Bayswater’s Gold Mine

I’ve been sitting on the photos from a dinner at Gold Mine for a while and thought I’d finally get them up here. The chefs from the Four Seasons down the road, famous for their roast duck, supposedly upped sticks and opened Gold Mine a little while back. I’d been there for lunch but hadn’t tried it at dinner time. We went on a very crowded Friday night and had to wait about 20 minutes for a table for two. They then tried to stick us onto a terrible table stuck in between two larger round tables and its position would have forced us to sit side by side. I put my foot down and we managed to get the next normal two seater, seats facing each other across the table.

After placing our order (3 dishes plus white rice), the menus were taken away and small soup bowls were immediately brought to our table. Not many places now give complimentary soup and we were quite cheered by this small gesture. The thick broth seemed to be made with leftover roast meats – there were bits of pork and lotus root and I even got a surprise!

Then came the rice and our chosen dishes. Fish paste stuffed vegetables (peppers, aubergines, and tofu) in a black bean sauce – just like mother used to make, it’s a very strongly flavoured dish that demands to be eaten with lots of plain white rice,

roast duck – just as good as at the Four Seasons, tender and very flavourful (and that skin!),

and kai lan (Chinese broccoli) with oyster sauce. I feel guilty if I don’t have some vegetables!

I do like the food here and it’s quite affordable – I think the bill came to around 24 for the both of us and it was a lot of food. We were stuffed! They do have one-plate meals of fried noodles and roast meats on rice for about a fiver and it’s great for a nice sitdown meal (though it’s significantly louder at dinner than at lunch) or a quick takeaway bite. That is, if you can wait in line with the hoards of Chinese students who also now know about the place!

Gold Mine
102 Queensway
Bayswater
London W2 3RR