Wandering along Shaftesbury and Lisle and Gerrard, I wasn't sure what Chinese restaurant to pick (the last time I liked a Chinese restaurant in the London Chinatown was Chinese Experience, which someone told me had closed years ago. Dang.) Tai Ka Lok looked authentic to me, with all sorts of barbequed meats in the window, two certificates of hygiene that were last updated from 3 years ago, and a sign that was not written in a cheesy bamboo font.
In any case, I had a hankering for roast duck noodles, and the duck was excellent - the skin was perfectly crispy, the fat just sort of melted right off, and the meat was dense. Very different from what I've had in Canada. The noodles were good, but the soup was slightly bland - there was also some napa cabbage in the soup (I would've loved some bok choy instead, but one can't be too picky). It came up to 5.40GBP, which was not too bad. My boyfriend ordered the garlic and ginger beef, which he enjoyed. Everything seemed to taste great, but when I got home I didn't feel well. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. I will try to give them the benefit of the doubt though!
Side note: the bathroom in the basement smelled exactly like one you'd find in Hong Kong - pretty rank. Be careful of the ceilings too, very low. read more