Had enough of mediocre lo mein and insipid sweet and sour? London is home to a whole host of Chinese restaurants that put the power in kung pao and the spring in spring rolls.
From hotpot to dim sum, Sichuan spice to Taiwanese treasures, the capital’s Chinese restaurant scene does a stellar job of encompassing the huge range of regional cuisines and dishes that span one of the biggest countries in the world.
If you're specifically looking to dine in London's Chinatown, you can check out our guide to the Chinese cultural hub here.
But for a capital-wide spread of Michelin-starred dumplings and satisfying servings of noodles, take a look at our pick of the top Chinese restaurants in London.
A Wong, Victoria
Andrew Wong once told the Standard that, as a child, he “couldn’t wait to get out” of the kitchen at his parents’ Victoria restaurant – but he stuck with it and now that very same kitchen holds a Michelin star. A Wong’s innovative Chinese cuisine includes dumplings in disguise: the wild mushroom and truffle bun is indistinguishable from a plump chestnut mushroom, and the sweet duck egg custard bun arrives dressed up as a white peach.
70 Wilton Road, SW1V 1DE, awong.co.uk
Hakkasan, Mayfair/Fitzrovia
Cantonese cooking doesn’t get much sexier than at Hakkasan. The Instagram-worthy stairs at the Mayfair site are lit like rippling water, and below the internationally renowned restaurant hums like an overwhelmingly stylish club. The Michelin-starred food holds up to the expectations of its surroundings: prawn toast is served with foie gras, and Peking duck is topped with Hakkasan special reserve Qiandao caviar. Extravagant, yes, but stonkingly well done.
Two locations in W1, hakkasan.com
Imperial Treasure, St James's
Imperial Treasure’s backstory is littered with Michelin stars, with sites in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore holding either one or two apiece. This stalwart of decadent Asian dining came to London in 2019, serving up high-end Chinese specialities at pretty high prices. It’s signature Peking duck may come in at £100, but with that comes exceptional depth of flavour and, in the words of the Standard’s critic Fay Maschler “the best pancakes — light, layered, fluffy and, importantly, hot — I have ever come across”.
9 Waterloo Place, SW1Y 4BE, imperialtreasure.com
Xu, Chinatown
In 2017, the team behind Soho bun sensation Bao headed to Chinatown to deliver a more sophisticated take on Taiwanese food. The dining rooms at Xu are seductively well-pitched: moody dark woods mix with utilitarian seating to evoke glamorous train journeys of the early 20th century. On the plate, sausage dumplings made with taro root and served with kow choi chive oil are a revelation, while the shou pa chicken served with ginger and spring onions is one of the most succulent incarnations of the bird in the capital.
30 Rupert Street, W1D 6DL, xulondon.com
Din Tai Fung, Covent Garden
Few restaurant arrivals have caused quite such a fluster in recent years as Din Tai Fung – in its first week, the queues for the 250-seater Covent Garden restaurant exceeded four hours. The Taiwanese dumpling chain is world famous for its xiao long bao – a pork dumpling dish which requires 40 minutes of hand preparation, made by chefs who are trained for at least six months before they are allowed to work in the restaurant. Delicate stuff indeed.
5 Henrietta Street, WC2E 8PT, dintaifung-uk.com
Hutong, London Bridge
If you’re looking to scale the heights of Chinese cooking in the capital, then you can do worse than heading to Hutong. Located on the 33rd floor of the Shard, Hutong has food to match its spectacular views. Sichuan cooking means spice: the Red Lantern is a must-try dish, featuring hot crispy soft-shell crab, which diners pluck lucky dip-style from a bowl of dried chillies. The view is beguiling, but be sure to take a close look at the interior: the antique wooden panels have salvaged from narrow “hutong” streets destined for demolition in China.
33, The Shard, 31 St Thomas Street, SE1 9RY, hutong.co.uk
Park Chinois, Mayfair
The all-consuming glamour of Park Chinois is pretty glorious: as a jazz band serenades a room gilded and fringed at every corner, and the spirit of 1930s luxe-Shanghai is glittering in the air. Beyond the velvet, the restaurant also serves up some sublime food. Duck de Chine is mahogany-glazed and sumptuous, and wagyu beef (which features in no less than six dishes on the menu) is served as tender and buttery short rib braised in a black bean sauce.
17 Berkeley Street, W1J 8EA, parkchinois.com
Hot May Pot Pot, Knightsbridge
It’s a traditional cooking method beloved by the Chinese as a comforting, convivial feast – but Hot May Pot Pot is making the hot pot high brow. The Knightsbridge restaurant offers a sophisticated take on the historic dish, which sees diners crowd around a bowl of boiling broth dipping in their chosen meat, fish and veg. Top notch ingredients are the order at Hot May Pot Pot – expect to dip wagyu beef, langoustines and abalone, as well as freshly made rainbow noodles coloured with spinach, carrot and beetroot.
30 Beauchamp Place, SW3 1NJ, hotmay.co.uk
Barshu, Soho
While Chinese cooking can embrace sugar, spice and all things nice, Barshu majors on the spice part. This Soho restaurant celebrates Sichuan cooking, which makes liberal use of Sichuan pepper for a “ma la” style of burn – which translates as “spicy and numbing”. Pock-Marked Old Woman’s Beancurd might just be the best-named dish in London, but a serious spice hit can be found in the boiled seabass with sizzling chilli oil, which arrives submerged in an entire serving bowl of chillies.
28 Frith Street, W1D 5LF, barshurestaurant.co.uk
Kym’s, City of London
Not content with turning his parents’ unassuming Victoria restaurant into a Michelin-starred sensation, 2018 saw Andrew Wong open Kym’s in Bloomberg Arcade to great critical acclaim – including a five star review from the Standard’s Fay Maschler. Roasted meat is among the stars on the menu, which the Three Treasure dish shows off to great effect: sliced crispy pork belly, soy chicken and Iberico pork char sui. There are almost too many must-try dishes to name, but they include a Xian City lamb burger and silken tofu with a 100-year-old egg.
19 Bloomberg Arcade, EC4N 8AR, kymsrestaurant.com
Yauatcha, Soho
Yauatcha has been open at its Soho site for more than 15 years, but it’s still producing some of the best dumplings in London. Venison puffs and scallop shui mai are among the stunning dim sum and tou chan menus, while highly Instagrammable desserts include delicate macarons and a plethora of petit gateau, including a hazelnut yuzu Paris Brest and lemon sesame tart.
W1, EC2, yauatcha.com
Mao Chow, Hackney
Vegans, you may have written off the notion of “going for a Chinese”, but this diminutive restaurant on Hackney’s Mare Street is changing the game. Holding a torch for plant-based food in a notoriously meaty cuisine, all items on the menu at Mao Chow are 100 per cent vegan – but you’ll need to have a taste for spice. There’s Sichuan pepper in abundance, adding plenty of power to a ma po tofu and spicing up a soy mince-packed dish of silky-sweet dan dan noodles. If you need any more convincing, just look at the prices – both of the aforementioned dishes come in at just £9.
159A Mare Street, E8 3RD, mao-chow.com
Hunan, Chelsea
Can’t decide what you want? At Hunan, Mr Peng decides for you. There is no menu at this Chelsea restaurant, where adventurous guests are asked only if there is anything they don’t eat and how much spice they can take. What follows is usually in excess of 10 dishes from the kitchen of chef-owner Mr Peng, inspired by Taiwan and the Hunan province that the restaurant is named after. Signature dishes include a broth of minced pork, Chinese mushrooms and ginger as well as crispy frogs legs with fermented bamboo shoots and chilli.
51 Pimlico Road, SW1W 8NE, hunanlondon.com
Royal China, Various locations
You’re rarely too far away from a Royal China restaurant in London, with six locations stretching from Harrow to Canary Wharf, as well as two sites in Baker Street. This means its excellent dim sum lunch is close at hand, featuring pan-fried gyozas, honey roast pork puffs, turnip cake and more. Be prepared to get there early for lunch at the Baker Street flagship – Royal China’s dumplings can attract quite a crowd.
Various locations, royalchinagroup.co.uk
