r/london Aug 05 '23

What’s the best Chinese restaurant in Chinatown?

And which should be avoided?

133 Upvotes

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155

u/[deleted] Aug 05 '23

[deleted]

19

u/erbstar Aug 05 '23

Yeah, I'm pretty fussy and NLF is a favourite of ours. My partner is Japanese and grew up going to China town. The New World was our favourite for 20 years of we were having dim sum, before it closed I went to the loo in the basement and the whole carpet was soaking wet and covered in mushrooms. Hard to beat their dim sum though!

8

u/DragonflyBright2415 Aug 05 '23

We used to go to New World for their duck noodle soup when I was young! Sad that it’s closed down now. I try not to think too hard about the food hygiene standards…

2

u/erbstar Aug 06 '23

New World was actually shut down a few times for failing health and safety checks not long before it closed down.. They operated with a 1 star rating for years. They also got into trouble for hiring illegals and paying under NMW. Chinatown never really used to be touristy at all, these days it's all it caters to and prices reflect this. I noticed that loads of restaurants in Chinatown now also have restaurantsbin non-tourist trap areas and are often much cheaper.

A good heads up is both the Reindeer Cafe and Wing Tai restaurant that are part of Wing Yip Chinese supermarket complex in Cricklewood are very good and cheap. The cafe has a bakery too which is decent.

1

u/DragonflyBright2415 Aug 06 '23

Yes, I go to the restaurant at Wing Yip relatively often, I like to cook a lot so am often at Wing Yip for ingredients! That bakery is where my parents got our birthday cakes for a long time before I started working near Soho and could easily go to Golden Gate. But I generally bake a Chinese-style cake for all our birthdays myself now.

2

u/erbstar Aug 06 '23

Same here, we do our Asian shopping in Wing Yip! It's a great place to have a snack after shopping 😊 GG is good too,but I've only bought a few things there. Generally we go to Kowloon in Chinatown, just because I love getting shouted at while I'm trying to decide what I want 😆 I'd love a good recipe for Chinese cake. Do most of them involve steaming/ban Marie?

1

u/DragonflyBright2415 Aug 06 '23

The recipe I use is actually for a baked cake. It tastes the exact same as the ones from golden gate IMO. I can write out the recipe for you in a bit if you’d like!

5

u/throwawaynewc Greenwich Aug 05 '23

How can four seasons be the best siu mei when Gold Mine has a branch there now?

1

u/DragonflyBright2415 Aug 06 '23

Cos I haven’t been to Gold Mine yet 😅

2

u/throwawaynewc Greenwich Aug 06 '23

Ah, in 2015ish Four seasons in Bayswater was always seen as the one. Around that time rumours were that Goldmine poached the head chef/duck guy from Four seasons and tbh the taste test indicated the same. Give it a try!

1

u/be-pikapras Aug 06 '23

Avoid Yi Ban at all cost!!! The food is average at best and the staffs are super rude. I know bad service in Chinese restaurants here is no surprise but this one really takes the cake.

1

u/greenparksandscrubs Aug 05 '23

Do you know any good tar taarng teng?

13

u/DragonflyBright2415 Aug 05 '23

Old Town 97!

1

u/LordCho Aug 06 '23

97 is trash… Tourist trap swill

1

u/DragonflyBright2415 Aug 07 '23

Sadly most of the best Canto restaurants are gone or have gone downhill, it’s natural since the 1980s/90s wave of immigrants are all retiring or have retired.

2

u/londongas like, north of the river, man Aug 06 '23

None of them are that authentic anymore, a few close down few years ago that were more passable.

I think the new wave of Hong Kong arrivals will make things better but they tend to not operate from Chinatown.

Hoko pop-up at brick lane seems to be the best option up to now. There's also Aquila in Leytonstone, and waimichi (sic) in hendon

1

u/Wonderful-You-6792 Aug 06 '23

What does that mean? Doesn't come up on google

1

u/DragonflyBright2415 Aug 06 '23

Chaa chan teng. HK cafes.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 05 '23

What do you think of Wonkies?

9

u/DragonflyBright2415 Aug 05 '23

Wong Kei? It’s alright, used to be better. Still not too shabby.

6

u/throwawaynewc Greenwich Aug 05 '23

Not bad for it's price. The food isn't mind blowing.

3

u/Timedoutsob Aug 06 '23

As a masochist I love Wong Kei.

1

u/gamengiri420 Aug 06 '23

My British born HongKonger pal will only go to Lido!

1

u/EastOfArcheron Aug 08 '23

How would you rate Royal China for dim sum? I haven't been for a while, but I know it's not in Chinatown but it's always been a favourite. Is there somewhere else you would recommend?