Wan Chai Corner

Roast duck crispy good, not as herby marinated as 4S, plum sauce not too sweet just right. Chilli fried beef is crusty flour can’t taste any meat– avoid! Reasonable prices, gratuity not included, service above average in this area. Tip: cash payment gets 10% off!

A good option in Chinatown if you’re looking to enjoy a variety of tasty dim sum treats!
I came here last Sunday and arrived around 4:40. We were told to order quickly, since the kitchen stops cooking the dim sum menu at 5pm. We quickly ordered a variety of food items, including BBQ steamed pork buns, shrimp and chive dumplings, half a crispy duck, spicy pork dumplings in chilli oil, glutenous rice wrapped in a lotus leaf and beef meatballs.
My favourite dish was the spicy pork dumplings-​they were a nice firm texture with lots of flavour. The duck looked good and wasn’t too dry, but for some reason only half of it was warm. Perhaps where it had been hanging in the window? The sticky rice inside the lotus leaf was also good, with a substantial meaty filling. I would say that none of the dishes really stood out though and we’re all quite average.
I enjoyed my meal but next time I think I’d rather check out one of the other options in Chinatown, instead of coming back. As I am a dumpling lover (!) I prefer other specialist dumpling restaurants in the area!

With a hankering for Chinese food, we checked out reviews on Unilocal and decided to give Wan Chai Corner a try.
The restaurant has a second story with more dining space; and we were seated on the upper level.
We ordered a few dim sum platters, prawn & chive dumplings, Chinese meatballs, glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaves and the crispy duck.
The duck by far was the stand out, it was savoury and flavourful with a crispy skin with tender and juicy cuts of meat. The only odd thing was that one side of the duck was warm and the other side a bit cold; my only guess is that this is one of the ducks hanging by the heat lamps on the ground floor and the lamp is mainly focuses on one side.
The glutinous rice dish was one of the better ones I’ve tried; filled with chicken, mushrooms and a prawn. I feel half the time at other restaurants I can’t quite figure out what they’ve been filled the lotus leaves with; but at Wan Chai it was obvious. The prawn and chive dumplings were solid, but the rice dumpling skins were quite fragile and easy to tear when picking them up.
If I’m having a craving for crispy duck, Wan Chai is my new go to place.

As the name suggests, its on the corner of Gerrard Street and easy to locate.
We booked 2 large tables for 18 people on the second floor to have lunch on Sun 7^th to celebrate the Chinese New Year away from the people coming /​going on the ground floor.
We ordered the platters and multiple dim sum plates for sharing rather than people’s individual choices giving everyone an opportunity to try and sample the various dishes which worked out really well. Particularly enjoyed the prawn and seafood platters which is probably their strongest dishes :-)
Overall it was a decent choice regarding price, quality of the food and service.
Total bill came to approx 300 pounds of which 85 pounds was alcohol, therefore came to around 17 pounds a head which was quite reasonable :-)

Wan Chai Corner, a traditional Chinese restaurant in the heart of China Town, like most of the other Chinese restaurants nearby, the menu is massive and mostly build around Cantonese cuisine with dishes such as Roast duck and sweet & sour pork. Not the best Chinese restaurant, but definitely one of the best in value and very convenient for large groups, with the top floors reserved for big parties. Dishes cost between £6 — 8 so it is very possible to spend less than £10 per person. The stir fried rice dishes are generally very solid, but try to stay away from the wok noodle dishes as they can be extremely oily.

We deviated from our regular routine of eating dimsum in the east end to have dimsum downtown, a mistake not attributed to the restaurant but the crowds in central london in August. Thankfully, the dimsum at Wan Chai Corner didn’t add oil to the raging fire aimed at groups of tourists blocking the entire walk ways while walking in snail’s pace in the underground tunnels. Alas, I digress.
The dimsum in Wan Chai Corner was good. They serve from dimsum only from Noon to 5pm (which is really different from regular dimsum generally served from early morning to early afternoon), which was perfect for late risers like us.
We had:
— bbq pork bun (didn’t try)
— lotus wrapped sticky rice and chicken (meh)
— shrimp crispy noodle roll cheungfun (good but came with peanut sauce)
— asparagus and crab dumpling (okay)
— chicken feet (okay)
— leek and shrimp dumpling (great)
— pumpkin and shrimp dumpling (amazing)
— pork spare ribs (amazing)
— pork spare ribs rice casserole (amazing)
— custard bun (AMAZING)
The bill came out to be about 38 GBP, including tea for two. The tea was terrible in quality and the ambiance was really loud and crowded (we were on the first floor), but the food was good.
I would come back again!

We came here for some spontaneous dim sum. They had all of our favorite dishes, and the flavors and textures were pretty similar to what we had when we lived in Beijing. It definitely wasn’t expensive for being dim sum, although they do ask you to order for £10/​person. The staff was really sweet and friendly, especially when I started speaking Chinese. The atmosphere was a little bare and noisy, just like a neighborhood restaurant in China. Even though that’s not necessarily my favorite type of restaurant, it definitely felt just like being back in Beijing.
Crispy roast pork belly seemed expensive at first (just over £8 for one plate) but it turned out to be a giant serving. It wasn’t as refined as it usually is at dim sum restaurants, but it was still delicious.
The xiao long bao were really juicy with good flavor and plenty of soup, but the dough was a bit thick.
The bbq pork buns were a bit sweet but still tasty.
Har gau were really good and big too!
The mango pudding was probably the best I have tried!

Dim sum menu was certainly one of the best in town. We ordered 8 dishes between two of us and that was perfect. Environment was not lux but rather comfy and homie. When you see the long queue and you should already know this place has something to offer! Service was fast. Only downside was that the waiter decided to keep our change with a cheeky smile on his face, but no big deal since the meal was good.

One of my favorite Soho Chinese restaurants: Quick, attentive service, very good dim sum, excellent overall food.
I’ve been to this place upon visits to London more than a dozen times and was never disappointed by the food OR the quality and speed of service. Though I have to give the nod on fresh dumplings to the nearby Beijing Dumpling (on Lisle Street, which runs parallel to Gerrard Street), Wanchai Corner is an excellent overall restaurant that offers plenty of space even for larger groups. Even during the busiest of times, I never had to wait for a table for more than three minutes (traveling alone, i.e.).
Last time I visited was just last week (end of April 2015), and there were some *new* dim sum on the menu, finally, some of which I tried. All of them were good, and relatively speedily delivered. Service is a bit more courteous than at many other Soho joints, relatively speaking — of course. Also, they don’t try to force any of their stuff on you. You’re free to choose.
Beer (Tsingtao, who would have guessed) is too expensive, and probably from the can anyway. But then, it always is. That’s why I invariably order «Chinese tea» only. There are so many nice pubs with better beer in that area, you can go there for «desserts» afterwards.
See my photos for reference on the dim sum and the place itself. Décor is ok, if certainly not fancy. But you don’t go to a Soho joint to linger.
Definitely recommended central London Chinese!

Having stumbled upon this place a few weeks ago, this place is now my favourite Dim Sum restaurant in Chinatown. Why? The simple reason being that they serve decent «Chinese custard leaky buns!» That’s not what it’s actually called, but that’s what I call them. They’re slightly better than your standard custard bun, and probably more unhealthy too.
They have an amazing selection of dim sum to choose from and pictures for customers who can’t read the Chinese wording. From the basic Har Gow and Siu Mai to something more complex like deep-​friend shrimp and pumpkin dumplings. They have a very good variety to choose from. Did I mention it’s all yummy?
The atmosphere could go for a revamp in the near future. Tile floors don’t add much to a nice dinning experience. Just feels like you’re eating in a kitchen. Furthermore, the service can be improved as well. Once you finish your food, they’re dying to kick you out. Even worst is when a server hovers over your table, tapping on you table and touching your tea pot every few minutes to see if she should give you more tea.

I would recommend this place for reasonably priced Dim Sums. They are not expensive (less costly than a number of restaurants in Chinatown), were tasty and satisfying. We also ordered some rice with 3 kinds of roasted meat (it’s basically one dish, with rice and roasted duck and pork) and I dont suggest trying it here — a bit too little for the price.

Reasonable ambiance, good service but sup-​par food.
The Chicken and Sweetcorn, and Hot and Sour Soups we had to start were ‘ok’, although the Hot and Sour Soup had a strange taste. The house white wine was not bad.
My ‘Sichuan Beef’ didn’t really taste like any I’d had before, and I didn’t want to finish it. My partner’s ‘Spare Rib’ was ok, but nothing special. Both dishes had way too much onion.
Overall, I’d say we can’t judge this place by one meal, but the one we had didn’t inspire us to return. There are just too many other options in Chinatown to settle for mediocre food.

Dim sum is authentic, the deco is very old style but food isn’t bad, we regularly go there as weekend dim sum/​飲茶 like when we were living in Taipei. You can see many retired HK people as regular guests as well instead of all tourists, which means its a trustful restaurant.

So had a business dinner here yesterday, my companion seems to be pretty famous in here, so this might have skewed service slightly.
I seem to get the impression that if they like you, then you get seated upstairs. Just a feeling, no hard proof. The staircase going up is very treacherous though, as usual very little room and quite steep.
Foodwise, quite liked their wonton soup, a lot of meat inside the wonton. Duck is also quite tasty, albeit the portions were not very large. Mixed feelings about the yingyang chicken rice dish, seems to be over-​slathered in sauce. Bad order choice.
Nothing really shouts out at me as special though, typical food joint. It used to have the cheapest lunch deal in China Town but their prices went up, so my colleagues all go to Old Town 1997 (when they have the lunch deal of £3.80 on) or Black Bean nowadays.

They let us in; a table for two is never an issue, so we were ushered up the cold stairway to the upper level, another upper level, and another, yet another — and we were finally there (and I don’t think I am mistaken in saying they also have a lower level). Ok, Wan Chai Corner has plenty of room for all you out there who don’t believe in reservations.
We were hungry. So in addition to a £15 (per head) set menu with soup, crispy duck pancakes, chicken, prawn and vegetable with egg fried rice, I also ordered a plate of four pork dumplings. As I got greedy for some more, the waiter stopped me right there and said «Plenty of food for you Sir! How much do you want to order?!» I’m always conflicted as to whether to feel mildly humiliated, or touched by the honesty of the server, when I get one of these über honest advices on portion control.
The soup came swiftly, followed by the crispy duck pancakes and the pork dumplings. All very standard fare, between average and good. The chicken in black bean sauce was not bad either. The average, almost insipid prawns cooked with onions and bell peppers were soft, succulent and gigantic — loved them! Chinatown always has the best prawns, and I love the Chinese for never compromising on the quality of prawns.
Everyone was nice, pleasant and welcoming, efficient, quick and receptive, so I wouldn’t complain about the quality of service.
My three star rating reflects the lack of anything extraordinary, absence of creativity and a mild price premium for culinary mediocrity. However, if I were in Gerrard Place again, I would probably go for this place again, knowing what I am getting.

On one of our many, «What should we do for dinner?» discussions, we decided on Chinese and Mr. Snarky was happy to let me take the lead on this one. Of course I brought us to Chinatown and wanted to eat at my favourite place Jen Café (I love watching the lady making dumplings), but the tables were packed, so we kept looking. Saw the ducks in the window at this place, looked at the menu, and went in.
We were greeted at the door and they pointed to the stairs. I assumed this meant to go upstairs to additional seating, so we did. When we reached the next floor a group of bored waiters greeted us and led us to a table. It just seemed like an awful lot of waiters for the amount of tables that were actually in the room and as a result, it looked like they were just standing there chatting.
We decided to start with half of a Crispy Aromatic Duck and dumplings. The dumplings were good (not as good as Jen Café). The duck is brought to the table and the waiter takes two forks and shreds the meat. They bring pancakes (which were quite difficult to remove from the container as they all stuck together), hoisin sauce, cucumbers, and spring onion. I showed Mr. Snarky how to assemble the duck taquito (yeah, that’s what I call them…). The duck was wonderful! Lots of crispy pieces and lots of dark juicy bits!
We ordered the beef with vegetables, Chicken Lo Mein, and Egg Fried Rice. While I was worried that we had ordered too much (considering we just ate half a duck), it turns out it was just right. There was a bit left over and we were a tad stuffed, but we still had quite a bit of walking to do that would help relieve that. They bring you a bowl and serve some of the rice to you. I explained to Mr. Snarky that in China, it is common to eat out of a small bowl that you hold. You put your food into the bowl and then you bring it close to your mouth and begin use of the chopsticks. I think he did quite well! Of course, noodles are probably the easiest to master with chopsticks. The Bok Choy (or Pak Choy) in the beef dish was probably the most difficult to master with the chopsticks, but I certainly wish there had been more of it on the plate. The Egg Fried Rice was lovely… not the super salty, over soy-​sauced rice you get at lots of American Chinese places, this was a moist white rice with egg and spring onion.
Overall we enjoyed our dinner and I thought it was great value for the amount of quality food we had. Service wasn’t bad, but it might be a cultural experience for some. I did notice they put a service charge on the bill, something I am not really a fan of, but since our service was decent, I didn’t dispute it. Just something to keep in mind.

This is one of my favorite restaurants in London Chinatown. Their dim sum is very good and reliable, although I have never been particularly impressed with the dim sum in London. Prices can range here from a bargain to expensive. My cousin loves the baos and har gows here. I also enjoyed them. We had a bean curd szechuan also that was good but not outstanding. I do have to give this place high marks for the quality of their steamed rice. However, I really enjoyed their beef with bitter melon and black bean. It was a truly outstanding dish! Bitter melon or has been the way to my culinary heart for quite some time! If you come here it is very helpful to speak Cantonese and to go with some locals!

Delicious food and
pretty decent prices here.
Worth going back to.

I liked it. Nothing to complain about — Lots of choice. Menus with pictures (yay!). Dim sum was good. Prices seemed fine. Service was prompt.
Yeah, the toilets were gross/​unusable.

I went here for lunch with one my good friend who happens to be Chinese. Per her recommendation I ordered the Soya Chicken. When it came I was very disappointed. The chicken was not cooked through and was still bloody in some areas. Needless to say I did not eat any of it, but just a few bites of rice around it. I did order dim sum though and was not disappointed. I love dim sum and Wan Chai Corner served up delicious bundles of yumminess. I got the BBQ Pork rolls, garlic prawn spring rolls, and prawn dumplings. I would suggest this restaurant for their dim sum but for nothing else. I have trouble trusting the kitchen and hygiene now so I probably won’t be back. I would give them more than 2 stars for their dim sum but I can’t ignore the fact that I was served raw meat. There are too many other dim sum places in Chinatown that won’t serve me raw poultry.