A. Wong

Delicious and inventive food offering. Very friendly and competent staff. Just love it.

Chinese food taken to the highest culinary level.

The open kitchen, with Andrew Wong at the pass calmly checking every single plate, was just about the quietest place in the restaurant, something we’ve remarked on before in popular restaurants in London. While the dining room had the feel of a typical, traditional Chinese restaurant, the food was anything but, as we discovered on valiantly, and successfully, making our way through what amounted to a 15-course Taste of China experience, a memorable culinary trip round the country with surprises galore and the sequence of dishes properly balanced and served at the perfect pace for our appetites. Cured scallop and stuffed crab with wasabi in a sort of “scotch egg” was the first of a pairing along with honey barbecued pork, grated foie gras adding to the many different taste explosions. A dim sum duo from the restaurant’s specialities, both with a slight chilli kick preceded a “street food” dish, the chilli sauce and Szechuan pepper matching the coriander tofu and backed up with peanuts and preserved vegetables. Brilliant steamed pork dumplings with pickled tapioca, ginger vinegar and spring onion were followed by a delicious Peking duck wrap enhanced with caviar and hints of foie gras which led us into fermented wild sea bass with super crunchy skin perched on a smoked duck and fried kale “birds nest” with cod’s roe. A sort of mid-menu palate cleanser of Chinese broccoli discs, braised abalone, and shiitake mushrooms introduced the meat dishes, the first of which came in the form of a pulled lamb burger (bao bun) with a pomegranate salad providing a striking burst of freshness, and the next, genuine Japanese seared wagyu with lardy, “magic” (oyster) mushrooms, crispy ultrafine noodles, mint and lemongrass gave us an amazing demonstration of chef’s skill. And it didn’t end there - we had soy chicken in a caviar wrap and made to a millennial soy recipe with ginger oil exhibiting an almost sweet side and a second chicken dish with an intriguing mild, sweet and spicy sauce. Coconut water ice with black fruit and creamy yogurt was the ideal palate cleanser before the two desserts, a poached meringue looking like an egg with a passion fruit yolk and pomelo and a sugar crisp, and the finale of mandarin sorbet with ginger, raspberry, and white and plain chocolate. Altogether an excellent evening with first-class cuisine, although we did ask ourselves whether bowls rather than plates would have made our inexpert handling of chopsticks any more successful, but we generally managed, at a rather slower tempo than some of the other diners, and came away unscathed. The service was absolutely top-class and it was a pity that the ambient noise level made it virtually impossible, on occasion, to understand everything in the very detailed explanations of the dishes.

The upstairs dã©cor is quite plain with the kitchen in full view which is a good thing,the downstairs is sheer opulence, but the food is the same apart from the dim sums served at lunchtime upstairs. The food is inspirational, awakening all the senses (a dim sum dish comes with lit cinnamon sticks to enhance the fragrance and overall experience of the dish), whilst the wine list is very well chosen and surprisingly well priced. The cocktail list downstairs pays homage to many Chinese traditions. Service is so friendly and professional. For me, outstanding value for a 1 Michelin star restaurant.

Simply the best modern Chinese food in London. Flavours, textures and sensations from around China appear before you, bought to your table by very accomplished and attentive staff.

Perfect dim sum.

Excellent Chinese. High quality food and friendly service.

It's the most exciting Chinese restaurant in Europe since Hakkasan 20 years ago.