sk, Boulder, CO USA

What about Yauatcha on Berwick Street?

Chien, London,

You forgot to mention The Regal in Berkhamsted.

Rod. Naples

Rod Latham, Naples, Florida

What, not Royal China ?

pat, oxfrod,