Fitzrovia, Chinese Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: “Great food at a good price” continues to win acclaim for the Deptford branch of this Sichuanese duo, whose chilli-hot and numbing cuisine makes it one of SE8’s brighter culinary sparks. No feedback in the last survey on its less noteworthy Goodge Street branch.

“Divine dim sum” served in a moody, nightclubby setting (“very dark basement lighting” at the original) has helped this slick pan-Asian chain go from an obscure basement near Tottenham Court Road tube (which opened in 2001) to become a glam, international chain with 11 locations from Miami to Mumbai. Prices have always seemed a bit “excruciating” and performance generally is “not as good as it once was”, but this remains one of the Top-50 commented-on brands in our annual diners’ poll; and there’s still lots of praise for its “attractive” style, “fantastic” cooking (the dim sum in particular, as well as the duck) and “wonderful cocktails”. Less so for the “perfunctory” or “artificially polite” service, which, over the years, is increasingly acknowledged as just part of the package.

An “interesting menu” – with “the spicing just right” – is offered at this “great concept”, serving the cuisine developed by the historic Hakka Chinese community in Kolkata. The only complaint relates to the “very cramped tables” at its two venues, in Soho and Covent Garden.

From veteran Hunanese chef JianRen ZhouI, this new arrival on Goodge Street brings an unfamiliar regional Chinese cuisine to London. Some “love it, and visit often” for “the range of flavours” on offer – a view shared by Observer critic Jay Rayner, who in his January 2024 review acclaimed “the best version of Chongqing chicken I have ever had the good fortune to try”. The riposte from some reporters? “Good, but not as good as some of the reviews had led me to expect!”

“Please whatever you do, don’t dress up to dine here!” – “This is a tiny, cheap hole-in-the-wall” near Great Portland Street tube, serving “comfort noodles for Chinese students and others”: “magical broth that feels utterly authentic and packed with flavour (we absolutely wolfed ours down!)”. “Everyone gets a warm welcome” too! (The Times’s Giles Coren is also a fan – “it drew tears of nostalgia for a 1970s Shenyang childhood that I never had”).