It’s easy to take Chinese food for granted — a dynamic cuisine that, in the U.K., has always existed but has most often been understood through a Cantonese lens. It’s worth remembering that there are many regional differences to the country’s food culture, a nation loaded with comforting and delicious dishes from Hunan, Sichuan, Xi’an, and Xianjing. Chinese food in London has only gone from strength to strength over recent years, and this round up is a mixed selection of old favourites, new openings, and a couple of curveballs to sink those chopsticks into.
Before it (successfully) pivoted to become yet another hot pot joint, Joy Luck used to be the place to go in Chinatown for la mian (hand pulled noodles) and dao xiao mian (knife shaved noodles) in soup or fried. Only one dish has survived, but it’s the best one — the Wuhan dry noodles, that come topped with sesame sauce, chillis, pickles and two cloves of chopped garlic to be mixed table side. It’s what most London bowls of dan dan noodles want to be when they grow up.
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