A. Wong

I often come to A. Wong at lunch for the terrific dim sum, and you can still get a selection of these at dinner. A trio of shrimp dumpling, prawn and pork dumpling and xiao long bao with its liquid centre were all delicate and well made, of the same high quality as you get at lunch (15/20). Crispy duck came with the traditional pancakes, plum sauce and various condiments. The pancakes themselves were particularly thin and delicate but the star was the duck itself, not overcooked as it often can be in Chinese restaurants in London, the meat having very good flavour (15/20).

Gai lan (Chinese broccoli) was stir-fried and came with toasted pine nuts and dried fish. The vegetables were very tender and the accompaniments went well with it (15/20). Crisp chilli beef came on a bed of beef tartare and pickled carrots. This had excellent flavour and the vinegar from the pickled carrots nicely offset the richness of the meat (15/20).

Wild mushrooms with red date casserole and truffle were covered with a lacy noodle top; this was certainly unusual and enjoyable, though perhaps not quite in the league of some of the other dishes tonight (14/20). Sichuan aubergine was particularly impressive, having a real chilli kick but not so much that the flavour of the aubergine was overwhelmed (easily 15/20). Singapore noodles were a world away from the clumpy, hard concoctions that frequently appear under this name. Here the noodles were distinct and had excellent texture, enhanced by a shellfish vinaigrette (15/20).

The bill came to £80 a head with beer and cocktails. Service was friendly though not entirely well organised, waiters tending to clump around the pass rather than checking the tables to see whether customers wanted anything. The food here seems to just get better and better, and thoroughly deserves its recent Michelin star.

Further reviews: 29th Aug 2020 | 08th Mar 2018 | 17th May 2017 | 26th Jan 2016 | 25th Feb 2014 | 16th Sep 2013 | 23rd Jul 2013