One of London’s most renowned Chinese restaurant groups, Four Seasons, has expanded the menu at its new restaurant Chop Chop in The Hippodrome Casino on Leicester Square.
Located downstairs of The Hippodrome Casino Chop Chop is quite a unique location.
Firstly and this is a big plus in my book, there are no customers under the age of 18 since it’s located in a casino. So forget kid screams and noodles flying over your head while you’re enjoying your wontons.
Secondly, the restaurant is open till 4am, perfect for late night dining but without the rowdy post club customers thanks to the casino security.
Thirdly, Chop Chop has friendly and humble customer service without the fine dining price tag. I appreciate Chinese cuisine especially Cantonese – the dim sum, steamed veggies and of course special fried rice, who doesn’t?
However, I’ve become too accustomed to the manners and politeness of English people so places like China Town with their directness shock me a little bit.
Chop Chop stands out from its competitors, you get professional and humble customer service but without paying that fine dining price.
As the restaurant can accomodate later sitting, it’s not open for lunch, so we turned up for the earliest dinner at 6 on the dot just as soon as it opened its doors. We were also the first ones to walk through them but the place filled up in no time.
Feeling warm and cozy sitting in a booth next to koi fish wall decorations we order fairly lightly- a dim sum platter to share. You get to pick your preferred flavours, we select pork and prawn, prawn and chives and just prawns.
We pair it with the classic sweet corn and crab soup and deep fried calamari, which promptly arrives on a chatty cat robot, a cute (that seems to be the most suitable adjective here) addition to the dinning experience.
When the cat robot is approaching a table it announces its presence. It’s programmed for the table number, so it knows where it’s going, or gliding, I should say.
Once it stops the staff serve us the plates. The soup comes in a rather large porcelain cup, a very generous portion at only £6. We joke that we could have ordered one to share, as we slurp the hot deliciousness.
It’s rich with plenty of crab and sweet corn chunks, just the way this soup should be. It goes well with crispy fried squid, which is quite spicy but very flavoursome with perfect soft meat inside.
It tastes well-made and high-quality, the oil leaves no aftertaste, which I always pick up on when it comes to deep fried food.
For mains my guest orders a three meat signature dish, which is again a great value for money. For only £15 she gets to choose three meats. In her case – soya chicken, pork belly and aromatic duck and it comes with steamed jasmine rice.
My guest can’t get over the value for money portion and quality of the ingredients. She struggles to finish it though, despite really liking the dish.
I go for a lighter version – steamed whole sea bass with prawn fried rice and Kai Lan – garlic Chinese broccoli for something green. The fish is served deboned in an easy to enjoy manner.
The rice dish is enormous with plenty of juicy jumbo prawns hiding inside the rice, it’s definitely for sharing. I have half of everything and I’m ready to call it a day asking for takeaway boxes to take the rest home.
Chop chop is not all humble authentic dishes though. You can also find a few lobster dishes such as black pepper lobster without shell and whole lobster for £50.
The menu is very well structured with plenty of sharing dishes from fish, meat to vegan as well as dishes for solo diners. Their décor is appropriate too from high counter seating to intimate booths.
It’s all well rounded off with a thoughtful dessert menu which offers a selection of traditional ice cream lolly sticks from white rabbit, brown sugar tapioca balls, also known as bubble tea, to pandan & coconut jelly or taro.
I went for that refreshing and fragrant pandan & coconut jelly, which is a salad green lolly with pieces of coconut jelly. My guest had a slightly sweeter milkier ice cream with burnt sugar and tapioca balls.
We both will be back for sure. Chop Chop should be a top choice to visit for anyone seeking excellent customer service, good quality food and prices from dinner to late night dining.
Chop Chop, Hippodrome, Cranbourn Street, London WC2H 7JH