Plum Valley

Plum Valley: Cantonese cooking on Gerrard Street

Plum Valley is a Cantonese restaurant at 20 Gerrard Street in Soho's Chinatown, serving freshly steamed dim sum all day alongside a full Cantonese and Sichuan menu. A visitor would go for sit-down dim sum from noon onward, a quiet contrast to the busier canteens nearby, and a kitchen that keeps the trolley running rather than confining dumplings to a lunchtime window. The site has been in the same family since the 1980s, and the restaurant trades today across several floors behind a narrow frontage.

The interior is understated, with wood, slate and stone rather than the lacquered red of its neighbours. What looks like a small shopfront opens into a multi-storey dining room, with upper floors used for larger groups and private bookings. That layout makes Plum Valley a practical choice for a table of friends or a family gathering as much as for two people stopping in for a plate of dumplings.

All-day dim sum and the wider menu

The draw is the all-day dim sum, with a long list of steamed and fried plates served from opening until late. Beyond the dim sum, the carte covers Cantonese and Sichuan cooking, from seafood and steamed fish to fillet steak and clay-pot dishes. There is also an extensive vegetarian section drawing on temple-style cooking, which is unusual on a street where most kitchens lean heavily on meat and seafood. Reservations can be made through the restaurant's own website.

Finding Plum Valley in Chinatown

Plum Valley sits on Gerrard Street, the pedestrianised core of Chinatown, a short walk from Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus Underground stations. It opens daily from midday, running into the late evening and later still at weekends, with dim sum available throughout the day. The phone number is 020 7494 4366. As a long-standing, family-run Cantonese restaurant in Soho, it suits anyone wanting proper dim sum outside the usual lunch hours without leaving the centre of London.