Nell Gwynn’s Parlour

Decent food, decent price. you have a wide variety of cakes and pastries to try.

Everyone else who has been here must be seeing something I don’t, I just can’t get excited about this place.
A family friend is a fan of Nell Gwynns so I have eaten here a few times when it is his turn to pick the venue. The food is OK, it’s not bad but not remarkable either.
I’ve tried to order dishes with alterations to how they are described on the menu before and been turned down flat by the waiter. If it’s all freshly made I don’t understand how this can cause a problem, but it did.
Final nail in the coffin for me is the single star food hygiene rating. If food is your business then I expect you to be hygienic in the preparation of that food, I’m not going to be rushing back here.

Ok we are talking the same place that is currently 122 out of 140 restaurants in Windsor. If so then I should stop using Unilocal and move over to trip advisor. It is not good, it is bad. There are at least 4 other Chinese in Windsor of a higher quality and they are not great. Please if you are going to recommend somewhere, be honest. It would have saved me some discomfort.

Ok, what the heck is the deal with a Chinese restaurant called «Nell Gwynn’s Parlour?» Who would’d thought that a little alley with a simple red Chinese sign saying «Rice/​Noodle» would have such a gem of a northern Chinese cuisine? But let me assure you, this place is a gem! Hubbo and I were in Windsor for a day trip and actually JUST had lunch. We walked down this little alley cause it’s cute and came across this gem of a restaurant.
I was curious and looked at the menu posted on their window. In its English-​Chinese menu, I saw several dishes that were interesting to me. My lingering eyes must have given a not-​so-​subtle hint to hubbo, who sighed and said, «we can go in and try a few dishes if you want.» Say no more…
Upon entering the restaurant in this late November afternoon, it was empty. An older gentleman came over and handed a menu to hubbo and a different one to me… a full Chinese menu. So let’s just say that the English/​Chinese version posted on the window has a few dishes that excites me? Well the full Chinese menu almost made me fall out of my chair. There were all kinds of goodies in that menu. Some noodle soup are not offered in any average Chinese restaurants even in Chinatown in London. Some were really what I considered comfort food that my mom would make.
Since we had JUST had lunch, I could only order a noodle soup (pickled vegetable with shredded pork noodle soup) and pot stickers (mainly for the hubbo, who loves pot stickers). The noodle soup was soooo delicious, just like the way my mom makes it. The pot stickers were surprisingly tasty as well. After our meal, I couldn’t help but be curious how this little Chinese restaurant survives (especially since it was empty when we walked in). Do people around here know enough about the good ol’ bowl of noodle soup? Do they suffer from being so tucked away?
The lady behind the counter and I started chatting and turns out, this restaurant is well-​known by Chinese tour guides. So all those tourists from China, Taiwan, etc, come here for their meals when visiting Windsor. Which made perfect sense why the food is so authentic and doesn’t break your bank either… As we were leaving, I heard her on the phone, talking to probably a tour guide. She mentioned about 30 people coming in 5 min. As we walked up the alley, sure enough, I saw a line of Chinese tourists headed down to their restaurant lol.

Thanks to the first three referrals or we wouldn’t have known to try Nell’s. We had spent a week in Ireland and were full of eating heartier meals and fish so we wanted a change up. N ells was perfect. The dumplings (pot stickers) were exquisite, the noodle was so so delicate, as was the case with the wrappers for the crispy duck. They have two menus though. Ask for the Chinese menu as will, it has English descriptions, because it offers many more choices. Located just behind The Crooked House tea room and a few steps from the castle.