Z He and Alex Peffly, the husband and wife team behind London’s Bun House, have decided to shake up their flourishing restaurant business, by transplanting their crowd-pleasing steamed bun outlet from its Soho location, across the road, to China Town and transforming the original spot into Wun’s Tea Room & Bar.
At the junction of Greek and Old Compton Street, the ground floor of the two-floor restaurant has been given a fresh new look by Z, whose design scheme is a slick mix of modernity and nostalgia. Taking her cues from the energetic spirit of late night Hong Kong in the 1960s, she has made the most of the shop’s light-filled corner location, with retro peppermint tones over distressed brick walls, geometric floor tiles and wicker chairs.
The basement, meanwhile, remains the same, with its neon-lit bar and velvet seating, both areas setting the stage for sentimental Cantonese dishes from Z’s childhood, like the hearty Iberico pork clay pot rice dish, the rich XO bone marrow with fried mantau, and the delicious Hong Kong egg tarts. This is all to be washed down with a cocktail or two from the extensive list that includes concoctions that use unusual Chinese spirits and ingredients, such as the Rose & Hibiscus Mousse Tea, made with Tou Mei rose wine, hibiscus tea, rose syrup, Haw sour, and salted cream. ‘We’ve created everything I would want from a Hong Kong bar,’ says Z. ‘Wun’s is a nod to the 1960s era and my own little slice of Hong Kong here in London.’ §
