Dragon Inn Club – A Time Travel to the 8th-Century China
Hidden away from the busy Victoria station, Dragon Inn Club is famous for its Sichuan Hotpot and relaxing atmosphere with dim red lighting and bamboo décor that recreates the journey of the Silk Road.
@urbanadventurerldn ⚠️ Hidden gem alert ⚠️ [MORE INFO IN BIO] If you love Sichuan cuisine and Chinese history, this restaurant is a must visit 🥢 @Dragoninnclub2017 is an authentic Chinese restaurant, inspired by the 8th-century China 🐉 🗺️ Embark on a journey on the Silk Road that once famously connected China to the Western world 🍹Enjoy cocktails influenced by ingredients from the Far East or indulge in a classic Chinese hotpot with three different broths and cook your own meat and vegetables 🍗🥬 #chinesecuisine #chinesefood #chinesehotpot #hiddengem #chineseculture #chinesehistory #nightout #silkroad
Travel Back in Time to the 8th Century China
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Tucked away on Upper Tachbrook Street (5-min walk from Victoria station), Dragon Inn Club doesn’t seem extraordinary from the outside. It looks just like other restaurants in the area.
Step in, however, and find yourself transported back in time to the 8th-century China. Embark on a journey on the Silk Road that once famously connected China to the Western world.
Authentic Interior
Photo: Urban Adventurer
To make the restaurant as authentic as possible, all the decorations are imported from China. All the lanterns, the ceramic decorations, the statues, the pictures on the walls, even the tiles on the floor and the wood on the walls are all from China.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
There’s even an altar, a real Chinese desk with ink brushes and ink holder and an ancient rice milling machine which was used for changing the paddy rice into rice.
Ancient rice milling machine
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The ground floor gives space to a cosy cocktail bar where they serve themed cocktails, premium spirits, Sake, tea and more.
The signature cocktails are influenced by ingredients from the Far East and will bring guests on a sensory journey to the secrets of Chinese flavours.
Whether you choose the ‘Terracotta Soldier’, the ‘Call me Geisha’ or ‘The Lost Wuxia’, you can be sure that you will experience something very exotic. The cocktails are infused with rose and plum flavours, black tea, or fruits like watermelon or peach.
The Main Restaurant
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The main restaurant is downstairs.
It’s a large airy place, divided into dimly lit sections where guests can have relaxed intimate experience.
In addition to the main restaurant, there is a private dining suite and private booths for an even more intimate experience with your significant other or the closest family members.
Sichuan Menu
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Central to many Sichuan dishes the famous ‘Five Fragrances’. These are: fennel, pepper, aniseed, cinnamon and clove.
These are combined with chili, and Sichuan peppercorns that define the region unique, easily recognisable tase profile.
Dragon Inn Club has an extensive a la cart menu, including Peking Duck, seafood, noodles and more.
We started with the Beijing Roast Duck. The duck was cooked to perfection in a traditional style. It was juicy and soft and full of flavour. It was served with vegetables, some sauce and pancakes, so you can make your own mini savoury pancakes just as you like it.
Sichuan Hotpot
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The centre of the whole menu, however, is the Sichuan Hotpot.
Sichuan Hotpot is what Dragon Inn Club is specialised in and it’s a social way of eating Chinese people have enjoyed thousands of years. Dragon Inn Club embraces this tradition by offering authentic ingredients with a modern twist.
Hotpot dining is very popular in China even today. It’s a very interactive dining experience where raw ingredients are served with different flavoured soup broth and guest cook their own food in the shimmering pot of flavourful stock at the table.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Hotpots can perfectly customisable depending on the guests’ taste or dietary requirements and it’s the perfect way to bring friends and family together and creating memories to treasure.
Dragon Inn Club offers Hotpot Set Dinner, Vegan Hotpot Menu, and Build Your Own Hotpot, along with a Sichuan a la cart menu, Express Menu which perfect for pre-or post-West End theatre dining, and Beginners Menu for those not familiar with Chinese cuisine.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The restaurant’s Head Chef, Qing Song Fan, is proud of the vibrant modern dishes successfully blended with tradition and authenticity.
The menu features a range of adventurous dishes, including prawn ravioli with chili, corn-fed chicken cooked in Sichuan oil or century egg with soy and chili.
We tried the Classic Hotpot menu.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The menu features three different soup bases: Sichuan spicy, Chicken & spring onions and Classic tomato.
The hotpot comes with 14 different ingredients – meat and veg – for you to cook for yourself in the broths. The ingredients included beef slices, chicken slices, lamb slices, tofu, fresh king prawns, fresh scallops, noodles, oyster mushroom, and lotus root slices, just to name a few.
Cooking our own meal was great fun. We experimented with different ingredients with different soup bases.
We also had seven different sauces from spicy to mild to soy sauce to try with the different meat and vegetables.
If you have never tried hotpot before, don’t worry! The staff if very helpful and will explain everything, from how to cook your ingredients and for how long, to why there are two different sizes of chopsticks on your table and how to use them.
If you’re not comfortable with using chopsticks, you can get fork and spoon instead.
Private room
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Dragon Inn Club is a must-visit hidden gem for anybody who loves authentic Chinese cuisine and interested in Chinese culture or history because this restaurant perfectly blends the two. Make sure you allow time to explore every corner of the restaurant because the more you look, the more you discover.
Practical Info
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Address
Dragon Inn Club | 16-18 Upper Tachbrook St, Pimlico, London SW1V 1SH
Opening Times
Mon – Sat: 12pm – 11pm
Sun: 12pm – 10pm
Booking
Book your table on Dragon Inn Club’s official website
Ready for your next adventure? Love Asian cuisine? Sakura Season has arrived at Tombo Japanese Café. They recently introduced their Sakura Season Specials which includes a Sakura Mont Blanc Sundae, a trending dessert in Japan.
