Wong Kei

I stayed in Yorkshire over Christmas with my daughter, wife and other extended family members. We spent xmas with a very wealthy family. later on well after xmas dinner London came up, discussing all the sights etc (we live in London) suddenly the matriach of the house said "whenever we go to London we ALWAYS go to the Wong Kei, Do you know it?" My wife and I collapsed with laughter. I have been going there since the very early 80's. we spent the next half hour relating hilarious stories of times spent dining there to the other Yorkshire folk who had never even heard of the place. Once put on a table with 7 others. There were 8 different nationalties on the table....8 nationalities from 8 diners. Fights about being told where to sit when I refused to listen to them. long convos with waiters about Arsenal (I ain't a gooner). Watching people attempting to pay with credit/debit cards( Me telling them "they won't accept that" them smugly telling me "oh of course they will" and then being made to leave some possession while they go in search of an atm)

My daughter loves this place ..she has been coming since she was 18 months. The first time she went a chinese dragon came in. She had never seen anything like it before in her short little life...She was terrified and was desperately trying to get away from it. I love telling her that story now.
Comment on this reader review

I love ribs
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Wong-Kei is an excellent introduction to the work-a-day Chinese food.

I note that one comment said that the food is quite bland. Some dishes may not have a pyrotechnic quality on your taste buds and nose, but there is a subtlety there. The WonTon soup is second to none, you will not get a bowl like it anywhere else in London. The dumplings are a divine mixture of minced shrimp and pork, the stock is very delicate and should not be spoilt with soy sauce or chili oil, a little white pepper white pepper will do.

The sweet and sour pork comes with large pineapple chunks and very crisp peppers. A hearty meal.

The barbecued meats come in very generous portions that it is hard to complete the meal.

The braised meats are highly aromatic - they must have been marinating for days. Check out the brisket of beef, either in soup or in rice.

The beef curry comes with thin strips of beef, with a rather low-powered curry sauce, but this is set alight by the raw hot chilis - the contrasts really complement in this dish.

My favourite is salt-chili-pork-chop with rice, the chops are marinated in rice wine and other spices and again are set on flame with raw chilis.

Good value and a good introduction into authentic chinese cooking.

The decor is Chinese oldy-worldy with fabulous chinese imagery abounding throughout the place, my favourite is the water feature that you will find in the basement. It is, however, the sort of place that has seen better days, but that adds to the character, that's the way I like it. I hate eating in those ponsified places which look like up-market home-making showrooms.
Comment on this reader review

Glen
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, March 08, 2008

I have been going to Wong Kei's for 13 years now as it was where my dad used to take me for dinner when he was working in london away from home. so i was there when the service was bad and have been there since it has become more commercialised one might say. its certainly not the place to take someone on your first date or even on any romantic evening as it is not that type of restaurant and i think that is why critics of the restaurant are mistaken, as one cannot judge Wong Kei's by generic restaurant values.

Wong Kei's is not simply a restaurant where one would go for a meal, it is a complete experience. the huge 8 person tables upstairs allow you to sit with and converse with people who you would not ordinarily meet, yet the common appriciation for the food allows you to make these new connections. one would also have to contest people's reviews which slate the food, of course people are allowed their own opinions, but personally i think it is a credit to the food the amount of native chinese people who eat there. clearly if you are going there and ordering sweet and sour chicken then it may not be brilliant but then that is not the chinese speciality and maybe if people opened up their tastebuds a little and tried new things then they would see how authentic the food really is. personally i think if you go to Wong Kei's and order chicken with Cashews then your food repertiore is probably not that extensive anyway. i do not think that people should judge a chinese restaurant on the english food which it provides for ignorant people, it should be judged on the food which is specialises in for those who are actually interested in a different cultures.

this is why Wong Kei's is so special because the true chinese food is authentic, the service is very fast, the food is fresh and although one tends not to spend the whole evening in there, during the time that you are there you have the oppertunity to meet new types of people who will almost certainly enrich your evening and you will leave with more than a full stomach.
Comment on this reader review

Rebecca Rawle
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, March 03, 2008

I love Wong Kei however have to admit the serice has improved somewhat recently. I visited as a student and have some fantastic times seeing the waiters "play up". Once there was an Evengenical Christain party on our table and asked if we minded saying grace and holding hands before the meal, we obliged and then a waiter shouted "Huh! God come to Wong Kei" ruined the moment and great fun. A second story is when a waiter knocked over a glass of wine on a table who were not moving out quickly enough, an angry complaint pursued to which the witer replied "Oh...Sorryy!!" No mention of refilling the glass! Great times and although the decor and food remain the same which is fantastic, I now am greeted as "sir" by the waiters, maybe it is because I have been a regular for years.....
Comment on this reader review

John Slanger
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, February 28, 2008

This place is an institution. I first discovered it in 1990 when I worked in Leicester Square. I have sinced moved to Brussels, but every time I come back to London, whether on business or for pleasure, I never miss out on going back. For me the best thing is the sweet & Sour pork Hong Kong style. If I am with friends I won't touch a menu that doesn't have this.

The chinese food in Brussels is Crap so I really miss this place.
Comment on this reader review

Haydn
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, February 27, 2008

We went there last night for dinner, and although not terribly expensive, not terribly inexpensive either! The Singapore noodles were fab, as was the Hot & Sour soup, however, both of the meet dishes were not so nice. The flavour of the chilli beef was great, but the meat itself was slimey. The Cashew Chicken had no taste whatsoever and was equally slimey. If I go back here, I'll stick to the soup and noodles.

Service was pretty quick, but it WAS a Monday night.
Comment on this reader review

ln1869
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 4
Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Wong Kei in the top 3 best Chinese restaurants in London?!!

Are you kidding me?!!!

Oh my goodness....one of the WORST restaurants in Chinatown!

Terrible food...filthy chopsticks....rude service...need I go on?

I know Wong Kei are famed for the rude service which can leave one quite bemused BUT I was told they did brilliant food at very reasonable prices so I decided to give this place a try because after spending a fortune on Valentine's night I wanted a thrifty meal.

Oh what a big mistake...sorry but this place certainly doesn't get my vote.
Comment on this reader review

George
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Thursday, February 21, 2008

I've been a student in London sometimes ago and Wong Kei is definitely one of the most favourite place for student, especially if you come from the far east and missing the food back home, and surely as the price is I think probably one of the cheapest place in London.

Of course, I've seen plenty of the arguments between waiters and customers, never seen they hit one another though. On the contrary, I often went on Sunday, which was my laundry day, and as a result wearing the poorest clothing I had. Once I was sitting there after spent hours in the library working on my dissertation, I went to Wong Kei. The waiter came to me. I ordered my food. I've got my order very quickly.

The same waiter came to me, looking at me in my pretty bad condition and said: "Life is bad, ha" then gave me another dish for free.

Other times I've been in there, I was seated with three different groups of people. There were three of us, but seated in a table of ten. One of the guys came with another group was a stock broker. He was an Irish guy. Thinking of me as a foreign student had to sit next to an Irish Stock Broker who was trying to explain the reason why there was a Black Monday and recommending me to buys stocks to make money: 'All in Irish English' while eating Chinese foods. That's really difficult even for Master Degree Economic student like me.
Comment on this reader review

Yotsiri Mitpaibul
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, February 11, 2008

After reading all that good comments, I wanted to make a try. I was not impressed at all. It is an average spot like one can find tens in Chinatown!
Comment on this reader review

Philloo
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 2
Thursday, January 03, 2008

I absolutely love this place. Have been going there for more than 15 years now.

This is not a place to go to if your girlfriend is indicisive and takes 30 minutes to choose what she wants... And I have to warn you that I saw a waiter hit a customer - twice (well, the customer was a bit of a prick, and he was rude but no need to be violent all the same)

Having said that this is a great place to go with your mates who are not fussy and starving and want a quick and good meal.

Next time, try "beef (or seafood) and green vegetable on rice" or "boiled Chinsese brocolli in oyster sauce" (as a side dish). They are not in the menu, but they will fix them for you if you order. Excellent.
Comment on this reader review

Hiro
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 10
Monday, December 24, 2007