Food in China Town
- Thread starter eoin_k
- Start date
AnnO'Neemus
Is so vanilla
I was really upset when I went to Wong Key and they weren't rude to me 
Dammit, their waiters are famously supposed to be very rude, so they should be rude to me!
Having said that, the best Chinese restaurant I've come across so far is Red Chilli on Portland Street in Manchester. Skip China Town in London and come oop north for some real Chinese food. Sorted!
Dammit, their waiters are famously supposed to be very rude, so they should be rude to me!
Having said that, the best Chinese restaurant I've come across so far is Red Chilli on Portland Street in Manchester. Skip China Town in London and come oop north for some real Chinese food. Sorted!
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
AnnO'Neemus said:I was really upset when I went to Wong Key and they weren't rude to me
Isn't it Wonkei or Won Kei?
Did they also not get done recently by Health & Safety Inspector?
or am I thinking of a report by a journo on their dubious hygiene practices?
Monkeynuts
Hello sailor
Fried libel anyone?
brixtonvilla
should be Oslovilla, really
Minnie_the_Minx said:Isn't it Wonkei or Won Kei?
Did they also not get done recently by Health & Safety Inspector?
or am I thinking of a report by a journo on their dubious hygiene practices?
That's what the Evening Standard said, right up until the point Wong Kei sued their asses & they had to apologise. Arf!
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
brixtonvilla said:
Nice one.
Guineveretoo
Mostly bewildered
as a vegetarian, I struggle in China Town. Far too many obvious dead animals hanging around! 
FabricLiveBaby!
Live Baby Fabric!
I have never had a good chinese in chana town.
It's too touristy so they dont need to have any standards. The punter eating here now will be gone tomorrow.
It's too touristy so they dont need to have any standards. The punter eating here now will be gone tomorrow.
I've got a soft spot for China China or Gerrard St as an inexpensive eatery. Not flash, but they do fantastic crispy fried noodles and have a good barbecue chef. I could live off a simple dish of boiled rice, greens and char sui pork/duck for most of my life to be honest.
They've never been rude to me in Wonkei either, although one bloke once did tell me curtly that I had ordered too much food. I did the male arrogant thing of waving him away, only to find that a whole duck turned up instead of the small dish I was expecting. Between two of us and amongst as sea of other dishes it certainly was too much, but I was determined to prove the waiter wrong in front of my date.
I was very ill that night. Overeating is bad, OK?
They've never been rude to me in Wonkei either, although one bloke once did tell me curtly that I had ordered too much food. I did the male arrogant thing of waving him away, only to find that a whole duck turned up instead of the small dish I was expecting. Between two of us and amongst as sea of other dishes it certainly was too much, but I was determined to prove the waiter wrong in front of my date.
I was very ill that night. Overeating is bad, OK?
FabricLiveBaby! said:
That's such bollocks. You honestly thinking all the oriental faces eating and working there are tourists?
Some of the best chefs are brought over to chinatown to work on the barbecue sections. It's nonsense to suggest that's it all tourist fodder. Perhaps late at night and if you're rude to the waiter, but if you know what to order you're not going to get tourist tat from most of the venues.
pootle
little moran
FabricLiveBaby! said:
Have you eaten in EVERY chinese in China Towm then? I can highly recommend Y Ming - not strictly in the heart of China Town but on Greek Street. More info here...
http://www.london-eating.co.uk/2049.htm not the cheapest of options, but good value for money considering what you are getting.
FabricLiveBaby!
Live Baby Fabric!
pootle said:
well obviously I havn't, I have been to about 5 and every single time it was shite, so in my experience bad restaurants in china outwiegh the good ones. There's a perfectly good chinese her which is YUMMY YUMMY! I don't need to go to china town
With the greatest of respect Fabric, I suspect you're ordering touristastic meals/'cantonese' takeaway staples and then complaining that they taste touristy/a bit like your local takeaway. There's a reason for that.
Most of the joy of Chinatown, for me at least, is eating the dishes that your local takeaway doesn't do well, or even attempt. I eat a lot of congees, unusual vegetables, steamed fish and barbecue dishes up in Chinatown and the surrounds, mostly getting excellent food.
There are some great unheralded places to eat on the outskirts of town mind. Hung's in Streatham is a great example, especially if you ask the chef to put together a special menu for you - I've had some unbelievably good 7-course+ meals in there.
Most of the joy of Chinatown, for me at least, is eating the dishes that your local takeaway doesn't do well, or even attempt. I eat a lot of congees, unusual vegetables, steamed fish and barbecue dishes up in Chinatown and the surrounds, mostly getting excellent food.
There are some great unheralded places to eat on the outskirts of town mind. Hung's in Streatham is a great example, especially if you ask the chef to put together a special menu for you - I've had some unbelievably good 7-course+ meals in there.
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
I went to a place years back that was full of Chinese eating. My friend told me he goes there because the Chinese eat there. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of the place, but it was pretty big, with large round tables and seating on split levels
FabricLiveBaby!
Live Baby Fabric!
tarannau said:
How dare you!
Of course I'm not! I have eaten in decent authentic Chinese restraunts that weren't in china town. I just often find the food in china town badly cooked (too dry), soggy vegetables and bland flavours. My mums mate recently married a chiese girl who makes the BEST dim sum, and spiced chicken.
Not a touch on any of the shite I've had.
Chinese food should have a harmonious blend of colour aroma, flavour, shape and texture (ask confucius). My experiences of china town was rubbish, and I've been put off!
FabricLiveBaby!
Live Baby Fabric!
pootle said:
Yes, that's right, I should eat in every single restaurant in china town, just so I can say I have found a good oneand spend a shite load of money in the prcess
How many have you eaten in pootle?
Maybe you should go out with 40 australian men and put it out a bit more to see how many are nice?
I have better things to do then argue about how narrow minded I am because I have had shite experiences in china town.
If I'm ever there again, I will go on recommendations, not walk in blindly off the street.
FabricLiveBaby! said:How dare you!
Of course I'm not! I have eaten in decent authentic Chinese restraunts that weren't in china town. I just often find the food in china town badly cooked (too dry), soggy vegetables and bland flavours. My mums mate recently married a chiese girl who makes the BEST dim sum, and spiced chicken.
Not a touch on any of the shite I've had.
Chinese food should have a harmonious blend of colour aroma, flavour, shape and texture (ask confucius). My experiences of china town was rubbish, and I've been put off!
What restaurants did you go in Fabric? What meals did you order that were so disappointing?
No disrespect, but I'm struggling to think of many authentic chinese dishes that would include soggy vegetables - aside from the fact that many of the most prominent traditional dishes would include veg that us Brits would consider soggy - straw mushrooms, bok choi leaves etc. And if you think those guys overcook vegetables easily, at those wok heats, and with that customer turnover, then you'd be mistaken. I'm not including buffets or Mr Wu here.
You seem to have very bad luck in Chinatown. I've eaten there regularly for over 20 years and think I've had about 4 bad meals in total.
FabricLiveBaby!
Live Baby Fabric!
tarannau said:What restaurants did you go in Fabric? What meals did you order that were so disappointing?
No disrespect, but I'm struggling to think of many authentic chinese dishes that would include soggy vegetables - aside from the fact that many of the most prominent traditional dishes would include veg that us Brits would consider soggy - straw mushrooms, bok choi leaves etc. And if you think those guys overcook vegetables easily, at those wok heats, and with that customer turnover, then you'd be mistaken. I'm not including buffets or Mr Wu here.
I can't remeber the naskes of the restaurants cos I dind't think that they were worth remebering.
This is exactly it tho, chinese dishes SHOULDN'T include soggy vegetables. Which is why I was suprised.
I can't remeber exactly what I had, But I do remeber one nasty bit of dry cha sui which came with stone cold rice, and some undercooked chicken with soggy bak choi. Needless to say I dind't eat the chicken, not sure how they managesd that one. Possibly they had stuff pre-cooked or smoething and sitting somewhere simmering.
I think they were just shite restaurants. but once bitten twice shy and to have bad experiences 5 times is a bit much. From now on I will go with reccommendations.
However there's a wikkid chinese restaurant about 30 mins walk away from here where the food is spectacular, they make some wikkid Ho fun and the best Kung pao pork in the world.
chinese in london
i cannot recommend any nice chinese in china town but i can recommend Jenny Lo's Tea House near Victoria Station.
Its where they train chef's for Ken Lo's which is next door.
Ken Lo's is to die for and extremely expensive, but Jenny Lo's is dirt cheap and serves fresh, nicely cooked food. very busy.
Chinese is extremely difficult all round for vegetarians as is Japanese, Thai, etc
Stick to Indian!
i cannot recommend any nice chinese in china town but i can recommend Jenny Lo's Tea House near Victoria Station.
Its where they train chef's for Ken Lo's which is next door.
Ken Lo's is to die for and extremely expensive, but Jenny Lo's is dirt cheap and serves fresh, nicely cooked food. very busy.
Chinese is extremely difficult all round for vegetarians as is Japanese, Thai, etc
Stick to Indian!
gaijingirl
Well-Known Member
tarannau said:
I went to a veggie restaurant in Beijing when I was there alone. I could read enough of the menu to know vaguely what I was getting but not judge quantities. So, having chosen a smallish table for one, I settled on a set menu for what seemed like a reasonable amount of money. Later the food started coming and they filled my table. Then they dragged over another table to put beside my table - other diners started to stare at this point. Having filled that table they pulled over another and filled that too!!
I'm pretty sure I had ordered a set meal for 4!!! Very nice though.On topic - my Chinese housemate - who ate NOTHING but chinese food the whole 5 years he was here - would generally avoid China Town to eat if possible.
Lea
Well-Known Member
China China or Aroma on Gerrards Street do nice cheap eats such as soup noodles. Otherwise I like to go to Joy King Lau (just off Leceister SQ towards Lisle Street). They have a Chinese menu for the Chinese clientele. Ask the waiter to translate for you!
The Chinese restaurant that recently got done for food hygiene was Golden Dragon on Gerrard Street. They closed down for a few days and cleaned up and then reopened. Otherwise they do a good dim sum menu.
The Chinese restaurant that recently got done for food hygiene was Golden Dragon on Gerrard Street. They closed down for a few days and cleaned up and then reopened. Otherwise they do a good dim sum menu.
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