Change continues at great pace in Chinatown - it feels as though something new arrives with every passing week. Some will bemoan the loss of old family institutions, replaced by more youthful, modern restaurants, but those feelings aside, YiQi brings some undeniably delicious cooking to Lisle Street.
Inside YiQi features slick design that is fairly paint-by-numbers but still nicely executed. Angular chairs with rattan backs and squishy emerald banquettes provide ample sitting room, and some neat, carved wood panelling sits between the dining areas, giving you a modicum of privacy. The tables are a good size, which becomes important once dishes start flowing out of the kitchen.
Portion sizes are on the hefty side, so much so that if you’re here as a group you can easily fill up your table space. That’s especially true given the size of the menu - YiQi doesn’t shy away from its pan-Asian tagline and the menu covers a vast swathe of Asia, from China to Malaysian, Indonesia and Korea.
So, what to order? The cordyceps chicken soup is a bit of a signature and absolutely worth kicking off with, with delicate vegetables, cordyceps mushroom and a lovely chicken broth that has a moreish gelatinous quality. There’s a mountain of clams in sticky Kam Heong sauce, crispy Malaysian-style lemongrass chicken, and a chunk of skate bathed in spicy yuzu sauce, which we take turns to scrape from the bones. Despite the feast, there’s so much more on the menu still to be tried - pad Thai, mee goreng, and stir fried crab. We’d challenge anyone to visit YiQi and not find something delicious on the menu.
An excellent drinks menu also includes everything from milk teas to red bean coconut milk and a refreshing sour plum soft drink. On this evidence, YiQi’s youthfulness and energy is a more than welcome addition to Chinatown.