The best Chinese restaurants in London

A Chinese meal in London once meant Cantonese cooking in Chinatown – and there was nothing wrong with that. But the capital’s Chinese restaurant scene has undergone a revolution, with a new wave of chefs and restaurateurs drawing on the full breadth of one of the world’s great culinary traditions: the fiery, numbing spice of Chongqing, the refined elegance of Hong Kong dim sum, and bold regional flavours that have little to do with the sweet-and-sour pork that shaped so many British childhoods. The best of them are served in stylishly contemporary surroundings that would look equally at home in a modern metropolis like Shanghai or Chongqing. From glamorous Mayfair dining rooms to east London railway arches, here are the finest.

The best Chinese restaurants in London

A. Wong

The only Chinese restaurant outside Asia to hold two Michelin stars, Andrew Wong’s smart but relaxed Pimlico dining room applies the fine-dining format to regional Chinese cooking. Sit at the chef’s counter to fully experience the craftsmanship that goes into each tiny course that refashions the culinary traditions of China’s 22 provinces.

A. Wong is located at 70 Wilton Road, London SW1V 1DE, United Kingdom

Café Kowloon

This modern Cantonese kitchen tucked behind noodle bar Wonton Charlie’s under the London Fields railway arches draws on the informal energy of Hong Kong’s cha chaan teng cafés. The menu is built for sharing – a half chicken with ginger sauce; prawn toast with crispy prawn heads – and served on booth tables equipped with lazy Susans, among glowing neon and a jade-green bar back.

Café Kowloon is located at 392-393 Mentmore Terrace, London, E8 3PH, United Kingdom

Read our full restaurant review of Café Kowloon

Canton Blue

Brooklands might be the restaurant with the two Michelin stars at The Peninsula, but given the hotel group’s Hong Kong origins, Canton Blue feels most authentically at home in the luxurious Asian-style surroundings. Classics such as XO prawns are done exceptionally, as well as the lunchtime dim sum. Spare some time for a drink in the bar, worth a visit for the dramatic spiral staircase alone, lined with an undulating wall of ceramic vases.

Canton Blue is located at The Peninsula, 1 Grosvenor Pl, London SW1X 7HJ, United Kingdom

Dim Sum Library

A sibling of Hutong at The Shard, this Covent Garden dumpling specialist marks the first international outpost of Aqua Restaurant Group’s Dim Sum Library concept. Vintage Chinese posters and a Chinoiserie-inspired cocktail bar set the scene for a menu of elevated small plates ranging from black truffle har gau to ginger lobster bao – all delivered across two buzzing floors.

Dim Sum Library is located at 136 Long Acre, London WC2E 9AD, United Kingdom

Gouqi

Tong Chee Hwee is the chef who won Hakkasan its Michelin star in the noughties; now he’s teamed up with former Hakkasan assistant manager Alan Tang in this stylish spot just off Trafalgar Square. Luxury ingredients are treated to a light touch, while groups of four should book one of the semi-private tables in the anteroom at the back.

Gouqi is located at 25-34 Cockspur Street, London SW1Y 5BN, United Kingdom

Hakkasan

The restaurant that showed London – and the world – that Chinese dining could be every bit as alluring as Japanese remains an electrifying experience. Glamorous from the word go, the Mayfair outpost delivers the full Hakkasan package: opulent interiors, impeccable, predominantly Cantonese cuisine and a wine list to match.

Hakkasan is located at 17 Bruton Street and 8 Hanway Place, London W1J 6QB, United Kingdom

Hunan

An insider secret among London’s Chinese cuisine cognoscenti, serene Hunan removes the stress of choosing from a lengthy menu by doing away with the menu altogether. Simply tell the staff your favourite things to eat, and how spicy you like it, and 18 miniature dishes (mainly a mix of Cantonese and Taiwanese) will arrive from chef YS Peng, with service overseen by sommelier son Michael.

Hunan is located at 51 Pimlico Road, London SW1W 8NE, United Kingdom

Hutong

One might assume that a restaurant on the 33rd floor of the Shard would be a tourist trap, but ownership by the Hong Kong-based Aqua group means that Hutong is authentically at home in its skyscraping surroundings. The cooking is less spicy than the name suggests, and there are a couple of terrific Chinese wines, too.

Hutong is located at Level 33, The Shard, 31 St Thomas Street, London SE1 9RY, United Kingdom

Imperial Treasure

Singapore-based Imperial Treasure is a very big deal in Asia, where among 20 restaurants, the Guangzhou and Shanghai outposts have two Michelin stars. The Red Guide has yet to shine over this St James’s satellite, though the slick service, imposing surroundings and classic Cantonese cooking all merit star status.

Imperial Treasure is located at 9 Waterloo Place, London SW1Y 4BE, United Kingdom

Jiāonest

Chef-owner Hua Yang left Chongqing to study spatial design in London and ended up opening this intimate basement restaurant in Haggerston instead. The furniture and ceramics have been crafted by designers Yang commissioned herself, including chairs with hidden drawers containing the spices used in the cooking. The menu channels the fiery, numbing flavours of her hometown: try her grandmother’s mápó tofu, or melt-in-the-mouth málà short ribs.

Jiāonest is located at 230 Kingsland Road, London E2 8AX, United Kingdom

JM Oriental

Almost the end of the Northern line and a 10-minute walk from Colindale station, JM Oriental emerges as a gem of a restaurant, where kind staff welcome guests to a glossy dining room that feels glamorously at odds with the suburban location. It’s the cooking from chef Andrew Hung that is the main attraction; however, dreamy dim sum by day, contemporary Cantonese cuisine comes in the evening.

JM Oriental is located at 28 Heritage Ave, London NW9 5GE, United Kingdom

MiMi Mei Fair

The Chinese spoke in restaurateur Samyukta Nair’s ever-spinning Mayfair wheel – she also owns Indian Jamavar and Italian Nipotina – MiMi Mei Fair is as pastel-coloured pretty as a box of sugared almonds, and now shares its site with Nair’s new ground-floor Thai restaurant, Miko Mei Fair. Upstairs, don’t miss the apple-wood-fired roast Peking duck with pancakes, practically a meal in itself.

MiMi Mei Fair is located at 55 Curzon Street, London W1J 8PG, United Kingdom

Min Jiang

This tenth-floor hotel dining room, seemingly floating above the treetops of Kensington Gardens, would be worth a visit for the view alone, even if it didn’t have a showstopper of a signature dish. Beijing duck served in two courses – first with pancakes, then as a soup, stir-fry or a lettuce wrap – was introduced to London here and has yet to be bettered.

Min Jiang is located at the Royal Garden Hotel, 2-24 Kensington High Street, London W8 4PT, United Kingdom

Park Chinois

Jacques Garcia’s 1930s Shanghai-inspired interiors make this one of London’s most opulent dining rooms, with Chinese fine dining upstairs and Club Chinois – a cocktail and live music venue – below. The menu includes wagyu char siu and mango and grapefruit sago, all delivered with the glamorous pomp the Mayfair address demands.

Park Chinois is located at 17 Berkeley St, London W1J 8EA, United Kingdom

Poon’s

Amy Poon continues the legacy of her parents, Bill and Cecilia, who won a Michelin star for their Covent Garden restaurant in 1980, with this first permanent solo venture in the grand surroundings of Somerset House. Family recipes sit alongside cult hits – pillowy wonton dumplings, crunchy chilli sauce – in a menu of elevated Chinese home cooking that is as personal as the interiors, which feature pieces from the Poon family collection.

Poon’s is located at Somerset House, Lancaster Pl, London WC2R 1LA, United Kingdom

Read our full restaurant review of Poon’s

Tempo

Chef Eric Wan’s Chinese-Vietnamese railway-arch restaurant has become one of east London’s most exciting tables, with a concise menu that is short on choice but long on ambition. Braised aubergine with whipped tofu, and shrimp toast topped with green chilli sauce are among the highlights; honey-butter madeleines are the dessert to end on, and the wine selection is as expertly considered as the cooking.

Tempo is located at 252 Paradise Row, London E2 9LE, United Kingdom

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