The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema & Tv
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
      • Shows
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureFood & DrinksRestaurant & bar reviews

Shikumen Finchley Road

Shikumen Finchley Road | Restaurant review
29 November 2016
Daniel Masters
Avatar
Daniel Masters
29 November 2016

Food

Daniel Masters3

Shikumen

BarQuick & easyCasual foodFine dining
QUICKCASUALFINE DINING

Concept

Fine dining

Cuisine

Chinese - Fine dining

Highlights

Xiao Long Bao

Rating

★★★★★

Food ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

Drinks ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

Service ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

Links

InstagramFacebookTwitterWebsiteMap

Ask any group of food lovers where to find the best bao or dim sum in London, and you’ll be lucky if everyone leaves the table as friends. It’s a curious phenomenon: whilst enthusiasts of many other cuisines often hold strong opinions on their favourites, it’s nothing compared to the near fanaticism that characterises the lovers of brilliant Asian food in the capital.

It’s a mystery, until you try a dish like the xiao long bao at Shikumen. Exploding in a fresh burst of salty soup and perfectly tender dumpling, there’s an art to these soup-filled little treats, and it’s all about getting the ratio of liquid to solid just right. Here, it’s perfect, their silky smooth texture the stuff of fantasy.

The rest of our savoury courses don’t quite inspire the same devotion though. Braised pork belly on rice is definitely tasty, a slick of umami sauce and the pork’s own natural sweetness working well together, but it’s missing something. A splash of acidity to cut through the fattiness or a textural contrast from crisped fat. The Dim Sum platter suffers from the same issue. Every component tastes great, and is well cooked, but as a whole it suffers from a lack of real diversity. Such a platter should be a journey, a selection of vibrant mouthfuls that takes you from sweet to sour to umami and back again. A Yakitori platter does that job a little better. Chicken meatballs are packed full of flavour, as is a beef skewer made bright with studs of chilli and sesame. Bacon wrapped asparagus is a classic pairing and performs well here, the asparagus perfectly cooked with just the slightest bite. Miso marinated salmon, mixed vegetables and chicken with spring onion are all less remarkable, though still solid enough.

Traditional Black sesame balls get us back on track, their squidgy rice casings hiding a treasure trove of rich, buttery sesame paste. For such a highly simple dessert, it was surprisingly satisfying, reminiscent of Western peanut butter-based dishes but without any of the sickliness. A mango and grapefruit tapioca pudding is equally good, again highly simple but moreish. It reminds us of a fresher, brighter version of bubble tea, but with a thankfully lighter hand on the pearls.

It’s hard to really know what to make of Shikumen. You’d certainly struggle to find a better meal amongst the chains nestled here in the Finchley Road O2 Centre, but against the wider selection of Chinese restaurants that the capital offers, there’s something missing; the kind of spark that elsewhere inspires eager customers to traipse across the city in search of the perfect little dumpling or skewer. It’s certainly a solid effort, and we’d eat here again but would we come out of our way to do so? Well, maybe for the xiao long bao…

★★★★★

Food ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

Drinks ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

Service ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

Daniel Masters
Photos: Daniel Masters

To book a table at Shikumen Finchley Road, Unit 7A First Floor O2 Centre 255 Finchley Road NW3 6LU, call 020 7431 9389 or visit here.

Related Itemsreview

More in Food & Drinks

London’s best pizzas for takeaway and delivery

The editorial unit
Read More

Celebrate the EE BAFTAs this Sunday with Claude Bosi’s free virtual dining experience

The editorial unit
Read More

Shake Shack launches limited edition Vegan Crispy Shallot Burger in partnership with chef Neil Rankin

The editorial unit
Read More

Nutrition Kitchen: Fresh, diverse meal plans to satisfy both fitness fanatics and hardcore foodies

Rosamund Kelby
Read More

The Cheese Club: A luxurious dairy banquet delivered straight to your door

Alex Julie Woods
Read More

Refreshing cocktail recipes to keep you quenched through the Easter bank holiday weekend

The editorial unit
Read More

Spotlight: Raphael Dapaah on restoring Ghanaian control of cocoa supply with dairy-free artisan chocolate

Filippo L'Astorina, the Editor
Read More

Chef Adam Handling to launch a sustainable luxury pub in Old Windsor for a perfect countryside escape

The editorial unit
Read More

Firezza celebrates 20th birthday by giving away free pizza across London on 1st April

The editorial unit
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Food

Daniel Masters3

Shikumen

BarQuick & easyCasual foodFine dining
QUICKCASUALFINE DINING

Concept

Fine dining

Cuisine

Chinese - Fine dining

Highlights

Xiao Long Bao

Rating

★★★★★

Food ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

Drinks ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

Service ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

Links

InstagramFacebookTwitterWebsiteMap

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • London’s best pizzas for takeaway and delivery
    Food & Drinks
  • The Year Earth Changed
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Ben Howard: Global Transmission from Goonhilly Earth Station live stream
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Bat for Lashes Online
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Groundswell
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Cruise – Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • A Splinter of Ice at Cheltenham Everyman Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Birdy at Wilton’s Music Hall Online
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • For the Sake of Vicious
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Mare of Easttown
    ★★★★★
    sky
  • Cruise – Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Birdy at Wilton’s Music Hall Online
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Mare of Easttown
    ★★★★★
    sky
  • Me You Madness
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • SYML – Dim | EP review
    ★★★★★
    Album review
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Dr Angelus at Finborough Theatre | Theatre review
La Fille Inconnue (The Unknown Girl) | Movie review