Chinatown - sweet & sour and other London, United Kingdom Restaurant Reviews

Restaurant Name: Friendly inn & Wong kei's

Friendly Inn in Chinatown do everything well at a reasonable cost , no unpleasent extras. This is the 'sweet'. The 'Sour' is on Wardour street opposite one end of chinatown. The food is great but the service is willfully terrible.

I include a couple of everyday quotes you might hear in Wong Kei's

"Not possible..only chinese people can eat that!"

"You want separate bill you sit separate table"

The choice is yours !

(p.s the webbed duck feet were excellent)

Favorite Dish: The secret is to get a large group (about 8-10) and all mix in

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Theme: Chinese/Dim Sum
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Address: chinatown
Directions: behind leicester square heading north - Gerrard street

Restaurant Name: The Oyster bar, Harrods

In the Corner of the Harrods Food Hall, a tourist site in itself, stands the Oyster bar.

You sit up on high stools as the food is freshly prepared before you.

It's not supriseingly a tad on the expensive side, but if you share half-a-dozen (beginning at about 12 pounds) you can think of it as an extravagent starter and then go on elsewhere.


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Theme: Seafood
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Address: Harrods, knightsbridge
Website: www.harrods.com

Restaurant Name: The Stockpot

The stockpot chain to my knowledge has three branches in London.

They serve some of the cheapest sit-down meals in London unless you are a down and out !

The food is well cooked and briskly served, and whilst not quite out of the school canteen, it does have more than a whiff of that about it. All the traditional English food is there along with good salads & pastas etc.

The one thing you can't do is have a leisurely meal, but if you want a cheap fill-up without a pub-like atmosphere then this maybe your kind of place.


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Theme: Local
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: Panton street, Old Compton Street & Kings Road
Directions: All are very useful, being sited in tourist areas. Look 'em up in the A-Z

Restaurant Name: McDonald's

No need for description - they are all the same, despite what they said in reservoir dogs.

If you wish to pay homage to this piece of cultural imperialism that turned us into a nation of wobbling fat asses - then look no further than Woolwich who gained the first McDonalds this side of the pond in 1974.

Favorite Dish: I better not say anything here - McDonalds are notoriously quick to move to litigation

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Theme: Fast Food
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: woolwich high street

Restaurant Name: Cafe Laville

The setting of this cafe on the Edgware road is unmissable, as it is perched on a bridge over the Regent's canal near little Venice.

The place has a distinctly continental flavour - but at London Prices. Scambled egg on toast will set you back nearly 4 quid, and a glass of champers a fiver.

The view along the stretch of canal looking towards little venice is however worth the extra few bob involved.

Lunches looked light and well prepared, witha good range of other snacks - panini, salads , pasta and omelettes all available.


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Theme: Eclectic/International
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: 020 7706 2620
Address: Little Venice parade, 435 edgeware road
Directions: On theEdgeware road roughly half way between Edgware road and Warwick av tube stops (both easily walkable)
Website: www.cafe-laville.co.uk

Restaurant Name: various

The inner East End is traditionally where a new immigrant community first sets up shop. It used to be a strong Jewish area, and the centre of the clothes industry in the UK. The tradition of tailoring has continued, and is now mostly in the hands of the Indian community. As each community arrived, they made their money and then moved out to the leafier suburbs of North London.

The lastest community to follow this process are the Bangledeshi's. Their arrival has also led to an explosion in the number of 'Indian' (strictly speaking the wrong term) around Brick lane.

It's really a case of strolling up and down to you find one that takes your fancy. Many of them are trying hard to get away from the sterotype of an 'Indian' restaurant in Britain and feature some cutting edge design features. Some also some very 'flash' websites which can give you a taster of the place.


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Theme: Indian

Address: Brick Lane and ajoining streets
Directions: Inner east end
Website: www.bricklanerestaurants.com

Restaurant Name: China Cafe

The China Cafe is very similar to many other buffet-style restaurants in the centre of London.

When I visited it last it has a good selections of dishes, and included some very good soups and a salad bar.

The decor is a little ultilitarian, but clean, and the tables are not too squeezed together as they are in many similar establishments.

Beer is expensive (£2.60 for a small bottle)

What really makes this place a winner is it's superb location. It's just of Oxford Street, so it's good for when you need a break from the nightmare that is shopping on Oxford Street.

Favorite Dish: Either eat in (as much as you like) for £6.50 or have a take away box (very good value) for at £3.50.

Please note that they are serious about their dire warnings, that if you can't shut your box (at both ends mind) then there will be a FIVE POUND SURCHARGE.

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Theme: Chinese/Dim Sum
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 02072874052
Address: 55 Berwick Street
Directions: Just off the South side of Oxford Street.

Nr Tottenham court road tube.

Restaurant Name: Taratai

If you are doing a bit of shopping at that dodgy cornershop run the Egyptian, then this Thai restaurant is virtually opposite.

It has a clean modern look to it, and best of all has a lunchtime menu where you can order a main dish (from a choice of about five) for around a fiver.

I also like the fact that on many of the dishes they list some of the major ingredients and add some cultural snippets. For example under Kai Si-ew they added :
"We Thai's used to eat this sauteed chicken with soy sauce and honey whenwe were young. Because it's not too hot but very tasty. We still eat this dish but with hot chilli sauce is required. So tell us".


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Theme: Pan-Asian and Pacific Rim
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 020 72252689
Address: 136 Brompton Road
Directions: Knightsbridge, opposite Harrods and down towards South Kensington abit.

Restaurant Name: Mr Wu's

I must admit I don't know if the owner of Mr Wu's is actually called Mr Wu, but you will always find him busying himself around the goldmine in Wardour Street known as Mr Wu's - and you will always find him with a large mug of steaming hot (English) Tea in his hand.

This Chinese buffet has a loyal following, and at less than a fiver it means you can fill up for virtually nothing. The range of buffet items is a little limited but the quick turnover always means huge dishes are coming out of the kitchens to help replenish the starving hoards.

You may well have to queue to get in,queue to get to the buffet and queue to pay - and you must pay in cash as well.

I had to (of course) add the lyrics from the famous George Formby Song for you enjoyment...

Mr. Wu no longer has a laundry. Sad to say the business was flop.
He shouted 'what a hope' as he chewed a bar of soap
And then put up the shutters of the shop.

Said Mr. Wu, "What shall I do?" and Mr. Wu's a window cleaner now.
The laundry, it didn't pay.
Now there's no clean collars down Limehouse Way.

Well now he's got a buffet restaurant...


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Theme: Chinese/Dim Sum
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: Wardour Street
Directions: Chinatown - behind Leicester Square.

Restaurant Name: Il Pomodorino

I was somewhat wary of visiting this restaurant for a meal. I had faintly remembered a review of the place by Giles Coren in 'The Times'.. When I re-read it on-line it was clear that things can change. He had done a 'hatchet job' on the place in August 2004. He complained bitterly about the poor service, mediocre food quality, outrageous wine list, and a bill of fourty pounds plus each.

Of these faults, only the last one remains. The service was friendly yet unobtrusive. Main pizza meals were around a reasonable 7-9 pound mark and the set 2-course menu was a very reasonable 13 quid.

I knew the pizza would be quite good the moment I walked in the joint as I spotted a proper wood burning pizza oven in the far corner. The Calzone was every bit as good as one served in an average to good authentic Italian pizza parlour in Genoa, Florence or Rome.
(where this restaurant as a further eight branches).

Although the venue may lack atmosphere in the normal run of things with the place about 80% full for the VT meeting and the place was rocking.

Favorite Dish: My wife, unlike Giles, was impressed the starter of an Aubergine bake.

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Theme: Italian
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$21-30  » Currency Converter
Address: Lower regent street
Directions: piccadilly circus and head south
Website: www.ilpomodorino.co.uk