14 Of The Best Places To Visit In Chinatown
Bun House
Inspired by 1960s Hong Kong, Bun House mimics the era’s tea house street stalls. Steamed bao buns are the stars of the menu, with pork, lamb, chicken, fish and veggie options, as well as an interesting collection of pickles – think daikon, jicama, blue garlic and seasonal choy – and small dishes including chilli tripe, lotus root crisp and wood ear salad. The drinks list celebrates Hong Kong’s burgeoning craft beer scene, featuring breweries such as Moonzen and Young Master, plus there’s a range of tea-based cocktails and cold brewed tea. For something a little fancier, drop by the team’s other site, Wun’s Tea Room & Bar.
26-27 Lisle Street, Chinatown, WC2H 7BA
Visit Bun.House
Ugly Dumpling
Combining Western ingredients and Asian home-style recipes, Ugly Dumpling uses British seasonal ingredients to create new dumpling flavours. Alongside more traditional fillings, such as pork belly, prawn and chive, and satay chicken, expect to sample fusion fillings such as cheeseburger dumplings and mushroom and truffle dumplings.
1 Newburgh Street, Soho, W1F 7RB
Visit UglyDumpling.co.uk
P.F. Chang’s Asian Table
This is the younger, more artistic side of the worldwide P.F. Chang’s chain. A modern space with a fun bar (which is often taken over for pop-ups celebrating everything from Japan’s cherry blossom season to Wimbledon), it is an ideal spot for dinner with the girls. From the menu, we’d opt for the Asian caesar salad; the must-try ‘dynamite shrimp’, the lobster chowder, the chicken lettuce cups and the Mongolian beef, followed by something sweet from the restaurant’s in-house ‘Pastry Lab’.
10 Great Newport Street, Chinatown, WC2H 7JA
Visit PFChangs.co.uk
BaoziInn
Baozilnn’s five restaurants serve authentic, well-priced northern Chinese street food. Baozilnn, which means ‘people’s canteen’, has spawned a loyal following thanks to its all-day Cantonese dim sum with Hunan and Sichuan influences. Its Chinatown site is arranged over three floors and divided into five distinct dining spaces. Each room combines traditional elements, such as Asian lanterns and decorative shutters, with contemporary touches: think sleek slate floors and exposed brickwork. Dishes include prawn and pork wontons; chengdu jiaozi dumplings (steamed ground pork dumplings) drenched in XO sauce; and classic xiao long bao with minced pork and scallop. Just make sure to leave room for the group’s handmade dan dan noodles in homemade soy sauce, sesame sauce, peanut sauce and minced pork.
25 Newport Court, Chinatown, WC2H 7JS
Visit BaoziInn.com
Mamasons Dirty Ice Cream
Wherever you end up eating in Chinatown, be sure to save room for pudding and take a walk along Newport Court, known by some as ‘Dessert Alley’. First up is Filipino ice-cream parlour Mamasons, which introduced its street-style ‘dirty’ ice-cream to the streets of Chinatown in 2018 and has since gone on to launch in Westfield and Kentish Town. The site sells a range of Instagrammable pan-Asian puds, including its signature sell-out dessert, the ‘Bilog’: a traditional Filipino milk bun (pandesal) filled with ice-cream, toasted in a hot press and dusted with icing sugar.
32 Newport Court, Chinatown, WC2H 7PQ
Visit DirtyIceCream.co.uk
Orient London
Chinatown mainstay Orient London serves show-stopping dumplings, handmade daily by a dedicated dim sum chef. From classic Cantonese versions, such as har gau (shrimp dumplings) and siu mai (pork and prawn dumplings) to scallop gyozas, deep-fried beancurd skin and prawn rolls, and crystal king prawn dumplings with black truffle and XO chilli sauce, the restaurant has all your dumpling desires covered.
15 Wardour Street, Chinatown, W1D 6PH
Visit OrientLondon.com
Tsujiri
Tsujiri is home to some of the best green tea desserts we’ve tried. The menu has hot matcha drinks to warm you up when it’s chilly, and cold drinks and pastel-green soft-serve ice-cream to refresh you when it’s hot. Whatever the weather, make sure to sample one of the chewy shiratamas (sweet rice-based dumplings) which are handmade on site every day.
47 Rupert Street, Chinatown, W1D 7PD
Visit Tsujiri.co.uk
Opium Cocktail Bar
This decadent multi-story drinking den transports guests to a bygone Chinese era via expertly mixed drinks and elegant surroundings. Opium’s intimate hidden bar, Peony, offers a signature range of ten cocktails – each one taking inspiration from a Chinese city. Titled ‘A Journey Through China’, Peony’s territory-spanning menu is less about a drink in a glass, and more of a theatrical experience, using many ingredients indigenous to the city each drink is named after. Good news: Opium is open until 3am from Thursday-Saturday.
15-16 Gerrard Street, Chinatown, W1D 6JE
Visit OpiumChinatown.com
Bubblewrap
The team behind Bubblewrap puts a delicious twist on waffles. Londoners queued for more than two hours for a taste of these sweet and savoury creations when the site first launched. Resembling bubble wrap, the waffle is shaped into a cone and filled with everything from matcha gelato and KitKat to berries and cream, with a helping of Oreos, fudge or pistachios for good measure.
24 Wardour Street, Chinatown, W1D 6QJ
Visit BubblewrapLondon.com
Viet Lounge
We’re big fans of Viet Food, in particular the art-deco Viet Lounge bar on the third floor. A central bar takes pride of place – pull up a stool to watch the bartenders shake up cocktails made with homemade Asian syrups. Try the likes of a ‘Ho Chi Minh’, made with vodka, lychee liqueur, homemade yuzu syrup, fresh pineapple, fresh lime juice and basil leaves; or ‘Gangnam Style’ with Korean rice wine, kirsch, Angostura bitters, plum bitters, nutmeg, egg white, lemon and homemade rosemary syrup. Don’t forget to order some of the delicious bar snacks, too.
34-36 Wardour Street, Chinatown, W1D 6QT
Visit VietnamFood.co.uk
Dumplings’ Legend
All the best nights end with a trip to the local takeaway. But in Chinatown, forget kebabs: it’s all about midnight dumplings. True to its name, Dumplings’ Legend is the only place for a late-night dumpling fix. Open until 2:30am on a weekend, the team offers an extensive menu of steamed delights, including signature dumpling dish xiao long bao.
15-16 Gerrard Street, Chinatown, W1D 6JE
Follow @DumplingsLegend on Instagram
Roro Patisserie
With its glossy, pastel-hued walls and pink neon lights, Roro is a one-of-a-kind dessert shop. Inside, the team specialises in Asian-inspired confections and colour-changing drinks. For a sweet street-food inspired snack, opt for one of Roro’s made-to-order jianbing. These slender crepe rolls come in original, chocolate or matcha variety and are topped with fresh blueberries, strawberries and mango. Don’t miss the imagawayaki – a Japanese wheel cake with molten matcha custard.
10 Wardour Street, Chinatown, W1D 6BZ
Follow @RoroPatisserie on Instagram
Monga Fried Chicken
We’ve heard excellent things about Taiwanese chain Monga Fried Chicken. Fillets are marinated with honey, dipped in batter, and fried to perfection so they’re crisp but tender. Expect five flavour options (including seaweed) spanning everything from wings to nuggets, alongside a selection of Taiwanese beer and bubble teas.
12 Macclesfield Street, Chinatown, W1D 58P
Visit MongaUK.com
Plum Valley
No trip to Chinatown is complete without a spot of karaoke. We recommend booking one of the four private karaoke rooms at Gerrard Street’s Plum Valley – which has been a Chinatown staple since the 80s – where you can sing the night away with a lychee martini in hand.
20 Gerrard Street, Chinatown, W1D 6JQ
Visit PlumValley.co.uk
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