Fook Lam Moon review – total eclipse of the heart?

This review of a Shanghai restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage Eating out at a chain restaurant may be a generally down market experience in the West, but that’s not necessarily the case in East Asia. The small Fook Lam Moon chain of Cantonese restaurants, which started out in Hong [...]

Leong’s Legends Continue review – second time lucky?

Soho’s Taiwanese stand-by – dependably reliable or depressingly staid? It’s quite interesting dining out in a group, if only to see what my dining companions will order when left to their own devices. During my recent revisitation of Leong’s Legends Continue, The Lensman, Templeton Peck and Happy Buddha displayed an alarming degree of groupthink – [...]

East Street review – full of Eastern promise or just full of it?

Oxford Street’s East Asian street food smorgasbord With some restaurants, the reasons behind the choice of décor can be inscrutable but that isn’t the case with East Street. East Street is a casual eatery located just off the north edge of Oxford Street and serves up a broad menu of street food from a large [...]

Kin review – Holborn’s Asian street food hideaway

Jack of all trades but master of none? Following my stiflingly average experience at Banana Tree, I wasn’t enthused about trying another budget pan-Asian eatery but the need for a cheap meal after a hard day’s slog at work prompted me to visit Kin. This new restaurant, located on a side road you probably wouldn’t stumble across, [...]

Greenleaf review – sleek new Chinese comes to Holborn

Chinese food turns over a new leaf or just the same old stuff? An increasing number of sleek new southeast Asian restaurants are popping up in Holborn and one of the latest is Greenleaf, a new Cantonese restaurant just down the road from Korean eatery Kimchee. It’s located on a side street, so you’d have to [...]

Four Seasons review – the best roast duck in Chinatown?

The best roast duck in the UK according to The Financial Times. Exaggeration or a real gem? I loosen my belt to find out. Roast duck is one of the most well-known Chinese dishes in Britain, but the version most of us are familiar with is a crude bastardisation. The roast duck available from most [...]

Baohaus review – buns with puns

This review of a New York restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage. For most people, Chinese food means noodles, fried rice, roast duck and maybe Dim Sum. There’s much more to it than just that of course, and one of the under appreciated gems is the humble bao – steamed [...]

San Xia Ren Jia review – mouth numbing spiciness

Cheap and cheerful Chinese chilli chow There are few Chinese restaurants in Fitzrovia with the exception of a dilapidated-looking buffet on Goodge Street. This is due of course to the close proximity of Chinatown, but one interesting option is San Xia Ren Jia (no, I don’t know how to pronounce that either) on Goodge Street, [...]

Young Cheng review – Cheap Lobster Chinatown-style

London Lobstermania Lives On Following my disappointing experience at Belgo’s June Lobsterfest, I was on the hunt for quality lobster at a low price in London. The Euro Hedgie pointed out that Chinatown is full of inexpensive seafood restaurants, so we popped along one weekday evening to the Lisle Street branch of Young Cheng. There [...]

Harbour City review – Cheap and cheerful Dim Sum?

Fragrant food, tatty divine? There is no shortage of Dim Sum places in and around London’s Chinatown. Although haute cuisine purveyors Hakkasan and Yauatcha get all the plaudits, cheaper and more informal eateries deserve no less attention. The Euro Hedgie and I decided to try out Harbour City, which sits at the east end of [...]