Seventeen

 

Authentic Chinese dishes from a variety of local cuisines are served up in stylish surroundings at Seventeen, located at 17 Notting Hill Gate. There's Cantonese and Shanghai food as well as the famous Szechuan Cuisine which should get spice lovers all steamed up. The restaurant, in the style stakes at least, has drawn comparisons with Hakkasan - but while the interior is somewhat similar, the dishes we sampled didn't stand up to the exacting standards of the high-class Oriental fusion restaurant in Soho. Seventeen Tiger Shrimps, for example, were six beautifully presented jumbo prawns (the size of langustine) with heads and shells on but aside from two scallops, that was it - no sides, no greens, no nothing. The over-complicated description of the sauce - "spring onion, leek and chilli pepper fried with a chilli sauce based on black beans, oyster sauce, ginger and garlic" - had suggested a whole riot of accoutrements, so it was disappointing to find just the jumbo prawns in a pool of sweet and sour sauce. The Dengying Beef was better, a dry-fried crispy beef with vegetables and a spicy Sichuan chilli sauce. Overall, this is average food served by attentive staff in a stylish setting.