Chinatown

Ich war von unserem Besuch in Chinatown wirklich angetan, gerade abends, wenn’s dunkel wird, ist die ganze bunte Beleuchtung von chinesischen Läden und Restaurants wirklich schön anzuschauen.
Wir hatten den Luxus eines «Reiseführers», mein chinesischer Kollege war mit an Bord und konnte uns noch Vieles erklären, was man sonst als ‘Touri’ überhaupt nicht wahrnimmt…
Gegen den Hunger haben wir ein tolles Restaurant entdeckt, mittlerweile aber leider geschlossen. Ich schwöre, wir haben nichts damit zu tun, (Mr. Kong,
).
Beim nächsten Mal komme ich wieder zum Stöbern her, entweder wieder mit Reiseführer oder einfach mal auf gut Glück und der Hilfe der Unilocal-​App, um ein neues Restaurant zu suchen.

It’s a small Chinatown compared with other Chinatown in big metropolitan cities that I’ve been to.
We strolled through here, got cheap dinner and snacks. And walked to picadilly circus and m &m store.
Its Worth a visit

Vibrant with activity and local festivities! There were a lot of options for food, ranging from small bites, dine-​in, and take-​outs. There were a number of restaurants that seemed to sell similar type of food so I would advise researching some restaurants beforehand if you want to get the best out of your money.

I love me some Chinatown. Let me count the reasons.
1) Killer food (duh). Getting the obvious one out of the way, I’m a total noodle-​holic and Chinatown has plenty of places to satisfy that craving.
2) Grocery shopping. There is no place in London more convenient or affordable to get a ton of specialty ingredients for pan-​asian cooking and also random delicious snacks and sweets. Also fruit and veg here can be very cheap.
3) Lovely stroll. Though it can be crowded in the evening, Chinatown is a great place to walk around and take in the sights and smells of a unique pocket of central London.
4) Open crazy late. Like insanely late. My favorite spot is open until 5am!
On my first visit to London, I remember being surprised when a walk from Westminster to the National Gallery led me to bump right into London’s Chinatown. Fast forward many years and I have come to greatly appreciate Chinatown’s centrality as it has become my go-​to dining district for any time of day or night.

London Chinatown for all things Chinese! Great for Chinese New Year Celebrations or other Chinese festivals too.

Wherever I vacation, I always find the Chinatown. We arrived here and strolled up and down the streets scoping out a place to eat. I was surprised with the size of this Chinatown — many restaurants, bakeries & gift shops.
This Chinatown had many options to dine — Dim Sum to all you can eat buffets which I usually don’t see at Chinatowns. We did find a small, decent and reasonable restaurant called Canton which displayed Peking Duck, Bbq pork and roast pork which were hanging in the storefront window.
We didn’t try dim sum due to timing but be aware — all the restaurants all add a tax or service charge to the prices. Another pro here was this was cleaner than most other Chinatowns I’ve visited.

What a pleasant stroll through Chinatown of London, UK!
They have the main Hong Kong style food, noodles and boba drinks served up here. Sichuan cuisine, if you like that type of Chinese food, is a wee bit hard to find, but still can be found!
Good area to stop by if you are looking for a temporary change in scenery in London!

I used to eat there a lot and even took workmates there until 2 years ago. I think the management or staff aren’ the as good now. I once ordered a roast duck which was fatty and oily and when complained the silly male waiter told me if I don’t like it — don’t order it then. I was amused and slightly disgusted by this poor service I refuse to pay for the dish and NEVER been back. management vet you staff and make sure they know how to handle complaint or don’t employ them to upset your customers.

I make it a point to visit the Chinatowns whenever I am traveling because I like learning about the history of my people in the community & enjoying good food.
I understand that the London Chinatown is comparably smaller than the ones in NY and San Francisco, which are the largest in the U.S. and also my personal favs. The London Chinatown is indeed smaller but much cleaner. Food wise, the selections are similar to what I’ve had in the U.S. and back home in HK, but the flavors are noticeably different. I suppose the restaurants have to tweak it a bit to suit the English’s taste. I walked into a few grocery markets here & noted the selection of seafood, fruits & vegetables are limited. No fresh seafood to be had. No live carp, crabs, catfish, soft shell turtles, shrimp, prawns, sole fish. Only the frozen dead ones. Sigh…
The folks here are friendlier & more reserved than their counterparts in the states, I suppose this is a reflection of the British culture as a whole, isn’t it?1

Dim Sum on Sunday? Yes please. Some of the other restaurants in china town had a massive queue and at 1pm, we were getting impatient for a seat. Luckily, London Chinatown, had no queue and were seated promptly.
Menu: The Dim Sum menu was very generic. In other words, nothing stood out as overly amazing. They have the typical dishes of shrimp dumplings, pork dumplings, turnip cake, rice rolls, BBQ pork buns, etc. There were a a lot of Chinese people there, so I will argue it was authentic Chinese cuisine.
Service: The people were nice and happy to serve us. Yes, we may have to wave them down from time to time, but I always felt that was part of the Chinese restaurant experience. More importantly, we never felt rushed to order, eat and leave. They let us sit there for a few hours. The only slight annoyance is that the kitchen seems to be forgetful. In one instance, a waitress approached us and asked if we had our shanghai dumplings. When we did our final food order (we ordered multiple times because we were hungry) the kitchen forgot one of our dishes. But when it came time to settle the bill, they happily took it off the final total without a fuss.
All in all, we had a wonderful Sunday there and expect to come back in the near future.

The full name of this place is London Chinatown.
Fellow Unilocaler Hazel N. and I decided to grace this restaurant for some post-​Curzon film food. After a short walk up and down Gerrard Street to decide, this one appeared to fit the bill… but in the end it fell somewhat short.
In sum:
Service: Only slightly above the angry service famously found at Wong Kei’s. We tried to order drinks and couldn’t get the attention of literally *5* staff standing within 4 meters of us. They were then alternately impatient or not available.
Food: The squid dish left the remnants of ‘defrosted from frozen’ on my palate. The accompanying black bean sauce was good but couldn’t cover up the rubbery, chewy bits. I must admit the bean curd with crab meat was quite tasty… but was that just the MSG fooling me?
Atmosphere: It’s ok, typical of many restaurants in the area– a bit overlit, with lots of tables covered in clean white tablecloths.
It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t memorable either. Would not bother to return.

The reviews for this location are mostly for the dim sum and that appears to be great.
We came in and tried one of the pre-​set menus. It was only ok.
The service was quick — and a man at the table next to me mentioned that his beer was a little flat and the replaced it quickly.

I was out in Chinatown this weekend and by chance chose this place… how lucky were we! The Dim Sum was so good!
I have to say that we didn’t stay long but it was great. If you’re looking for a great meal, I would recommend this place.
We had a few different dumplings including Pork and Crab dumplings and some grilled dumplings. We also had some spring rolls and a nice pot of Jasmine tea.
It was quite busy but the staff were attentive and helpful.
Check it out! I will definitely come back for some more!

Located right next to, or more likely behind Piccadilly circus, this Chinatown felt like a a hidden gem when I came upon it.
Compared to a lot of other Chinatowns I’ve been to, I’ve got to say that this one is probably one of the most pedestrian/​tourist friendly. Definitely well lit. Lots of big clean pathways for people to walk through, and coming from the Chinatowns of California and New York, that’s saying something.
Not the largest Chinatown I’ve visited, but there’s lots to see, a lot of restaurants, a few bakeries to try out here and a good number of supermarkets to explore.

Die Gerrard Street bietet die zentrale Heimat und damit Knotenpunkt von China Town. Die Fußgängerstrasse wimmelt nur so von chinesischen Läden, Restaurants und Imbissen.
Ich fand es tagsüber im Vergleich zu abends nicht ganz so reizvoll, aber am Abend, wenn die Dunkelheit einbricht, ist’s hier schon recht interessant, wenn alles beleuchtet ist…
Und: Hier gibt es wirklich Chinesen, die kein Englisch verstehen — und das mitten in London! ;-)

So I have been abroad for 2.5 months now and this was HEAVEN when I found it! I have had pretty mediocre Chinese food throughout Europe and this was true Chinese food. OMG PORK BUN! I’ve bought 4 (all at different times) in one day and I’ve been here in London for only 24 hours. Check it out, you can get Pork bun for 1.20 euro, coconut bun (.90) and tons of other Chinese snacks/​food! I would watch out for pick pocketers here, as it gets pretty crowded especially inside the shops.

When I stand in the middle of Gerrard street and look up at the red lanterns swaying, deciding what dim-​sum-​on-​the-​run snack I’ll get after I finish shopping for Thai basil, choy sum, and fried tofu, I feel super! If I lived closer, I’d be here all the time. Bargains on groceries, yummy rice-​based snacks, packaging I can’t read, the hustle and bustle of a different culture, and delicious food? What more could I want?

Going to a new place and a different country is always fun. I enjoyed my time during China Town in London. Got to see lots of busy restaurants and cafes. People walking around and jut looking at the old school buildings all around.
Even though it was a rainy day I would say this place is nice if you want to go eat some Chinese food. If you wanted to buy some things and go shopping, there really isn’t much to buy unless you want local foods and grocery items.
A nice place to get lost and just take it all in.

Trop petit …
Pour se dire qu’on va y faire une visite. Ce quartier est cerclé de trois belles portes asiatiques mais à part çà y’a plein de restos chinois !

This place is really cool! I love walking down the streets and staring at all the hanging ducks in the windows as well as all of the beautiful pastries. Theres some fun shops, as well as so many restaurants– you can find nearly anything your heart desires in the realm of Chinese food. Definitely a must visit!

I don’t know if it’s the best Dim Sum in London because it’s the only Dim Sum I’ve ever had in London. That said, it’s excellent. Large variety of items available with a helpful picture menu. The food did take a bit to arrive, but quality takes time.
We ordered a massive quantity of food, sticking to a lot of the classics and avoiding the true «ethnic» items. Chicken feet? Pass. Pork buns? Please! Meat dumplings? Yes! Egg custard tarts? Very! Squid paste? Okay, I’ll try it.
When the damage was done, we had a pile of empty plates and steaming bowls and full tummies. For six of us, it wasn’t even £50. How can that be?
I know I’ll regret it, but I do need to try some of the other Dim Sum places in the area. I’m sure I’ll be back to this one though!

Woah, has this last reviewer got it wrong! If you want dim sum in Chinatown, this is THE place to go. Egg tarts, BBQ pork buns, rice wrapped in leaves, all fresh, cheap and served up quick. Three of us ate here for just under a tenner each so it’s pretty great value for money if you ask me. I don’t think you can eat for that cheap anywhere in Soho without possibly eating deep fried pigeon. (Mr. Wu, I’m looking at you mate!)
Apparently they do a dim sun happy hour between 1 — 4pm but you’ll have to phone and check. The place itself is nothing to write home about and the service is a little sketchy to say the least…
«We ordered spring rolls, could we please have them?»
«You sure, they will be on your bill?»
«Yes, we know, that is why we have ordered them. So that we can eat and then pay you for them»
«Erm, if you are sure.»
«Yes, I believe we are most certainly sure.»
Still it has it’s charm and as far as I’m concerned it’s a pretty authentic joint.

Visited London’s Chinatown during Chinese New Year this past year and one word can describe it: INSANITY. When we first arrived in the main plaza, we noticed lots of typical retailers selling art, Chinese figurines, rabbits toys, balloons shaped as bugs bunny (year of the Rabbit), Ninja and Karate apparrel, silk dresses and more. They were also selling many types of Chinese food along the streets such as pork, chicken, beef buns, sweet buns, fish balls, noodles, eggrolls, you name it, they sold it. At a euro a bun, they were delicious, fresh and warm!
The stores in Chinatown resemble many other stores you’ll find at Chinatowns around the world: dim sum, seafood restaurants, pastry shops, roasted ducks hanging from store windows, medicinal and herbal stores, and yes BOBA! We found a boba and juice bar in Chinatown (on the second floor of a building) making great drinks at reasonable or higher prices (3 – 4 euros per drink) compared to the US Dollar. The person taking our order was VERY chinese but talked with a thick Brittish accent. Very strange but interesting! I like that some stores hung, «No MSG» outside their windows displaying the fact that they did not cook their food with Monosodium glutamate, a common food additive which my boyfriend hates!
There was a Chinese New Year parade happening when we visited which made the walk around the Chinatown very SLOW and cramped. Strollers, people and performers everywhere. Absolutely chaos. I’d love to go here when there are not so many people, I’m sure I’d like my visit a lot more.

Que des restos
Que des restos, à voir si on est à coté mais pour moi cela né vaut pas le détour, en plus tout tient dans une rue, rien à voir avec un vrai quartier chinois et son ambiance avec les magazins etc…

Pas si grand que ça !
Délimité par des portails chinois, Chinatown est vraiment un quartier à part ! Même les inscriptions et les noms de rue sont écrit en chinois ! On y trouve énormément de boutiques et restaurants asiatiques (avec leurs grandes vitrines exposants canards laqués et porcs au caramel pendus!) mais également des primeurs vendant des fruits et légumes étranges… C’est vraiment étonnant! Petite déception toutefois, car on a vite fait le tour du quartier.

Un peu de Chine en plein occident !
C’est impressionnant comme le dépaysement est garanti à Chinatown ! Pour les non anglicistes, c’est déjà l’aventure d’aller à Londres, mais quand en plus on se perd dans les ruelles de China Town, c’est carrément le choc des cultures dans toute sa splendeur ! Extraordinaire !

Chinatown
C’est un quartier assez petit (2 rues tout au plus) qui vaut le coup d’oeil surtout le soir, quand toutes les lumières sont allumées. Vous en profiterez pour manger pas trop cher.

Mini mini
Ça se résume surtout à une rue principale mais il n’y a rien d’extraordinaire à voir. Intéressant pour les restos.

Made in China
Le quartier chinois de Londres est en fait assez petit (comparé par ex. au quartier indien de Paris) mais on y trouve plein de restaurants pas chers, de boutiques authentiques et autres chinoiseries ! Assez dépaysant ceci dit. Allez y faire un tour, c’est au coeur de Londres et assez peu fréquenté.