The new concept is taking up residence in the building’s new wing
Syrian restaurateur Imad Alarnab isn’t the only one opening a new restaurant at Somerset House this autumn as it’s been announced that Amy Poon is doing one too. Her parents Bill and Cecilia Poon opened their first Poon’s restaurant on Lisle Street in 1973, with the second site in Covent Garden, opened in 1980, becoming the first Chinese restaurant in the UK to win a Michelin star. Since 2018, Amy has been carrying on the family legacy by doing pop-ups, including a wontoneria at Stevie Parle’s JOY and at Carousel, and selling sauces, condiments and Chinese wind-dried meats online and from her new production and retail space in Spa Terminus.
Now she’s coming full circle and opening a permanent restaurant at Somerset House this September. We don’t have a full menu yet but claypot rice and ‘magic soup’ will feature, alongside dishes that are common fixtures in Chinese homes. Chinese flavours will feature across the cocktails and the wine list will focus on cool-climate bottles, female winemakers and family-owned producers.
Speaking about the restaurant, Amy said: “Since my first pop-up in 2018, I’ve been searching for a space to call home. After various false starts, I could not have hoped for a more beautiful location than Somerset House.
“Five decades after my parents opened the first Poon’s Restaurant in Lisle Street, I can no longer deny the calling. This is a way of welcoming people to my table, where you come if you don’t have a nice Chinese friend who will cook for you at home.”
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Key Information
Opening date | September 2025
Address | Somerset House, New Wing Lancaster Place, WC2R 1LA
For more information | poonslondon.com