Paper Tiger

My children and myself visit Paper Tiger every week after our meeting venue in Kensington. My children loves this place and always demand we keep coming here. You could say I have no choice, but not only for our benefit to fill our bellies, but the price is right comparing to other places such as restaurants or cafes in Kensington. We enjoy our food there and the staff are very nice. Worth recommending to anyone.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Thursday, November 13, 2008

I've been going to this restaurant for about 12 years. My then boyfriend and I stumbled upon it by accident and have been going ever since. We adore the food there - ok it's not your top-notch sechzuan cuisine but it's £4.50 - and the price has always stayed the same nevermind the price of rice and wheat!

The reason why I like it is it's homely, it's just nice homely food - the wings are great - salty but yum and the chicken is good too. The key word I think here is simple - all 10 or so dishes are basic chinese dishes with no added fluff.

The interior's quite cosy, and the ladies' is teeny and you have to crouch to get in through the door but I think it adds to the overall cuteness of the place!

The service is great too. I don't understand how anyone could be unhappy with this place especially for the price. We take our family there nowadays when we're in the area. And they all love it too!
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Aly
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, June 07, 2008

Even if you're desperate for food and starving, don't go!! My friend saw it in the middle of South Kensington and was amazed by the price, and when we went down the stairs and came in, we immediately wanted to go out but a waiter saw us...The buffet was very small and not very appealing, the food was just awful. The spring rolls were stuffed with soya, the chicken wings were salt on a bone, the noodles had no taste at all, (not even vegetables), the meat was limp, as if you were only eating fat. The sauce had a strange taste and was fluorescent.

We were a bit cross to give 4.50£!!
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odrey
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, April 27, 2008

Honestly I'm not sure why people bother with the silly reviews. Why go to a place that advertises all-you-can-eat for under a fiver then slate it? In Kensington no less?! I mean, Rodizio Rico isn't particularly good, and they want 20 quid for the privilege of gorging yourself. Not to mention I've come to expect the worst from Chinese food, since you can spend twice as much on Gerrard Street and still be served food that isn't particularly appetizing.

Now that I've got that off my chest, I suppose the most important thing is that I'd go back there. For what it is. Rushing straight from work to catch the Proms on a budget, I stumbled upon this gem. I wouldn't say the food is good, but it's actually better than my local takeaway. The Szechuan (orange) chicken has a bit of a kick and is nice chunks of white meat chicken, even if it's colour and culinary origins are a bit dubious. The beef in black been sauce was a bit sweet for my taste and was half onions and peppers, but the other half is meat of surprisingly edible quality. The sweet and sour pork could have been a little more crispy, but is pretty much what you end up with every time you order this dish and pay less then £10. The veggies in garlic sauce were delicious; I went back four times for those. Rice is rice. Chicken wings were a bit inconsistent, but I had a couple crispy and tasty ones. Spring rolls were all cabbage inside but crispy on the outside. So, stuck in Kensington and faced with fast food (for the same price), microwave cuisine pubs, tourist traps, and the odd Michelin starred wallet-snatcher, I was quite pleased to be able to sit down in peace, read my paper, eat plenty of food, and walk out with change from my only ten pound note.

To be honest, since my friend who had the tickets got stranded and I didn't make the concert (where can I write a review on RMT/Bob Crow??!?), Paper Tiger might have been the highlight of my evening.
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Dan
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, September 12, 2007

I dont understand how this can even be called a restaurant. Its terrible. The food is the same with only around 4 dishes to choose from. Yes its all you can eat partly because most of what youre eating is just onion and other vegetables with the tinest amount of meat...if thats what it is. I walked down here and i literally saw a homeless guy attacking the buffet...poor guy but not what you want to see in a 'restaurant'. There are plenty of other better places to go...Dont go to this one.
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Anon
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, May 25, 2007

Reading the reviews here, Paper Tiger is somewhere that you either love or you hate. The small steps lead you into a warm, cosy atmosphere and even though the menu is always the same, it's great to be able to eat spring rolls, sweet and sour pork, egg fried rice, beef and chicken [no idea what it is, but it's orange] ad nauseam. The food is not excellent quality but it is very good for what it is.

Another thing for those people who complain about this place - it's £4.50 for all the food. You're not going to get Nobu for these prices. One thing is for sure, it's excellent value and as well as that - it's licensed. A massive amount of food and two glasses of Tsing Tao only cost me £8.50. The waiters leave you alone and it's got a very personal atmosphere with all the different cavernous sections. I always go here when I need to do some writing or just get away from everything. Recommended.
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deep silent complete
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Monday, March 19, 2007

Delicious helpings of sweet and sour pork, beef in black bean sauce as well as spring rolls washed down with noodles, rice or just more meat. Don't remember what it looks like inside as I was staring at my plate eating through the mountain of meat and the waiters stay out of your way like they should, and only scurry in to remove your empty plate while you lurch towards the buffet for your next helping. You can eat like a troll for under 5 quid in South Kensington. I put away 4 plates of delicious meat goodness. Put barbed wire up I'm still coming back.
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Philip Briggs
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, January 30, 2007

I was strolling around Kensington with my boyfriend near Christmas and we were absolutely starving. We found Paper Tiger and went inside. It seemed like a tiny place, but it’s actually very nice and warm. You can eat all you want for around £4.50 (which obviously doesn’t include drinks). They prepare around 3 meaty dishes, plus rice, noodles, snacks, garnish and soup. You don’t have a lot of variety; but if you happen to be around and hungry, it’s a great place to go. You won’t anything cheaper for that amount of food; plus the staff are very friendly too.

Here's the breakdown of the points I've given them:

Food: 0 would be disgusting and 10 would be supreme quality. I believe they are average, and the food tastes a little bit more chinese than those fake greasy take-aways. So that's 5 for food.

Service: It's self-service, but the waiters do walk around. They're not super waiters like you would expect in a great fancy restaurant. But they're better than average. That's a 7 for them!

Atmosphere: I absolutely loved it. Very small, low ceilings, low lights. Warm. Very welcoming. The mirrors make it seem bigger. I'd give it a 7.

Value for money: £4.50, ALL YOU CAN EAT,SITTING, KENSINGTON AREA, are you kidding me? 10, definately.
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Caterina
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Monday, January 29, 2007

You guys must be joking. The reviews on this website are all so very skewed especially for certain types of food. Paper Tiger is a all-you-can-eat sort of joint where if you don't mind helpings of MSG, grease and sticky gloop barely resembling something edible (let alone Chinese food), then go for it - it's cheap. But personally, given a choice between Paper Tiger and going hungry, I'd go hungry!
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J Casmilus
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

6 of us went here on 15th October 2006 after Ice Skating at Natural History Museum, excellent value for money, service brilliant people were so friendly, will definitely return and recommend to friends.
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Tracey
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 10
Thursday, November 16, 2006