I’ve lived in London for almost 3 years and I hadn’t ever been to Chinatown – can you believe that? 3 years! So when Lucy and I decided to make a plan for the Friday night after the first week back at work it was a no brainer that I HAD to take a trip to the best place in London to eat Chinese.
Lucy and I at the entrance to Chinatown
I was slightly overwhelmed by everything – the choice, people outside trying to draw you in and all the amazing looking bakeries. I have to go back to try some Chinese sweet treats because they look just incredible.
We decided the best plan of action was to browse the competition, down one side of the street and back up the other, before choosing where we would settle to eat. It also gave me chance to take in the sights – look at how beautiful Chinatown looks in the dark…
There was so much option but we decided we desperately wanted dim sum even though most places stop serving after 5pm – Always want what you can’t have right? Coming to our rescue was Dumplings Legend, one of the only places still serving Dim Sum. We took a table for two, and ordered a portion of Spicy Pork Siu Loung Bao and one Steamed Vegetarian Dumplings to share. Lucy had a super tasty and refreshing iced lemon tea too, whilst I had huge drink envy with my 7up.
After teaching Lucy how to use chopsticks, which she grasped amazingly quickly, we soon looked like pros eating our dumplings in style – I always feel like I deserve my food so much more when I eat with chopsticks!
Both dumplings were amazing, the Spicy Pork Siu Loung Bao had a slight spicy kick and were really juicy, whilst the vegetarian dumplings were just as tasty and fab dipped in soy sauce. All got served really hot too and kept their temperature really well – what’s worse than cold food when it’s meant to be warm?
Our delicious dim sum. I loved the fact you could see the chefs preparing the dumplings through the glass window to the kitchen on the way in!
We paid up and moved onto our next pick of the restaurants for our main. The London Chinatown restaurant had us at ‘Crispy duck set menu for £10!’. Settling into a nice window table, we ordered and I also opted for an awesome looking mocktail with orange juice, grenadine and lemonade whilst Lucy had a glass of house white, celebrating getting through the first week back.
Crispy duck came out first, accompanied by pancakes, cucumber, spring onion and plum sauce. Absolutely delicious, the duck was tender yet offering crispy bits too and there was more than enough to share between the pancakes. This has to be one of my favorite things about Chinese food and this definitely satisfied my duck craving!
Next came the Sweet and Sour Chicken and Crispy Chilli Beef, served with egg fried rice. It came out on dishes so you could share the meals between your group, so we started helping ourselves. At this point I was slightly regretting having been for dim sum first even though it was truly amazing.
The Sweet and Sour Chicken was fresh and fruity, the chicken tender with a delicious coating and the fruits and vegetables really juicy. Although my favorite had to be the Crispy Chilli Beef, not too spicy yet extremely flavoursome the thin strands of crispy meat were incredible. Again, really fresh, I can’t believe I’d never had this before – it’s definitely a new Chinese favorite.
I guess you can imagine we didn’t finish the food – a case of eyes much bigger than tummys! But it was an incredible evening.
Extremely full, we headed (waddled) home past all the bakeries we said we would pop into, too full to even contemplate taking something home for the weekend!
If you haven’t been to Chinatown and have even a slight love of Chinese food or food at all, it is a must visit! Even if only sightseeing, it’s a box to tick off on the life’s list.
Where’s your favourite Chinese dish?
Chloe xx
