We'd been meaning to visit Opium for years, mainly because we love dim sum and they have a dim sum menu, but just never got around to it until recently...
It was mid-week and we were the first diners there - inside the décor is minimal: grey walls, candle light and small ceiling lights. Mr Foodie picked a Alshan mocktail (£4.00) with lychee and guava juice which was fruity and refreshing while Mrs Foodie went for some floral jasmine tea (£2). NB: if you run out of tea they will re-fill the pot with hot water for no additional charge.
The dim sum was available so we decided to stick to these and eat Chinese tapas style...
Thai Prawn Crackers
Some Thai prawn crackers and zingy chilli sauce to dip whilst waiting.
Soft shell crab £6.00
We both love soft shell crab, so looked forward to this one, however the taste wasn't as lively as the presentation. The garlic, spring onion, coriander and chilli tingle that you get in places like Asia Style, Banana Leaf or Rumours Kopitiam just wasn't there so it was bland by soft shell crab standards.
Seasonal vegetables in carrot pastry £4.50
Interesting colour, however sadly nothing interesting with the taste.
Har Gau - king prawn & bamboo shoots in spinach pastry £4.90
The Har Gau were delicious. Chunky prawn, not the usual prawn mush. Loved the colour as well. Could have happily sat and munched these all night.
Salmon and fennel dumpling £4.90
Lightly flavoured and tasty. Mixture of salmon chunks and minced fish. Very moreish. Mrs Foodie isn't a fennel fan but was happy to eat these.
Crab meat dumpling £4.90
Crab and prawn meat covered in a light pastry wrapper. Crispy pastry, not greasy with chunky meat inside.
Cordycep flower and tofu dumpling £4.50
Another one which was a bit tasteless, it needed a dollup of soy sauce.
Chinese chive wor tip £4.50
Again fair to middling, where were all the fragrant spices we were hoping for?
XO Scallop Dumpling £6.50
Minced scallop lightly coated in XO sauce. Easy to eat with a light XO tingle.
Kung Pao Chicken Toast £6.00
Not very spicy, just enough to enhance the flavour. The side dip was like a spiced up brown sauce. Not fatty and greasy like normal toasts.
Shanghai Mini Bun £4.90
These little buns were bland. Minced pork with ginger and garlic? If only the ginger and garlic could be tasted!
The service and ambience were just right but the food was quite disappointing, especially for the money. Our bill came to £57.60 and no alcohol or desserts were had. Ouch!
Music interesting - not very Chinesey at first and then a Chinese(?) version of the girl from Ipanema came on! Toilets clean.
TL;DR
+ fresh dim sum
+ friendly service
+ some of the dum sum are really tasty
- while others are bland and disappointing
- dim sum menu expensive
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