Loon Tao had the shortest queue among most restaurants on a Saturday evening, when my company and I were wandering around Chinatown hoping to get some decent Chinese food for dinner. The interiors were nothing much — hanging red lanterns and random oriental posters up on the wall — it was a very simple place. I seemed to be the food consultant of the evening, explaining that, yes, porridge was indeed savoury, er yes I guess it’s sort of like rice pudding, and that Singapore noodles is a phony dish. The latter is fried vermicelli noodles with curry powder, which is virtually served no where in Singapore. This dish is like improvised mi-fen with the wrong ingredients within reach of the chef. It is a legit, edible and tasty dish, though. I got a simple beef porridge(a.k.a ‘congee’) with peanuts which tasted good and authentic, although no porridge can ever surpass my mum’s home-made beef porridge. The restaurant served the staple deep-fried appetizers such as spring rolls and prawn toast, which were not too popular in Southeast-Asian menus. Overall, the food was tasty and not a bad quality, with reasonable prices and lots of helpful staff walking around. We were served free slices of really good, juicy orange after the meal. Loon Tao is definitely a reliable place to go in Chinatown.
Si O.
Rating des Ortes: 5 London, United Kingdom
Delish chinese food with friendly staff and at a good price. This is always a winner. The crispy noodles with crispy pork is a must ;o)
Duncan M.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom
Second visit to this place in China town. It is good food for the money. Not that luxurious and guite simple in presentation, but you get good food here and good service. Worth trying.
Chris C.
Rating des Ortes: 1 London, United Kingdom
One of the worst places I had for chinese food. My noodle was soggy, my salt baked squid was mushy, my satay beef casserole was not satay-ie at all. To be fair, their stir fried vege was good. The dishes were small, and I really wanted to ask for a refund. Highly not recommend it, and if you go there, might as well eat out of a toilet bowl. The End.
Gary H.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Annapolis, MD
I have gone to London’s Chinatown almost 3 times a week over the past month. I have found that I prefer Loon Tao as one of the better places to eat compared to all of the other restaurants. The duck was delicious, quiet atmosphere, friendly service and reasonable prices. Plus they accept American Express(which is important for an American business traveler). I also found free WIFI on site. I find this place is much better than waiting in line at Four Seasons!
Qkchri
Rating des Ortes: 3 London, United Kingdom
Used to be a place I visited alot and it’s nice that one of the waitresses still remembers me whenever I go. The seatings are spacious and they cater for groups too and you can reserve in advance too. Food wise, its about average. Depends when you go I think as I’ve had some days when the food taste great and others when its slightly more salty. It’s a great place if you want to grab a quick bite as they let you get individual dishes like duck with rice, soya chicken with rice etc… They always seem to be nice and quick. My friends and I still come here from time to time as it’s like a old local place to visit.
Dominique L.
Rating des Ortes: 3 London, United Kingdom
As far as Chinatown restaurants go, Loon Tao isn’t spectacular. However, the beef brisket noodle soup and the baked pork chop with chiili and salt rice are fantastic. Service is above average relative to most of the neighbouring restaurants. And the seating is more spacious as well.
Yee Gan O.
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
It was great to wander round Chinatown today — the place was looking very festive with all the red lanterns up for the mid-autumn festival and there was free concert going on. As I was feeling a little full up from my visit to Yog, I was after a smallish and cheap dinner Loon Tao is one of the less flashy establishments on Gerrard St. After peering over the shoulder of some tourists getting the obligatory ‘oh look, I’m standing in front of some roast ducks and slabs of belly pork’ shots, I noted that the prices here were low, with wonton soup costing half of some of the surrounding restaurants at £2.60 Popping in, it was interesting to see that the restaurant is a lot bigger than it appears from the outside, extending a long way in. It was also a pleasant surprise to find that the staff hadn’t been to the Basil Fawlty school of charm and customer service. They all spoke good English and were positively friendly My wonton soup and fried noodles with beef brisket were very tasty and nicely presented despite the cheap price. A plate of complementary fresh orange segments also arrived with the bill Punches above its initial impression from outside
Amlan S.
Rating des Ortes: 2 London, United Kingdom
Hmmm. well they have cantonese style chinese food. It was not anything to write home to mom about, but it was reasonable and fills you up.