Wow. I have no words for this place. We came here for the buffet on Christmas and they uocharge on Christmas because they know nothing else is open. The staff was rude and condescending to us, they were rushing us and didn't seem to like that at all buffet, it's all you can eat. Now the food. Wow, it looks delicious in the photo. But this is the worst food I've had in my life. The meat was cold indicating it wasn't fully cooked. Mid meal we threw up and the food poisoning lasted two days. We threw up all throughout the flight back and felt awful. NEVER COME HERE. read more

Young Cheng Chinese Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

Craving for Chinese food when we arrived in London. This is the first Chinese restaurant as we approached China town. We browsed at the menu and a waitress invited us in. We ordered the basic egg fried rice, sautee bak choy and a bowl of wonton noodle soup. The bak choy was really good, right flavor and fresh. My wonton noodle soup was blend and the noodle was overcooked. I thought I'd add some vinegar to make it more tasty, really not. The soup base was a bit blend and noodles are soggy not chewy. The egg friend rice was a bit salty. We didn't finish our food and left. Probably should yelp before we got in. read more

Really wanted to try authentic Cantonese-style Chinese food in Chinatown. A worker was advertising their menu and the minute we started communicating with her in Cantonese, we were sold. They have 2 stories of dining and the staff are friendly and very nice. Food portions were decent and price was comparable next to United States. All dinner entrees we ordered were delicious but the dim sum was not great. read more

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The greeter eagerly sat us and the waitress promptly saw to us. She took our order very quickly no time wasted and everything was correct. Food was very good too. My guy got beef sichuan (excuse my spelling) and I got the fish and lettuce congee, since I didn't want anything too heavy at 10pm. It was delicious!! So full of flavor! Definitely comforting in this chilly night. If I lived here, I would definitely return. The place is pretty clean. I did not visit the restroom. read more

Mediocre Chinese food. We ordered the chicken fried rice, won ton soup, and a beef veggie dish. Fried rice seemed flavorless. Service was decent. Not a place that will blow you away. read more

Young Cheng Chinese Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

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Dim sum is delicious and reasonably priced. The duck at the next table looked exquisite. However the service (even by Chinatown standards) is bad enough to take away 2 stars. Our server had to be flagged down for everything. She would arrive complete with dour smile and eye rolls. She seemed like the only sever in the whole place who hated her job, and we lucked out and got her. Even when other patrons left and thanked her for a lovely meal, she did not respond or even register an expression that might alter her negative demeanor. In short. Definitely come for the great food but leave quickly because of the service. read more

For our last night in London, we decided on some English Chinese food (haha). Chose Young Cheng based on the Yelp reviews. Walked in and our party of four was seated right away. Ordered the following: Won ton soup - lots of meaty dumplings, really good! Pork pot stickers - very good, always a good starter. House special chow mein - there was clearly a miscommunication as this came with no meat. We didn't notice the lack of protein until halfway through. Meh. Beef w/ ginger & spring onions - this was basically Mongolian beef w/ some heavier ginger flavors. Vegetable spring rolls and veggie curry were also ordered but I didn't try those. Service was as expected at an Asian restaurant, although the servers here seemed a little more attentive. The restaurant was small and on the cozy side. While it wasn't the best Chinese food I've had, it was good and it hit the spot. read more

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Outstanding! My wife and I were searching for dinner in Covent Garden and Leicester Square and most places had stopped serving. This place was open and we were a bit wary. Being from LA, this place didn't have some of the things we were used to, like soy sauce on the table...but the food came out and was excellent! The owner came to check in on us and overall it was a great experience. Highly recommended! read more

In many ways, Young Cheng is THE prototypical Soho Chinese restaurant: It's cramped, crowded, loud - the service rushed and unfriendly. In short, not a place to linger. Unfortunately, Young Cheng is not only all of these things, but more so. The waiters, of which there were plenty, disregarded the customers and rather spent time chatting amongst each other. They were *extremely* unfriendly, service without even a single smile, or a word. I wanted to try their Dim Sum to compare them with my favorite dim sum place in Soho, Wan Chai Corner on Gerrard, and arrived just at 12 a.m. opening time. Within ten minutes the place was packed with customers, many of them Chinese. It being such a small joint, things got loud very fast indeed. Which didn't make the staff faster in their tracks. The dim sum themselves were of good quality, but not better than at several other such places, and at roughly the same prices. Once I'd finished my meal I wanted to get the hell out of Young Cheng, and will probably never return to it. The dim sum at Wan Chai Corner are just as good, the service much "friendlier" (a relative term at Soho Chinese joints) - there's just nothing that distinguishes Young Cheng in any - positive - way. read more

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I was wandering down my secret foodie Chinatown street, Lisle Street, on Sunday, taking mental notes of new places and a few photos to go with previous reviews. I peered through the window of Young Cheng when I spotted a few plates of Chinese suckling pig!! Yum yum, said my tum. It's rare to find suckling pig and I take full advantage when I see some for sale. Supposedly discovered by a Chinese swineherd who accidentally set fire to his occupied pig-shed, Chinese suckling pig has the most divine moist sweet meat with an unmistakable layer of crisp skin, which will stay crispy for days. Not that it will last for days or even hours in my house! I confirmed with the chef that they offer suckling pig here every Sunday and I left with my piggy booty to enjoy at home. I'll be back! read more

Young Cheng Chinese Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

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I like this place because the prices are always reasonable and you always get good food, and it is very authentic. They are good with large parties. I always feel welcomed, and so does everyone I recommend. It is always full with queues outside the door, so a sure sign it is a good place to eat. They don't get full marks mainly because their loos seems to be an after thought, only one ladies in a very tiny space. It really needs modernising. read more

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It's been a while since dim sum in Chinatown. My previous favourite place being Top of the town which unfortunately closed at the start of the year. Dumpling Legends just opposite looks promising, but I can't stomach the prices and the fact I usually see very few chinese people eating there. However that is starting to change, so maybe it's good now. Anyway the search was on for a replacement and a friend suggested this place or Joy King Lau for good dim sum. The decision was difficult, but eventually we settled on Young Cheng this time. There is another restaurant on Shaftesbury avenue with the same name and similar storefront. However the insides of both are widely different. This branch does dim sum, and looks a lot busier, cleaner and professional than the other. Service is quick and efficient. Ordering dim sum as simple as looking at a picture, taking down the number and marking that on carbon paper. Not a word need be spoken (apart from requesting extra chilli of course!) The dim sum was great. Nothing spectacular here. But all filling, tasty and well portioned. The chilli oil mixed with chilli sauce was especially delish. It was just the right amount of spice and complimented the steamed dim sum perfectly. One standout dish was the chicken's feet. The sauce was fantastic. Get this is you want something a little off the beaten track. To to recap, great service, great food, nice atmosphere, good value, perfect portions. For two people, 8-9 dishes is close to the sweet spot in terms of portioning. This will set you back about £24-28 incl. service and the obligatory tea of course. I'm next to try Joy King Lau, but at present, this will be my regular joint for the forseeable future. read more

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I've never had stellar dim sum in China town, but they've all been edible and great place to catch up with my friends. (Chinese or otherwise, but mainly chinese. Oh god, , I hope I don't sound like a raging racist. Should I just stop talking now?) Anyways, I actually planned to go imperial china, but I sneaked a peek next door whilst waiting for my mates in the F-UREEEEEZING cold and young cheng sells har gow and other usual pieces for a pound cheaper than imperial china. So that pretty much swung the vote. I measure most place by two criteria. Har gow skin, and also the soup in the XLB. Both passed. The har gow skin wasthin, translucent and not too thick at the top. There was only a bit of soup in the XLB, it could've been better, but one of the better ones I've had in Chinatown. The custard bun was better than the charsiu bun, and thats rarely the case anywhere, so that was a bit weird. The other things were just okay. I didn't get MSG hangover so that's good. (What is up with those!) I just wasn't wowed. But if you want a sound dim sum meal. This is pretty close. We ordered a total of 17 dimsums between the 5 of us and the total came to £61. So about £13 pp which isn't cheap but it's reasonable. read more

Young Cheng Chinese Restaurant - Charsiu pastry, yam pastry, egg tarts - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

Good Dim Sum for lunch.. Fresh, good sauces, decent portion size Worth a try The black bean sauce on the chicken feet was especially good read more

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I've been a big fan of Young Cheng over the past year or so, as I thought it had some of the best dim sum you could get in Chinatown at pretty great prices to match as well. All the classics were done to a high standard, and they even throw in free pork broth to get your meal kickstarted! Unfortunately, I think Young Cheng's glory days are behind them now, as the dim sum has started to slip to just pretty much the Chinatown "meh" average. Shu mai was rubbery, the lo bak go was lacking in punch even with XO sauce, and the 3 roast meat with rice was both underwhelming and extremely fatty. Chinatown restaurant standards seem to come and go, and I'll more than likely pop back in here again in a few months to see if it's improved again, as there are moments where I can see where my faith was originally placed! The char siu baos have big chunks of meat, the pork soup to start is really good, and the fried noodles are well seasoned. Worth popping to if you're looking for somewhere new that's good value, but for now, not the top of my list! read more

Young Cheng Chinese Restaurant - The 3 roast rice, which used to be a lot better! - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

Mediocre dim sum. Not at all bad and all the main dishes but nothing particularly special. The fried dishes were a little greasy. Highlights were the pork bao and shark fin dumplings, garlic prawn spring rolls also good. I normally love pork croquettes but not enough meat. Dim sum is great, and this was not bad, but it was not great dim sum. read more

The area is changing and while China Town is still gloriously Chinese, many of the old favourites at the cheaper end have disappeared. OK, some of them were quite disgusting for European standards, but I loved being squeezed into tiny upstairs areas next to slurping co-diners and enjoying a hot dinner for near to nothing. Young Cheng is more upmarket with table cloths and friendly table service, but it has a lovely authentic feel to it. While dining in Lisle Street used to be akin to fast food, I enjoyed a very relaxed dinner with a friend here. I didn't realise how much I had missed crispy duck pancakes, and these were delicious. We opted for the rather unhealthy choice of shredded chilli beef, where you just know you will feel unwell for a while for all its stickiness and spicy sweetness. A true guilty pleasure. The orange segments are a nice touch to end a meal, and I hope Young Cheng will still be here when I have my next craving for Chinese food. read more

Young Cheng Chinese Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

I was walking around Soho looking for a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. Picked this restaurant based upon location and menu. I did not check the reviews beforehand. What a lucky pick. I started out with the crispy duck served with rice pancakes. They were delicious! Crispy duck so crispy, tender and delicious. You roll the duck in the pancake add some raw onion and cucumber, top it off with sauce and eat it like a taco. I added a side of hot peppers to add a little sing to the dish. A solid 5. I then had the fried crispy beef with carrot and a red lightly sweet sauce. You don't often see this dish in Chinese restaurants in the USA because it has to be prepared in advance. The deep fried strips of beef are then dried out in the oven. It gives the beef a crisp crunchy mouth feel. This was a very good rendition of this dish. I had a side of egg fried rice and it was good. Smallish tables but with good service. Would definitely return. read more

This restaurant has the WORST service ever, which I swear I will never come back again. Me and my friend just finished a long day work and were really hungry, when chose this restaurant simply because this is the first one we saw when we came to Chinatown. Me and my friend ordered two soups, four tiny scallops, and a lobster, but when we were about to order some vegetable and eggs, I was ruthlessly told that "that's enough for you" and walked away rudely. Me and my friend were totally shocked, as this kind of thing had never ever happened to us earlier, what more, what we ordered is absolutely not too much for two guys who did not have dinner. I was totally annoyed and pissed off and I don't even want to order something more. Fine, this is the last time I come to this place, no matter how fantastic their food is ( the truth is that their food is very average). So I STRONGLY suggested anyone who is considering this place, before you get mad and want to throw all the plates and glasses on the table, please choose somewhere else in Chinatown, they all much better than here, at least in terms of service. read more

I have been to dim sum in Chinatown on several occasions, but none were particularly memorable and I have yet to find a go-to place. So when my friend and I were looking for dim sum after a morning at the National Portrait Gallery, we did some research and saw Young Cheng mentioned on a list of dim sum restaurants recommended my Asian chefs, so decided to give it a try. Even though it was 2 PM, there was still a queue to be seated, and we waited about 10 minutes with around 8 people in front of us. We then got a nice table upstairs with a menu in English and photos with numbers that matched up with a checklist style menu entirely in Chinese. They have some interesting selections like dim sum with scallop, or crab. We chose what we wanted very quickly, handed it to the server, and it was not long before our food arrived. The dishes easiest to compare would be the prawn dumplings and the Shanghai style soup dumplings. I thought the former was a lot more vibrantly pink than your typical prawn dumpling, and my friend hypothesized that this was because it was a crystal style dim sum, with a more translucent wrapping. I quite enjoyed it. The Shanghai style soup dumpling is mediocre, ok but there is definitely better in the neighbourhood (this can be partially forgiven because soup dumplings are not real dim sum food). I really liked the turnip cake; I thought it was very delicate and not over fried, and it fell apart almost like tofu. We also got the scallop dumplings and the cheung fun, which were both good as well. Overall I thought the dim sum was solid and have no major complaints. Our meal, including a pot of tea, came out to £12, which is pretty reasonable. That said, my favourite dim sum place in London is still Dragon Castle in Elephant & Castle, followed closely by Pearl Liang in Paddington, and I'm not in a rush to come back to Yeung Cheng. It's just very convenient. read more

Despite all the great things I heard about this place, I must confess that they just serve standard Chinatown Dim Sum, and here are my reasons; 1. The meat on the shrimp dumplings were subpar; the shrimp stuffing was a bit dry. 2. The skin on the shanghai dumplings broke easily 3. The cheung fun dishes were a bit starchy. 4. My favourite Liu Sha Bao (although rather tasty) had a bit too much dough 5. Their unique dishes (curry deepfried seafood dumpling) was just an odd mixture of of crispy pastry, oil and curry. My overall view of this dim sum restaurant is that it has the potential to do better. At this point, I would rather try a new restaurant than come back here. (I probably sound kinda mean, but I'm just referring to the dim sum component of this restaurant. Their roast pork and roast duck looks fabulous and I'd love to come back for other dishes like that) read more

Just keep walking, appalling service. Got seated and didn't even get served despite waving at the waitress for 10 minutes. Waiters were to busy on their phones to notice, restaurant stunk like toilet cleaner. read more

It would have been a four-star if I didn't break out in hives after I got home. The shrimp in the dimsum weren't that fresh and i'm pretty sensitive to that. We went in late night just to have dimsum and although they were freshly steamed for you, they must have been previously cooked and left out at leave overnight for me to have broken out in hives. Their dimsum menu was small but had some really good stuff, including the chive shrimp dumplings with clear skin, bbq pork bun, siu mai, etc. No chicken feet, to my sadness. The taste was authentic and yummy. The service was a bit weird. 3-4 servers would be standing by the door talking and joking to each other the entire time, but they arent really attentive, though they will be there if you call them. Again, good place and would have been one star higher if they food was fresher. read more

Quick glance: + delicious, authentic food + fried frog legs, if you dare! + orange and red bean soup for dessert - small and cramped venue - another venue by the same name nearby A friend invited me to dinner at Young Cheng on a Friday night. i made my own way there with the help of Google Map which led me to Shaftesbury Avenue. After 15 minutes of waiting I phoned up my friend wondering where they were, only to find out I was at the wrong restaurant! The Young Cheng they were seated in is on Lisle Street, two blocks away from the Young Cheng I was standing in front of on Shaftesbury. Make sure you get the right one if you are meeting friends! The restaurant is very cramped but that's not unusual for Chinese restaurants particularly in Chinatown of London. The six of us had six dishes plus rice and tea to share and finished with oranges and red bean soup dessert (as is traditional in good Chinese restaurants!) and the bill came to £13 a head - not bad for central London, although I would say portion size erred towards the small side. I am never quite sure which Chinese restaurant to go to in Chinatown since there are so many, and the quality could be hit-or-miss since they tend to cater to tourist trade. However, I would recommend Young Cheng (on Lisle Street!) for their authentic food - give their fried frog legs a try if you are adventurous! read more

NEVER EAT HERE. This place doesn't even deserve a single star. It's awful - worst food I've tasted in China Town, or anywhere else for that matter, and the staff were so rude. I don't expect much at a £5.95 all you can eat buffet - but I don't expect unwashed prawns (cooked in their entrails!), off food and buckets of rotten vegetables fermenting in the reception. I refused to pay the service charge (very nicely) as we hadn't been served - I was met with a very angry Chinese woman who slammed the counter and swore viciously. They also charge you extra if you leave too much on your plate, though what constitutes as "too much" I'm not sure. read more

One tupperware box. Filled to the brim. With roast duck. And crispy roast pork. £6.50 And a cup of sauce too. It's the ultimate lazy dinner takeaway, with enough to feed 3 or 4 hungry mouths as long as you've got a pot of rice ready and some perhaps some veg. Don't just take my word for it, just spend a few minutes on Shaftesbury Ave and see how many people pop their head through the door here and place a takeaway box order. 3 minutes later with a plastic bag passed through the door they're on their way home with a succulent crunchy Chinatown dinner of fatty roast pork and duck. read more

Mum always told me that the best way to spot a good Chinese restaurant was to see if Chinese people were eating there. Well, tried that this time, and worked pretty well. The fact that they had huge DIM SUM stickers on the front helped aswell :3 So yup, Young Cheng actually looks like every random Chinese restaurant you'll see, with the same kind of menu. My friend and I went for some of the "safe" choices, our Chinese being limited. Note that dishes here are served like they would do in China; they are served collectively in the middle of the table and not individually. Hence the wierd face of one of the waiters when insisitng that the dim sum was mine (MY DIM SUM). The food was super yum yum - friend went for sweet and sour chicken, and I went for a noodle soup on top of the dim sum. Tasty, generous, what I expected. Lunch turned out at 15£ each with starter/main course/drinks Downside? - Service was very average. No smiles, nearly hostile. Was it because we were noobs? - Chinese ladies sitting next to us had a food orgy (without joking) - having about 7 different with tea and drinks, and paied less than 12£ each - leading me to suspect a different price grid on the menu written in Chinese. Will probably go back, but then again... so many Chinese restaurants in China town to try! read more

3 stars base +2 stars for crispy duck, sweet sour pork, fried beef, mixed veg and fried rice £9.90 lunch special being a good deal and authentic +1 star for generally clean interior -1 star for filling dishes with veg and skimping on meat -2 stars for painfully slow service (1.5 hour lunch) There are probably better options in Chinatown; we stopped here because it seemed convenient read more

This place is a small place but there's an upstairs space. It can't be the typical Dim Sum I'm used to in the US where there are carts because you can barely walk between the tables. The food was good anyway. The fried rice was fabulous. The service is efficient and polite. There were more Chinese than others so I feel it's a very good restaurant to go to for Dim Sum. When we left, there was a line. read more

I came back for dim sum with my friend when I recently visited the UK, and it was very good. We got chicken feet, the hao gaos... and shiu mais and fried turnip cake MMMM, spicy though! They give you soup which i thought was awesome! Again, it's cramped but it was filling up when i had lunch! I would come back again since the dim sum was yummy. read more

We went here around 10.30pm and they dont muck around. We placed our order, were thrown a couple of glasses of house red and the food was there just like that . First some gingered duck , rice and then came the starter of dumplings and then the deep fried squid with chilli and WOW. To be honest I cant remember the names of the dishes exactly because the waiter helped choose them and every time a dish came out it was a different waiter. I have to admit the food was delicious and it was only £31. A traditional Chinese restaurant with great food and hurried staff . The best way to end a night of drinking . read more

This is one of my favourite place in London Chinatown to have a Chinese dinner - ordering variety of dishes and sharing with every one, it is the greatest way to enjoy food. Do not get it mix up with the other Young Cheng around the same area. This one serves Chinese-style lobster or crab at a resonable price. The lobster is served stir fry with ginger and spring onion on a bed of noodle. The crab you can go woth ginger and spring onions or with curry sauce. Both are nice but the curry sauce I found spicy. There are many Canton Chinese dishes served here which make it popular with many Chinese families to dine here for a casual dinner. So if you do decide to come here with friends, families or relatives it is always best to reserve a table to avoid waiting for a table. But of course u can skip booking and just go at times when it is quiet - times of the day where you do expect people to have dinner! Note during lunch hours they mainly opened to serve dim sum. I have so many favoruite dishes here including the honey pepper eel (it is just another type of fish!), salted baked chicken, crab with vermicelli noodle hotpot, salt and pepper squid...the list goes on. These are just the few I recommend to friends when I take them to have food the Chinese the Canton way! read more

I'm sorry to say it but as a Chinese American, London's Chinatown is all charm and no taste. Young Cheng is probably the best Chinese restaurant I've been to in my 4 month stay in London. I came here on several occasions for dinner, lunch and dim sum. Each time, service was up to par and the quality of the food was consistent. While dim sum was expensive as compared to New York, I would definitely say it is Young Cheng's strong point. All the brunch favorites are there and even a few new things. I recommend the scallop cheungfun and the coconut pudding. As for a lunch/dinner dish, try the Fuzhou fried rice (with asparagus and roasted duck). read more

Can't say that we've ever had a bad meal here, in fact it's always been good. Prices are not extortionate and if you go the right time.you don't have to wait for a table. Hot food is always being replenished and staff constantly check if you need further drinks. There is another branch on Shaftesbury, and, though either will give you great service, I think Shaftesbury a trifle dearer. read more

This a one of our usual hang-out dinner place with friends as it offers good inexpensive food. It is a just under £10 for a dish each so if you have got 10 friends it will be 10 dishes with rice and dessert! Great deal! My favourites are sambal petai, fried fish and steam tofu! It is always a good idea to make reservations during peak hours as it can get quite crowded! Nothing too fancy, just a great everyday place to have dinner! read more

Young Cheng in the heart of London's Chinatown has been on my radar for a few months ever since my Dad bought some superior take-away Cantonese BBQ there. I finally got round to eating at this restaurant the other week. I was going to order some three roasts noodles before another dish caught my eye. Fuzhou fish ball ho fun in soup (£5.50) screamed out to me from the lunch menu and was begging to be ordered. However, I had some reservations owing to some bad fish ball experiences at HK Diner and Fuzhou Restaurant. Thankfully, this bowl of noodles went someway in restoring my faith in the humble fish ball. After all, I could have no complaints about the generous helping of six puffy fish balls filled with ground pork complemented by slippery smooth ho fun noodles in a bowl of clean tasting broth. The fish balls were reassuringly misshapen, which to me indicated that they were own-made but sadly they weren't that 'QQ' or springy. That said, the ground pork filling the defining feature of Fuzhou fish balls was juicy and flavoursome. The broth would've been a tad plain but for some fried garlic bits that ever so subtly gave it a lift. I also bought a portion of take-away roast belly pork. This had nice crispy crackling and plenty of five-spice flavour. A winner and a bargain at £5.50; I'll be sure to return and sample the rest of their roast meats. I visited the Lisle St branch of Young Cheng, there are a couple of others in Chinatown, and it's a bit of an 'all things to all people' kind of joint. At lunchtime, it serves dim sum and one-dish meals whilst the main à la carte selection includes Cantonese favourites of both the hard-core and tourist-friendly variety. In common with many Chinatown joints, service was fast and furious but without being too brusque. http://eatlovenoodles.blogspot.com/ read more

Always the place I go to for dim sum. The menu has changed slightly and my favourite item is no longer, but I would still rate this place as one of my favourites! Authentic, unpretentious, good food and great prices. read more

This place is great love dim sum this the place for u ,cheap prices , and waiters are friendly , and the portians are big , read more

Young Cheng Chinese Restaurant - Dim sum , honey pork w bean curd on rice so good - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

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This place is horrendous! Below average quality of food and inferior staff. Get ready to be sworn at in Chinese if u go there.

This is definitely one of the better places to go in Chinatown especially a longer leisurely work lunch. Can usually average around 5-6 quid for a meal which makes it really good value. I usually get the pork chop mandarin style but there's this special dish that's not on the menu. It's with Char shiu over ho fun noodles w/ red bean sauce & a side of veg. You get the standard beef & vegetable soup to start and can kindly ask for a top up if you're with a group (approximately 4 ppl). Service can be a little abrupt but what do you expect from Chinatown. read more