See the authentic delights of this Colindale Chinese restaurant

A trip along Edgware Road often feels like an eastern cultural experience - it is known as the Arabic capital of London, after all.

You could think of it as London's very own Silk Road.

Walk a little further (a lot further) from the tube stop and you'll find yourself on the outskirts of London , there's new-build luxury flats, old suburban conurbations and plenty of industrial sites.

There's also a new oriental food hall, with multiple vendors upstairs, a luxury Chinese restaurant downstairs and a posh-looking oriental supermarket opening next door soon.

Get in my belly!

Getwestlondon popped down to review the Golden Dragon restaurant, located below the Bang Bang Oriental food hall in Colindale.

Atmosphere 4/5

The Edgware Road structure looks more like it came from space than the orient.

But inside the structure you're greeted with Chinese lanterns and a plethora of Asian aromas.

The striking oriental decor is exactly what you'd expect from an upscale Chinese establishment.

Staff are well presented and it's easy to lose count of the number of female workers in pantsuits.

The restaurant has a lot of floor space and a very long bar area decorated with oriental statues.

Aromatic ducks and ribs hang in view of the dining room and there's even a VIP area tucked away to one side.

Service 4/5

Waiting staff and kitchen porters were happy to answer any questions about the menu including allergen information.

With it being a large restaurant it seemed you could be ignored easily if they were busy but on a quiet afternoon it was easy enough to get someone's attention.

The restaurant seemed to be well maintained and clean, a large clean up effort could be observed before the evening rush and most members of staff seemed to pitch in.

The toilets were modern and well presented when we visited.

Food 5/5

In terms of authenticity, Golden Dragon is right on the money.

The genuine flavours of the food are reflected in the clientele, most seemed to be of an Asian background during my visit.

The general vibe you get when eating there is that this place is popular with the local oriental community.

The range of choice on offer is impressive too, there's a chef's special menu, dim sum, and a regular menu.

Sticking to mainly dim sum choices for a starter is a good way to go, prices range from around £4 to £7 and the food was served promptly, hot and was very tasty.

We ordered deep fried squid and pork dumplings, both priced at around £4, as well as deep friend wantons at around £6.

All the starters came with various condiments including chili sauces and a vinegar accompaniment.

For the main course we chose honey barbecue pork rice, £8, a half spicy chicken pot £18, Japanese spicy seafood noodles £11 and another dim sum dish of Peking pork dumplings, £4, because why not?

You can see all the food choices in the gallery below.

View gallery

The pork rice dish was by far the best thing served that day, two diners made it disappear in a matter of minutes and it could be seen on the tables of other patrons in the restaurant as we entered.

The spicy half chicken pot was among one of the most interesting dishes we had ever tasted.

The spice level seemed to grow and fade on the pallet in waves and it left a strange but pleasant taste of mint in the mouth.

Down sides to this dish included too many hard and whole spices including star anise and other objects floating around made it hard to get a good mouthful.

Also the chicken in this dish is rather difficult to separate from the bone.

Nevertheless, it was worth ordering to try as it is presented well and is definitely a unique dish.

The pot was served on a small gas stove and cooked briefly in front of diners for a few minutes.

The soft and spicy Japanese seafood noodles should not be avoided and should be consumed quickly and hot.

The squid was slightly over done but the prawns and scallops were delightful - a must try.

Of course we couldn't resist trying the Peking dumplings - you shouldn't either. Incredible value for money.

You could do much worse than Golden Dragon across London, it's location is a little out of the way but not too difficult to reach from the northern line.

It would be a challenge to find a more authentic restaurant that is as clean and with as large a variety of food on offer as this place.

I recommend this restaurant to any Chinese food lover who fancies something a lot more extra special than their usual takeaway.

Anyone wishing to escape the usual displays of Christmas food would benefit from a trip to this place too.