A
Soho Chinatown Trio - Yun
Jian Wang reports
Yun
Jian Wang, "Eric", is
a Chinese American student
visiting England from Drexel
University in Philadelphia.
His family are restaurateurs
and while in London he has
been taking a practical culinary
arts course at the Foundation
for International Education
in Kensington. Eric lost
no time in finding some Chinese
diners to try out down in
Soho's Chinatown. We've also
included his review of Koi,
a Japanese restaurant in
Kensington.
Mr.
Wu 28
Wardour St, W1V 3HH Tel: (0)20
7287 3885
Mr.
Wu is a Chinese buffet restaurant
located in Chinatown, London. "All
you can eat for just £4.50",
sounds like it could be a bargain
to the fans of Chinese food.
The restaurant is open seven
days a week from 10:00 to 21:00.
The closest tube station is Piccadilly
Circus. The restaurant is very
small. There are about five tables
and a big around bar where the
food is placed.
There
were starters such as vegetable
soup, chicken wings and Spring
rolls. Other dishes available
are cabbage, pepper steak, sweet
sour pork, fried rice, curry
chicken and fried egg noodles.
The soup was too salty and the
vegetables were over-cooked because
they were left in the hot soup
for too long. The chicken wings
were very greasy and tasteless
since they were not marinated
with the sauce before they were
fried. The spring rolls were
my favourite. Crispy pancake
shells wrapped with cabbages,
green scallion and bean sprouts.
Eating it with soy sauce makes
it tastes even better. The fried
rice had burned flavour as it
over-fried in the pan. The stirred
fried egg noodle was too dry
and hard. The sweet sour pork
was not tasty either as the sweet-sour
sauce was not sweet at all. The
pepper steak was very greasy
and I could not taste any onion
and pepper flavouring. The taste
of stir-fried cabbage was very
plain because the chef only put
salt and M.S.G in it. The curry
chicken lost the traditional
taste because it was not spicy
at all.
The
restaurant does not have relaxing
and comfortable atmosphere. Indeed,
the restaurant was similar to
a fast food restaurant where
people are rushing to the bar,
filling as much food as the plate
can hold and sometimes even take
more than they could possibly
eat. The dining space was very
limited as the maximum capacity
was only 15 seats. Everyone was
trying to walk through the narrow
seats, it makes the dining experience
even worse. In term of the price,
it really sounds like a bargain
for those who never had Chinese
food before. However, the food
and dining atmosphere is not
enjoyable at all. Personally,
I think Mr Wu does not reflect
traditional Chinese food at all.
If you would like to try some
decent Chinese food, I would
definitely recommend other Chinese
restaurants in Chinatown such
as Joy King Lau.
Verdict:
Cheap and cheerful - what do
you expect for £4.50?! Yun
Jian Wang December 2002
Joy
King Lau 3
Leicester Street London WC2H
7BL Phone:
(0)20 7437 1132
Joy
King Lau is a formal Chinese
restaurant. It serves Cantonese
style of Chinese food. The restaurant
is one of most famous Chinese
restaurants in Chinatown. One
of my favourite dishes is Peking
duck. In order to prepare a Peking
duck, the chef has to prepare
a roasted sauce that includes
soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sugar
and some special Chinese spice.
The duck is then marinated with
the roasted sauce for couple
days. After that, the duck is
baked in the oven for couple
hours. The duck is served in
thin, small pieces and is wrapped
with white soft bread and pilled
green scallions. Customers also
have the option to eat the wrapped
duck with oyster sauce, which
I definitely recommended.
The
restaurant also has many other
delicious dishes such as ginger
and scallion beef, stirred Chinese
green vegetables with garlic,
seafood tofu soup, roast pork,
lobster in Cantonese style etc.
The price of the dishes varies.
Seafood dishes tend to be more
expensive than poultry, beef
and vegetable dishes. On average,
you would expect to spend £15
to £20 pounds per person. The
atmosphere of the restaurant
is quite enjoyable. Taste the
Chinese tea while listening to
the traditional music you would
definitely be able to relax and
have a peaceful feeling. Customers
may also find the traditional
Chinese paintings seem to be
quite interesting especially
with the traditional Chinese
characters.
Eating
Chinese food with the chopsticks
definitely adds much fun to the
dining experience. Also, drinking
Tsing-tao beer, one of the most
famous beers imported from China,
certainly makes the more enjoyable
because drinking beer is such
a popular habit in London. The
only negative aspect about the
restaurant is its service. The
waiters hardly do anything besides
serving the food and collecting
the dishes. This could mean that
the restaurant has not realized
how important the customer relationship
is to the overall success of
a restaurant business. In general,
Joy King Lau is a pretty decent
restaurant in terms of quality
of food and its price.
Verdict:
I would definitely recommend
that the restaurant to pay more
attention to its customers since
customers are not only come to
the restaurant for fairly cheap
food but also come for the unique
yet familiar dining environment.
Yun
Jian Wang December 2002
Dragon
Inn 12
Gerrard Street London Tel:
020 7494 0870
Eating
Chinese Dim Sum seems to be one
of most enjoyable thing you can
do on a Sunday in London. Dim
Sum in Chinese means appetizer.
However, the Chinese normally
would refer to the meal as "Drinking
tea." instead of "Eating Dim
Sum". This is because people
would always drink tea when they
come to restaurant to eat Dim
Sum. There are many Chinese restaurants
that serve Dim Sum in Chinatown
near Leicester Square. Some of
restaurants only serve it at
a specific period during the
day such as from 12noon to 5pm.
Dragon Inn seems to be one of
most delicious restaurant in
Chinatown. It is located at the
middle of Gerrard Street, with
the sign says "Dim Sum all day".
There
are so many different kinds of
Dim Sum you can choose from the
menu. For example, Fried Egg
Rolls, Prawn Dumpling, Phoenix
Feet, Pork Chung Fan, Spare Ribs
with black bean , Fried Dumplings
etc. The customer has choices
of ordering each Dim Sum according
to their flavour or ordering
a set-menu, which includes ten
different kinds of Dim Sums.
In order to save the hassle of
picking which one we like, we
ordered a set-menu for two people,
which cost £9.80 for each. All
Dim Sum dishes were delicious.
The Phoenix Feet is my favourite
dish. It is made from chicken
feet. In order to make Phoenix
Feet, the chicken feet have to
be deep fried in hot oil for
15 minutes and then soaked in
the cold water for 24 to 48 hours.
This is to soften the chicken
skin. After that, the soften
chicken feet is marinated with
black bean sauce, salt and hot
pepper. Like any other Dim Sum,
the Phoenix Feet would normally
to be served on a small dish
and steamed for 15 minutes before
serving.
The
dining atmosphere at Dragon was
quite enjoyable. It gave a feeling
of familiarity while I was eating
the Dim Sum because I know the
food and I could hear the familiar
language around me. The setting
of the restaurant is also conventional,
as the traditional Chinese artworks
decorate the restaurant beautifully.
However, the price of the Dim
Sum is more expensive than that
of in the U.S., since the restaurant
charges the set-menu based on
the number of people sharing
the food and each one has to
pay equal amount, no matter how
much food they bring to the table.
I felt this is an unfair way
to charge customers since the
restaurant will charge the same
amount of money regardless how
much the food customer has as
long as they think it is enough
for the customer to eat.
Verdict:
In terms of the food quality,
the restaurant certainly was
one of best Dim Sum in Chinatown.
However, I definitely recommend
a future customer not to order
set-menu because they would always
end up paying too much.
Yun
Jian Wang December 2002
Koi 1
Palace Gate, Gloucester Road
W8 Tel:: 020-7581-8778
I
have always been a big fan of
Japanese food. There are so many
Japanese restaurants in the UK.
However, I think Koi is one of
most famous Japanese restaurants
in the UK. I did not eat at the
restaurant since it is very expensive,
but I ordered a take out of Shrimp
Tempura and Miso soup. Koi is
located at the corner of High
Street and Gloucester Road and
it is very easy to find. In fact,
it is only five minutes from
Metrogate. The restaurant offers
a wide selection of traditional
Japanese dishes ranging from
Smoke Salmon to Chicken Teriyaki.
Miso soup tastes a bit different
from what I had in the U.S.,
I think it is because they put
a lot more Tofu and seaweed in
the soup. The Shrimp Tempura
tastes about the same. I especially
like to eat it with soy sauce.
Dining
at Koi seems to be very entertaining.
The customer has options to sit
on the bar, the regular table,
or in the room with Karaoke.
For someone who is curious about
how Japanese food is prepared,
you probably want to get a spot
on the Sushi bar where you can
watch the Japanese chefs preparing
food for you in their traditional
way. The regular tables also
provide a different dining experience
as customers can look through
the transparent glass to capture
a view of Gloucester Road because
there are people constantly walking
by. For the music fan, Koi's
Karaoke service seems to provide
the right dining experience.
The customer will get a private
room, which has Karaoke set up,
and the waiter will bring the
food to the room. The price of
the food is relatively more expensive
than other Japanese restaurant.
As one of most famous Japanese
restaurant in South Kensington
area, most of Koi's customers
are upper class. If you are a
foreign tourist who just wants
to try out some good Japanese
food, Koi maybe too expensive
for you. However, Koi seems to
be a great social place for up-class
people who may enjoy the great
entertainment provided.
Verdict:
Expensive: but upbeat atmosphere
and great food
Yun
Jian Wang December 2002
