China town resto recommendation?

[philv]

We’re going to see the mouse trap tomorrow near leicester square.

We thought it might be nice to eat in china town.
Any recommendations?
Nothing too pricey or fancy.

Or is it overated/stupidly expensive?

If so, any other recommendations for chinese or thai...food with ambiance?

Thanks

[hungry_hog]

It's the West End - there are a lot of tourist traps. And some truly dreadful Chinese restaurants.

You say you don't want anything too pricey but you want ambience - it's tough to hit that requirement

Rosa's thai in Soho is very good. Casual dining so not sure that will hit your ambience brief
Kiln is also good (Northern Thai food, quite spicy)

Yauatcha (dim sum, also Soho) is excellent, maybe too pricey for you

Edited by hungry_hog on Monday 22 April 20:50

[philv]

Thanks for the reply.

I am also willing to move away from leicester square area.

Somewhere a bit less touristy.
We have plenty of time after the matinne show.

[CAPP0]

Make sure you check the hygiene rating if you go for any of the Chinatown restaurants - it was often the case that they were very poor, and a visit could easily lead to an unwanted visitor to the gut. That was a few years back, I don't know whether it's improved or not.

[philv]

CAPP0 said:

Make sure you check the hygiene rating if you go for any of the Chinatown restaurants - it was often the case that they were very poor, and a visit could easily lead to an unwanted visitor to the gut. That was a few years back, I don't know whether it's improved or not.

Actually, i’ve now decided to give it a miss.
25 years ago i ate savoury filled donut thingy in chinatown.
10 mi s later i could hatdly walk.
Took a taxi from tnere to kingswood, surrey near tne m25 to get home.
Spent the next 2 days in bed....could barely get to tne bathroom i was so week,

That and your comments have put me right off!

[C70R]

Blimey. That thread escalated quickly.

While it's true there are plenty of tourist trap places in Chinatown, London has plenty of great Chinese restaurants.

And while it's true there are some less hygienic places in London, it takes 2min to work out which those are.

I don't think I'd avoid the entirety of Chinatown on that basis...

[CAPP0]

C70R said:

Blimey. That thread escalated quickly.

While it's true there are plenty of tourist trap places in Chinatown, London has plenty of great Chinese restaurants.

And while it's true there are some less hygienic places in London, it takes 2min to work out which those are.

I don't think I'd avoid the entirety of Chinatown on that basis...

Fair comment, but last time I looked a lot of them were 1 or 2. And speaking personally, once you've had two weeks-worth of campylobacter (not that mine came from Chinatown) you tend to stop playing hygiene roulette!!

[Thankyou4calling]

The Wong Kei

Now fk off!

[Whoozit]

Rasa Sayang. Malaysian rather than Chinese, but done authentically and in a no-frills room. Excellent.

[C70R]

CAPP0 said:

C70R said:

Blimey. That thread escalated quickly.

While it's true there are plenty of tourist trap places in Chinatown, London has plenty of great Chinese restaurants.

And while it's true there are some less hygienic places in London, it takes 2min to work out which those are.

I don't think I'd avoid the entirety of Chinatown on that basis...

Fair comment, but last time I looked a lot of them were 1 or 2. And speaking personally, once you've had two weeks-worth of campylobacter (not that mine came from Chinatown) you tend to stop playing hygiene roulette!!

There are plenty that are 4/5 stars in Chinatown alone.

But if you think that scoring a 2 on that environmental hygiene thing equates to a high likelihood of getting campylobacter, I probably can't help you.

Don't ever travel to Asia and eat (delicious) street food, whatever you do.

[SaulGoodman]

Wong Kei!!

[matrignano]

hungry_hog said:

It's the West End - there are a lot of tourist traps. And some truly dreadful Chinese restaurants.

You say you don't want anything too pricey but you want ambience - it's tough to hit that requirement

Rosa's thai in Soho is very good. Casual dining so not sure that will hit your ambience brief
Kiln is also good (Northern Thai food, quite spicy)

Yauatcha (dim sum, also Soho) is excellent, maybe too pricey for you

Edited by hungry_hog on Monday 22 April 20:50

All good suggestions. Not Chinatown proper, but a very close walk away in Soho.
I'll add Duck & Rice, sort of a Chinese gastro pub concept.
Bar Shu for very spicy Schezuan cuisine.
Bao for...baos (Taiwanese buns filled with various stuff)

None of these will give you the sts, unless you're sensitive to spicy food (in which case pick milder dishes)

[shakotan]

Wong Kei has gone now, hasn't it?

[CAPP0]

C70R said:

There are plenty that are 4/5 stars in Chinatown alone.

As I said, I haven't checked recently, but some years ago it was a struggle to find anything above a 1.

C70R said:

But if you think that scoring a 2 on that environmental hygiene thing equates to a high likelihood of getting campylobacter, I probably can't help you.

Don't ever travel to Asia and eat (delicious) street food, whatever you do.

If you haven't had campylobacter, I probably can't help you

It was the one time in my life where I quite rationally wondered whether I was in fact going to die. Mine lasted about a fortnight and was lab-confirmed via samples. I then had to liaise with Environmental Health officers who recorded all the details and all the places I had eaten at in the two weeks preceding the illness. Even now, many years later, I still occasionally, and without warning, get severe painful stomach cramps at which point I ABSOLUTELY have to get to a lav, very quickly. Whilst that may not be campylobacter itself, it only happened since I had the illness. Campylobacter is really not something I can recommend.

You'll excuse me if I am a little more particular than most these days!

[Ascayman]

Try The Duck and Rice. bit hipster but very nice and not to expensive.

If you want to splash out China Tang at the Dorchester

[kev1974]

shakotan said:

Wong Kei has gone now, hasn't it?

No, it's still where it always was on Wardour Street by the newer of the big ornamental gates, just not 24 hours any more. And hasn't been rude for a couple of decades either.

I go there all the time, although I'm usually on my own and like the fact that I can just pop into the ground floor which is informal cafe style (same menu but food comes quicker and is a bit cheaper). By far the best crispy belly pork in all of Chinatown I'd say, and also the best priced. They do all the "Anglicised" Chinese stuff like sweet and sour hong kong style, very well too.

It's difficult to say which is the best Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. As a long time observer/visitor of the place over several decades, they all change so often, with the exception of a very few old faithfuls like Wong Kei they all close down after 18-30 months, and reopen in some other name and decor a month or two later. It's so blatant and widespread that I'm convinced it's some sort of organised tax dodge. There was a very good little place at the western end near the bakery that just concentrated on crispy things which was little known and superb, but that's gone now. There was a really good one that was upstairs near De Hems pub, also lasted about two years and disappeared, despite being packed all the time.

I have tried the Alan Yau restaurants mentioned up the thread, Yauatcha and also Duck and Rice, and found them both to suffer massively from "instagram disease", in that they were both full of mostly youngsters who would order one main course and tap water, and are just there to photograph the plates or the menu or themselves sitting in there. So they don't last long at the table, and the places are just one massive churn of people leaving and tables being reset. The menus weren't that special either. I don't think he has anything to do with either of them any more anyway.

[dapprman]

Wong-kei was always over-rated - the food was safe, but the real reason to go was the atmosphere and the way you were treated. Once they calmed down it became just another middle of the road place that only seemed to serve non-Chinese. My pet place in the area is/was the Joy King Lau, which is just round the corner, and where a lot of the diners were Chinese. Food was good, but i did hear they were closed down a few years back due to hygiene, though have now re-opened and are much improved there.

[isaldiri]

Whoozit said:

Rasa Sayang. Malaysian rather than Chinese, but done authentically and in a no-frills room. Excellent.

If you like that kind of food, try Laksamania a bit further north past oxford street at some point. It does some local malaysian dishes very well.

[Moonflower]

What’s wrong with “stick and bowl “ in Kensington high street ? !


For me , having lived in HK etc
I like the “Phoenix Palace “ Not in Chinatown thank God .

http://www.phoenixpalace.co.uk/

[avinalarf]

anonymous said:

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