The Chinese Cricket Club is located inside the Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars, and has been named to honour the captain of the Shanghai XI cricket team, Feng. The menu has been created by chef Tony Truong, and includes dishes from all of China's regions. The design is simple yet feels elegant, with touches of Chinese inspiration in the calligraphy on the walls and lanterns hanging overhead.
When it comes to appetisers from the a la carte menu, we'd choose the seven spice crispy tofu or tiger chilli crispy beef. There are two great soups to choose from – the phoenix hot and sour soup with corn fed chicken, and creamy organic sweetcorn soup. There are great dim sum selections, including traditional xiao long bao soup filled dumplings with pulled pork, crab meat, broth and eggs, and the vegetarian version with king mushroom, black truffle and shimeji. There are even fried and baked dim sum options, including the pear dumpling with chicken, shrimp and bamboo shoots, and peking duck puff made with apple and onion.
For your main, try the stir fried fresh lobster with crispy noodles or the sweet and sour iberico pork with tropical fruit. One of the showstoppers on the menu is the Shanghai style 24 hour slow cooked pork belly, which is just as rich as you'd imagine. On the side, try a few of the vegetable options, including the wok fried samphire and asparagus, and Chinese mushrooms with bamboo shoots and vegetarian oyster sauce.
When it comes to rices, the Chinese Cricket Club does them well. You'll have the choice of wok fried seafood glass noodles, and beef ho fun, along with vegetable egg fried rice with carrot, asparagus, egg, Chinese mushrooms and ginger.