A. Wong

Attire– Casual
Cost– Ten Course Tasting Menu 55£/per person Wine bottles 30−35£ Range
Service– Attentive, Friendly, Well Informed
Lets just say that I learned quite a bit about Chinese history during my ten courses at A Wong. Chef and owner Andrew Wong himself personally toured much of China and its 14 national borders to craft a ten course tasting menu that built upon the diversity that makes up Chinese cuisine with respect to each region. Throughout our meal, we took a tour through the spicy peppers of Sichuan, cumin flavors of Shaanxi province, famous Xiao Long Bao of Shanghai and lemongrass from the Yunnan province. Each flavor influences by flavors from neighboring countries.
We were greeted by a gregarious hostess who throughout the night we were able to see how much she enjoyed interacting with what appeared to be regular patrons. By the end of the night we knew why. We decided to go with the ten course tasting menu and started off with two glasses of very reasonable priced (9.50£) sparkling wine from England (look for our post on sparkling wines from England later). We ordered a bottle of crisp Sauvignon from Touraine France for dinner.
An amuse bouche was promptly bought to the table consisting of a cold jellyfish with a tapioca rice cracker. It was accompanied by a duck sauce as well as house made pork jerky, pickles and sautéed onions.
Shrimp Dumpling with citrus foam atop and pork dumpling (Dueling Dim Sum)
The first course was a dueling Dim Sum with a pork dumpling and a shrimp dumpling with a citrus foam on top. This was followed by 63 degree egg. From what we learned, these tea eggs are very common in Chinese street markets so it came with an incense to mimic the smoke you might smell at a street market. The egg is poached in tea and comes served on top of shredded phyllo dough. I was amazed the the flavor of tea was appreciate even with the powerful creaminess of the yolk.
The following dish was Xiao Long Bao, soup dumplings. These are very famous in Shanghai and have been super popularized by Din Tai Fung. There is an art to eating these without spilling the soup inside. sadly Tim hasn’t learned.
The following dishes consisted of abalone with with shiitake mushrooms, sea cucumber and abalone butter.
With the following dishes, we slowly moved from the central Anhui province to the periphery of the country with the northern province of Shaanxi and southern province of Yunnan near Vietnam and Laos. From the Anhui province, we experienced red braised fermented cod fermented cold belly, with traditional Chinese vegetables on the side sautéed in bean curd and shrimp butter. This dish also came with a side dish of fermented shrimp that could be brushed on the cod belly. we were told a small amount goes a long way and they were right. If you love the tanginess of fermented foods you would love this dish.
To the North, we experience Shaanxi pulled lamb «burger» with red onion, pomegranates, lettuce cumin seed and peanut sauce. Lamb is very big in Shaanxi province and the cumin, peanut and pomegranates is influence by the very North and West province of Xinjiang which borders Pakistan and India and has a very large Muslim population.
As we travel to the South we experience Yunnan seared beef with mint, chili and lemongrass that gave the dish a berry tart and sweet flavor. This was served on top of thin noodles and truffles. Vietnam flavors very much play a part in the cuisine of Yunnan Province which it borders.
Next we travel to the area of China famous for there Sichuan peppers. The next dish consisted of a Sichuanese aubergine with Gong Bao Chicken Lettuce Wrap. The pepper in the aubergine transformed your last buds from spicy last to a salty metallic taste to almost a numbing feeling that was something never experienced before. The lettuce wrap provided a nice cool and crispy balance to the spice of the aubergine. Tim was super excited to try this dish but little did he know what his taste buds were in for.
The next dish was the perfect follow up to the spice of the previous dish and consisted of chili barbecued pineapple with Beijing street yogurt. The yogurt came in a simple syrup that added just the appropriate sweetness to the tartness of the yogurt.
To end a fantastic tour of Cantonese Culture, we ended our meal with a blood orange meringue filled with blood orange sorbet accompanied by sugar dusted lotus. In Chinese Culture, the lotus symbolizes the ultimate purity of the heart and mind and perfection. I can honestly say that this was a meal that I won’t forget quickly. The staff were amazing, the concept is ingenious and the execution with perfect. I highly recommend you visit A Wong next time you are in London.
Furthermore, A Wong was recently award 3 AA Rosettes for culinary excellence.
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Did their 10 course tasting menu. And loved it. All of the food was fantastic and the service was great. The place was a bit noisy when the resturant is fully booked.

So I went to A-​wong again. Do not order the 8 spices Chicken. It is served at room temperature and the chicken tastes like boiled chicken that has gone cold. Disgusting. It was so bad that I didn’t touch it.
I ordered dumpling which were tasty but I find them overpriced.
I still think this place is worth visiting but not all dishes are as good.

It was total luck that we stopped in here for last meal in London this trip. And so I think it was a little bit of fate that let us partake of some very tasty and interesting things. The hints of modernist techniques with care in choosing items made this a lovely experience. I just wish I lived near by to go back and enjoy other things on the rest of the menu, but going for the biggest variety, we decided to do the 10 course dim sum tasting menu. It was an excellent choice.
I enjoyed everything, but there were some real stand outs. The 62 degree egg is of course cool and tasty, but I have a thing for eggs and I’ve been experimenting with these so it is great to see one in action. The the soup dumplings are among the best I’ve had, and I’ve had a lot. The tapioca pearls were a nice touch and something different than roe. One thing that was very simple and very good was the mixed greens with shrimp butter and fermented tofu. A really enjoyable dish with a depth of flavor. The lamb burger was very nicely done and super flavorful. Desserts were creative and tasty.
Probably the best thing was the Yunnan seared beef with mint. This was like a party in your mouth! Well balanced, full of flavor, the beef was great, the mint fried to add to a bit of fun and flavor. I could probably eat this everyday for a week.
totally enjoyed the hints of modernist techniques in this mean and the depth of flavors. This is a must go to place next time I’m in London and a place to tell your friends about. If you are looking for something refined and interesting this is the place. Service was excellent and the smells coming from the open air kitchen made me hungry for more and got me guessing about the next dish that was about to come out.

A friend and I went for a casual dinner, and everything was solid for a Chinese place in a residential neighbourhood.
We ordered the crispy duck with pancakes & plum sauce, chicken wings filled with prawns & black pepper sauce, dimsum basket, egg fried rice and wanton soup.
Most impressive were the dimsum and the chicken wings. Both had a touch of creativity on top of solid quality. The egg fried rice was good as well. However, I was disappointed with the duck and the wanton soup — in my view, both were a bit off from the traditional authenticity nor had proper modern creativity.
Ambience was good, but it can get quite noisy, so do not come if you’re looking for quiet and intimacy.
Service was also reasonable — prompt and patient as we took our time to decide what to order.
Would go back for the dimsum and the chicken wings — and maybe to try a few other dishes.