Chigwell, Chinese Restaurant Guide

This “fun local for Clapton hipsters” offers “exceptional” Chinese cooking from two well-travelled Western chefs, Ellen Parr (ex-Rochelle Canteen and Moro) and Peter Kelly (ex-Morito), who knock out “the freshest flavours at incredible value” – “what a great neighbourhood place!” But “expect to mime: the rendered walls and low ceiling amplify the bonhomie, so the volume is turned up to 11”.

2022 Review: No feedback this year on this distant Chinese restaurant, near Royal Albert Dock DLR. If you are looking to eat in these parts though – while watching the take-offs and landings at nearby London City Airport – it is worth knowing about.

“Sunday dim sum lunch is always full of happy families” at this popular Cantonese group with 1980s-nightclub decor – an occasion for which they “cannot be beaten” for many diners: so “arrive around 10:45 to join queue for 11am opening”. With the closure of its Bayswater branch a few years ago, Baker Street and Canary Wharf are its preeminent spots (and SW6 can be “disappointing” by comparison). All feedback is about the lunchtime service – “the evening offering is a bit ordinary”.

2023 Review: This “tiny place near Truman’s old brewery” serves an “excellent and authentic take on Sichuan cuisine, in a calm atmosphere, away from the agitation of Brick Lane”. Top Tip – “‘numb and spicy’ dumplings live up to their name”.

2021 Review: “Oodles of noodles… and fun, too”: this “bustling, happy-making eatery” – year-old sibling to Highbury’s Xi’an Impression – occupies a canteen-style space in Spitalfields and “specialises in spicy, hand-pulled noodles”; “yum!”.

2022 Review: “The atmosphere is downbeat but the food is addictive” at this Chinese canteen near Angel, which serves “tasty, spicy food with lots and lots of pepper”. “Try and avoid the more conventional Chinese restaurant dishes for an authentic regional treat.”

“Authentically fiery dishes” light up the menu at this City Road restaurant where head chef Zhang Xiao Zhong hails from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan – a third-generation chef, his grandfather was personal chef to Deng Xiaoping, China’s leader through the 1980s.

“Cheung fun… just wow” – a highlight of the “brilliant” dim sum at this cool modern take on Cantonese cuisine, created by Alan Yau, the restaurant whizz behind Hakkasan and Wagamama. Now in its 20th anniversary year, there are two sites in the capital – a Soho basement (with ground-floor tea room) and a very much bigger and glossier venue in the City’s Broadgate development (plus satellites in the Middle East and India). But even fans of the “delicious food” sometimes say, “I like it here, but the bill always surprises me… not in a good way!”

“Fantastic roast duck” and quite possibly “the best chicken rice in London” earn full marks for this Cantonese roast meat specialist with outlets near Liverpool Street, in Hawley Wharf, Camden, and Brixton Market. Founders Pui Sing, Cheong Yew and Mo Kwok were inspired by childhood memories of eating sui mei near Wan Chai market in Hong Kong. Their venues may be “cramped and busy”, but the cooking is “consistently delicious, generously portioned and great value”.

2021 Review: Delectable Asian-fusion delicacies – combining dishes of both Chinese and Japanese inspiration – win nothing but bouquets for this palatial dining room in a City five-star hotel, near the Tower of London. On the downside, cynics say “it feels like a business hotel restaurant”, and one or two diners “expected more, considering the big-ticket prices”.

“Authentic, mostly fiery, Sichuan cooking” is showcased at this modern pub-conversion, “conveniently a few minutes’ walk along the canal from King’s Cross”. The menu includes plenty of items that in Britain used to be hidden away behind untranslated Chinese characters – chicken feet, frog legs, pig intestines – and “given the large plates, you need a big group to do it justice”.

“You pay for the view… it stings the wallet…”, but they seem to have pulled their socks up at this well-known Asian venue on the 33rd floor of the famous London landmark. True, “large numbers of diners seem more interested in taking photos of themselves and their food rather than eating it… it’s definitely an Insta trophy”. But it avoided the usual harsh critiques this year and practically all reports acknowledged the “surprisingly good Chinese cooking AND nighttime vistas over London”.

“What could be nicer than sitting on the 38th floor of the Shard with fantastic views of London”, while lingering over a “lovely unrushed afternoon tea” or – later in the day when the mood is “very romantic” – sampling its “fresh Asian-inspired dishes”. Not a huge volume of feedback, but ratings are better this year as it escaped the customary complaints for overpricing.

Northern Chinese fare including “authentic and tasty dumplings and noodles” make either of Wei Shao’s duo (Borough Market and Soho) “a great standby for a quick and fun meal”. “A Chinese that’s worth a visit for an evening bite and not just for dim sum – and which doesn’t break the bank – is a rare find in London.”

2022 Review: “A basic restaurant with many fiery dishes” – this student-friendly canteen in Bloomsbury is known for its good prices and lip-tingling Sichuan noodle dishes.

“Hand-made and pulled noodles are the stars of the show” at this “authentic” canteen in a side-street near Russell Square, offering “fantastic Xi’an cooking” from chef-proprietor Wei Guirong. It attracts an “odd but pleasing mix of mainland Chinese businessmen & students, with tourists and the odd culinary adventurer” – and is much easier for most to visit than its sibling, Xi’an Impression near Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

2023 Review: This modern pan-Asian in Covent Garden – an import from NYC – offers “playful dim sum”, alongside other “cut-above” dishes. There are “relaxed long tables for groups or cosy red-checked spots for two diners”, and the atmosphere is set by the “fun 90s playlist and friendly team”.

“Best Asian restaurant I’ve eaten in!” – these “beautiful” nightclubby haunts (“quite why they keep them so dark is beyond me”) have maintained an impressive standard for over 20 years, and the Tottenham Court original has since been replicated not just in Mayfair but in numerous cities around the globe. Their ratings have fluctuated over many years, always around the same concerns – “success has got the better of them…”; “chaotic” and/or “attitude-y” service; punishing prices. The believers still carry the day, though, saying they are “always a special experience” with a “delectable” mix of dim sum, Peking duck (with or without caviar) and other classic Chinese dishes – “definitely take a big wallet, but I love it!”