Food & Drink: Bamboo, Mitcham
Bamboo, established since 1960, doesn’t have a website to explore and they’re not in any hurry to create one. They are more the accustomed restaurant who also deliver locally by taking orders in their long-established way (over the phone).
Due to their experience in presenting traditional food to a very high standard in a genuine Chinese restaurant with a great atmosphere, it’s no surprise Bamboo has phenomenal feedback from customers, who some claim to ‘refuse to go anywhere else’ after their initial visit. The restaurant was nearly fully booked as only one spare table was available.
Prawn crackers are served upon seating to comfort the time spent when choosing what to drink, as they have an extensive choice of wines. Eventually we opted for a Spanish Camparron Tempranillo and a Mateus Rose (The Original). The larger tables have a ‘lazy Susan’ to accommodate the dishes and make sharing simple.
Starters are also quite varied and traditional in choice, from the classic prawn toast or spare ribs, to the more upmarket fried crab claw filled with prawn mousse and steam Har Kau (King prawn filling wrapped in a clear pastry).
Our choice of Steam Siu Mai (pork filling), prawn toast, pan fried pork dumplings and smoked chicken shreds was an excellent one and very reasonably priced, as is the rest of the menu.
For mains – Stir fry scallops with asparagus and king prawns in XO sauce, which sounding hot, has more of a black bean strength. Stir fry chicken breast with three peppers in black bean sauce and sweet & sour pork, all accompanied with noodles and bean sprouts with a special fried rice served in an authentic wooden casket. Again, no complaints.
Bamboo has a large choice for vegetarians including bean curd meals, and is also popular with pescatarians as dishes can include monkfish, seabass, lobster, crab, king prawn, scallops, mussels and salmon steak.
They have a small team of very friendly, chatty waitresses who are only too happy to recommend and explain what’s on the menu they are clearly so proud of.
However, I did spot one tiny spelling mistake on the menu, the waitress was completely unfazed by this and laughed it off, which in all fairness is a good sign, and the bill is written in Chinese, which also shows why Bamboo is a true, authentic Chinese restaurant, incredibly popular, very well recommended and consistently receives excellent reviews.
| Friday | 12–2pm, 6–11pm |
| Saturday | 12–2pm, 6–11pm |
| Sunday | 1–4pm, 6–11pm |
| Monday | 12–2pm, 6–11pm |
| Tuesday | Closed |
| Wednesday | 12–2pm, 6–11pm |
| Thursday | 12–2pm, 6–11pm |
Phone: 020 8648 2673
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