Haozhan

This place has had glowing reviews from the professionals and, for the most part, they are justiified. After five dinners here I believe that what sets this place apart is the excellent and friendly service (not all the reviews below agree) together with the rather idiosyncratic food. The coffee-rib thingy is superb, the vegetables better and the soft-shell crab as good as anywhere. The usual Chinatown pitfalls - rude staff, unspeakable toilets, deafening noise - have been avoided. One Chinatown tradition - strangely decent wine at a reasonable price - is thankfully maintained. Thoroughly recommended.
Comment on this reader review

Mike
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, October 27, 2008

we visited here recently on a monday night and it was probably half full which didn't help the atmosphere. on the other hand the service was amazing although there were far too many waiters for the amount of people there with most waiters just hanging about doing nothing in the back.

food was delcious we had some spicy malaysian noodles which were sublime, will definitely be ordering them again! the other dish we had was singapore noodles which i didn't think to be very tasty and were served quite cold.

the decor is very modern and swish as expected since it has only recently open. worth a look if you are looking for somewhere to eat in china town
Comment on this reader review

Annie - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, August 13, 2008

I'll begin with the good points. 1 - the food looks nice, 2 - the food tastes good

Now the rest of the review. If you were considering going out for dinner here then I would suggest you have a hearty lunch earlier in the day or order many, many dishes. I ate at this establishment last night and could not believe how small the portions were. The Haozhan Tofu was merely 4 pieces of tofu with a scallop on each. And no, it was not a starter. The rib eye beef was nice but again hardly any of it. It was a real shame. This place likes to make the food look like it comes out of some swanky chic restaurant but it doesn't cut the mustard.

For the price you would expect to be able to have a decent sized meal. Unfortunately I will not be returning.
Comment on this reader review

Denno
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Thursday, July 10, 2008

I dropped in to Haozhan yesterday as I knew the name and happened to be in Chinatown. After my arrival, a large party of visiting highschoolers from another country entered. Happily, for everyone (the restaurant was fairly full), the service was pleasant, speedy and no one had to wait an interminable time for their food. Luckily, I made sure to order before the waiters got started with the kids.

The two course £8 lunch special is good value for money. I was a bit disappointed with the food. My dumplings were soggy, not crisp and my Maylaysian beef and noodles was far below what I had eaten many times in my former life back in NY. The beef was chewy, overcooked and the noodles were quite narrow instead of wide. The oyster sauce had little taste.

I'd return because it's a pleasant restaurant and there are many dishes to choose from. One should never judge a restaurant on just one meal!
Comment on this reader review

Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, March 28, 2008

I visited this restaurant last Sunday for 5 a meal with my parents and I must say I was disappointed.

Arriving about 1.45, we were very late for our booking due to the road closures in central London for the St Patrickls Day parade. Once we finally got there, we were cheerily greeted but thats where things started to go downhill. On the whole, the food was excellent. The soft shell crab, deep fried squid and rib eye were very well received. However, the service was shocking. There were long waits in between dishes, wrong dishes brought and for some reason, the staff refused to clear our dirty plates. This was such a shame as the food was excellent. A real let down to an otherwise tasty meal.
Comment on this reader review

EuWen Teh
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 6
Monday, March 17, 2008

My husband and I went on Sunday at around 4pm and it was pretty empty as I think we fell between the lunch and dinner crowd. We had an excellent meal, the service was great, our wine could have done with being a little more chilled but by the time we got to the second glass the ice bucket had done its job. We had amazing starters, the house speciality ribs were sticky, flavoursome and the meat just fell off the bone; we also had the chilli soft shell crab the like of which I have never had before and would definitely go back for. For the main courses we had the Cod in Champagne and Sorrel, the Cod was perfectly cooked and the sauce was well balanced. It was a little buttery for me but that is purely personal taste, my husband loved it. We also had Special Fried Rice which was full of prawns and the chilli steak which was a very light and tasty deep fried shredded chilli beef by a slightly fancier name. I would definitely go back, the food was fresh and well prepared and presented and I didn’t feel like I had eaten a bucket of MSG at the end of the meal. We are regulars in Chinatown and this is something a little different.
Comment on this reader review

LBKD
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Thursday, January 24, 2008

A quick search on the internet will reveal a plethora of critic reviews on this one – mostly to great applause.

In summary, its good but not that good. if you’re in Chinatown and want something slightly different, definitely pay a visit. Reviews cite the fact that the chef is ex hakkasan. Don’t be under the impression that you’ll get a hakkasan meal for half the price – the food is not up to that standard, but some dishes do stand out.

Fried crispy quail with Chilli, Haozhan bean curd topped with scallop – both were outstanding. Other dishes were good, but not wow.

Service is very nice compared to other china town restaurants. Décor is new school of modern trendy chinese.

Give it a go.
Comment on this reader review

tom
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Monday, January 07, 2008