Chinese

MA LA SICHUAN

Sleek Westminster restaurant Ma La Sichuan’s extensive menu features plenty of Chinese classics but the real draw here are the Sichuan specialties, which showcase the famous numbing heat as well as the more complex flavours of fermented spiciness, spicy and sour, and spicy and sweet. Dive in with fragrant sea bass in sizzling chilli oil, chao shou dumplings, soft shell crab with chopped red chillies, spicy pig’s ear in Sichuan oil, imperial Gongbao chicken, ma po tofu, and fish fragrant aubergines.

NOBLE PALACE

At Noble Palace, just a stone’s throw from St James’s Park, the chefs draw on recipes and flavours from eight of China’s culinary regions for the food offering, while taking inspiration from the food once enjoyed by the Emperors of China’s final imperial Qing dynasty. And the menu is suitably luxe with dishes including braised Scottish lobster with udon, stir fried wagyu beef, and three different Peking duck dishes (one with Beluga caviar, one stuffed with abalone and one served with black truffle pancakes). BALLER. And over at the Mi (meaning ‘mystery’) Bar, you can choose your drinks based on… vibes. The cocktail list is filled with pictures designed to evoke feelings and emotions that are associated with tastes, and once you’ve settled on your mood/flavour profile, you’ll be served a cocktail to match.

FOOD HOUSE

46 Gerrard St, London W1D 5QH

Previously the site of Harbour City, Food House is in a prime Chinatown position (it’s pretty much the first thing you’ll see if you turn off of Shaftesbury Avenue onto Gerrard Street). It’s buzzy and authentic, advertising itself as a way to “experience the real Beijing without flying to Beijing”. And this place is the real deal – classic without being too old school. In fact, in 2022 Eater mused that this may be the “hippest” restaurant in central London. 

OLD TOWN 97

19 Wardour St, London W1D 6PL

With a name that pays tribute to the year that Hong Kong was handed back to China from the UK, Old Town 97 is a small restaurant serving up Cantonese classics alongside a range of South East Asian dishes. Apparently, there’s a secret menu item here called ‘LSE fried rice’ which, as urban legend has it, was created by LSE students as the ideal sobering-up meal. Incidentally, this spot is open until 3.30 am – if you’re a late-night Chinese food fan, this one’s for you.

JINLI

4 Leicester St, London WC2H 7BL

Jinli has been raking in the awards since opening in 2015, so if you’re after Sichuan food, this one’s a solid choice. From dry pots to hot pots, the menu here is stacked with Sichuanese classics and all the mouth-numbing spice you can handle. The whole seabass is a particularly impressive dish, served in a pot of chilli oil, black bean sauce, ginger and spring onions.

FOUR SEASONS

12 Gerrard St, London W1D 5PR

If you’re a fan of Chinese roast duck, here’s where to get it. In fact, Four Seasons’ roast duck has been rated the world’s best by the Financial Times. Apparently, the ducks, which are reared at the prestigious Silver Hill Farm in Ireland, are played soft music which relaxes them and makes their meat more tender. Stress-free ducks, while their speciality, isn’t all that’s on offer here though, there’s plenty more on offer from the extensive, seasonally changing menu.

CAFE TPT

21 Wardour St, London W1D 6PN

A small and unassuming spot on Wardour Street, Cafe TPT is a solid choice if you’re after some Chinese roast meats. Choose from duck, honey-roasted pork, crispy pork and soya chicken, or get a mix of two or three over rice. Otherwise, there are plenty of classics on the thorough menu – and you’ll find that most of them won’t set you back more than a tenner.

PLUM VALLEY

20 Gerrard Street, London

A long-standing restaurant in Chinatown, Plum Valley has been passed down through generations of the same family since the 80s. The menu is full of Cantonese and Sichuan classics, as well as a selection of hand-crafted dim sum. The name hints at an old Chinese fable which tells the story of a utopian village away from the chaos of the outside world. This is the energy Plum Valley wants to replicate, providing a tranquil escape from Chinatown’s thoroughfare, Gerrard Street.

DUMPLINGS' LEGEND

15-16 Gerrard St, London W1D 6JE

A favourite haunt of dumpling lovers, Dumplings’ Legend has an extensive list of classic dim sum, with some signatures mixed in there as well. They’re credited as being the first to put spicy pork and spicy crayfish into xiaolongbao, but if you don’t fancy trying those, you can choose from their list of 47 dim sum variations instead. All of Dumplings’ Legend’s dumplings are made fresh in their open-plan, glass-walled kitchen, so you can watch the action yourself – they apparently get through about 8000 a day.

WONG KEI

41-43 Wardour St, London W1D 6PX

Another of Chinatown’s enduring establishments, Wong Kei has been around for decades and was long-renowned as being one of the city’s rudest restaurants. Before 2014, you’d go to Wong Kei to be shouted at and line your stomach for a night out in Soho. Since then, new management has taken over and apparently purged Wong Kei of its rude creds, but you can still drop by for quick, cheap and reliable Chinese food.

BUN HOUSE

26-27 Lisle St, London WC2H 7BA

Get your steamed bun fix at Bun House, where Cantonese buns are very much the focus, with street food snacks and rice pots bulking out the menu. Eating here is more of a quick in-and-out job rather than somewhere you’d linger over a meal. After ordering at the counter, which is laden with those bamboo baskets, you collect your food and grab a seat wherever you can find one. The pig bun is a best seller, and with sweet, rich char siu pork encased in fluffy dough, it’s not hard to see why. The lamb bun, punched up with cumin and garlic, is also worth a go, and you can’t skip the sweet custard bun either. Be warned though, the salted egg custard floods out so don’t even attempt to split it open with your hands unless you want to be wearing it.

DUMPLING SHACK SOUTH QUAY

Dumpling Shack started out as a way to get dumplings on London’s street food scene map but thanks to spin-off concept Fen Noodles, its branching out into different elements of Chinese cuisine. The brand’s South Quay site still centres around their signature shengjianbao (pan-fried soup dumplings) but also has a rotating list of specials exclusive to the site. Some of the spesh dishes include the big plate beef noodles, with slow braised marbled short rib cooked in doubanjiang, stir-fried with potatoes and peppers on a bed of hand-pulled belt noodles; Mala honey fried chicken over Hong Kong French toast with a cream corn filling; and peanut butter mochi French toast served with condensed milk & golden syrup. If you already love them for their dumplings, you’ll want to head to South Quay to give these plates a try.

MASTER WEI

Master Wei was born out of the success of owner Wei Guirong’s first restaurant, Xi’an Impression in Highbury, one of London’s favourite Chinese restaurants. Luckily for Master Wei, and despite the pressure and overbearing weight of its older sibling’s hype, it’s another hit. The vibe is laid-back, the interior is pared-down and the menu is a trove of some of those faves you’ll remember from Xi’an Impression (hand-pulled beef biang biang and Xi’an liang pi noodles) alongside new plates (the potato sliver salad and the spicy cumin beef burger). If Xi’an Impression made you fall in love with the region’s food, don’t miss out on Master Wei.

THREE UNCLES

12 Devonshire Row, London EC2M 4RH

Looking for authentic Hong Kong siu mei aka Cantonese roast meats? Three Uncles are doing it in the City and at Camden’s Hawley Wharf. The Three Uncles, friends and chefs Cheong Yew (Uncle Lim), Pui Sing Tsang (Uncle Sidney) and Mo Kwok (Uncle Mo), serve up their signature chopped-to-order Cantonese roast duck, crispy pork belly and char siu pork at this spot, as well as their Hainan chicken rice, lo mein noodles, dumplings and buns. They have two exclusive Hong Kong dishes in Camden too – curry fish balls served with Uncle Lim’s secret sauce, and Auntie Jun’s char siu sou, baked sweet BBQ pork pastries handmade by Uncle Sidney’s cousin.

FACING HEAVEN

1a Bayford St, London E8 3SE
OPENING HOURS
  • Monday: Closed
  • Tuesday: 6:00 – 11:00 PM
  • Wednesday: 6:00 – 11:00 PM
  • Thursday: 6:00 – 11:00 PM
  • Friday: 6:00 – 11:00 PM
  • Saturday: 6:00 – 11:00 PM
  • Sunday: Closed

Vegan Chinese spot Mao Chow has upped sticks and moved just around the corner – and become Facing Heaven in the process. And yes it’s still tiny, although at 28 covers, it’s double the size of the original spot. Despite the small size, it’s a fun vibe in there with brightly coloured yellow tables, black and white chequered floors, neon lights and a great soundtrack. Everything at Facing Heaven is still 100% vegan but founder Julian Denis has developed the menu to fuse Chinese dishes with his multicultural upbringing in LA, with Puerto-Rican, American and Portuguese twists shining through. Don’t miss the smacked cucumber, seaweed toast, dumplings in chilli oil made with ‘omnipork’,Chongqing cauliflower and the dan dan noods, and be sure to order a couple of MSG Margs to wash it all down with.

THREE UNCLES BRIXTON

If you’re a fan of Cantonese roast meats, Three Uncles is just the spot for you. The Brixton Village site, their first sit-in one, is serving up their famous Cantonese trio of roast duck, crispy pork belly and char siu pork. They’ve also got some of their classics on the menu such as Hainan chicken rice, lo mein noodles and a selection of dim sum available to eat in, take away or have delivered, not to mention the Brixton-only specials including the Treasures Platter of duck, char siu and crispy pork; roast duck & char siu lai fun noodle soup; and lotus leaf rice with Chinese sausage, steamed chicken, shiitake mushroom & chestnuts. Trust us, you want to be trying this. 

BARSHU

28 Frith Street, London W1D 5LF

Good Sichuan restaurants are few and far between in London but one that has got quite the rep when it comes to southwestern Chinese cuisine is Barshu. Opening back in 2006 on Soho’s bustling Frith Street, the Chinese restaurant is still going strong, attracting a crowd of tourists and locals daily. For those who have visited Barshu before, you will know the menu is BIG, and can be overwhelming if you don’t know your stuff. Thankfully the staff are on hand to help digest and make some recommendations, something we would suggest you do too, especially if you struggle with spice. The salt & pepper soft shell crab, smacked cucumber, golden soup with seabass & Sichuan pickles, and the signature dan dan noodles are all winners but there’s also everything from pig trotters to beef tripe on the menu too.

MIMI MEI FAIR

55 Curzon Street, London W1J 8PG

Chinese restaurant Mimi Mei Fair is absolutely beautiful. Set in an old Georgian Townhouse on Curzon Street, it has several different dining areas in various nooks and crannies, all decked out super luxe with colourful patterns, vases and Chinese artworks. The kitchen is headed up by chef Peter Ho, who was also in charge of one of London’s greatest and much missed restaurants, HKK. And that’s before you even consider that the brains behind the whole operation is Samyukta Nair of Bombay Bustle and Javamar. Peter’s signatures at HKK was the roast Peking duck, and it’s a signature here too. Other must orders include the ‘Hokkien’ seafood noodles with scallop, prawn & samba paste, the clay pot lamb and if you’re looking for something more meaty, you’ll definitely want to to try the caramelised crispy Mandarin beef.

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