Wong Kei (W1D 6PY)
There is a perfect time for Wong Kei, and this is it: "Now that our Leicester Square film is over, where shall we grab a bite to eat?" "I know the perfect place around the corner. Cheap, quick and very good. It's called Wong Kei."
You don't plan ahead to visit Wong Kei, nor do you take someone who can't handle rough and ready.
I first ate at Wong Kei in 1990, when I worked part-time at Tower Records in Piccadilly Circus. I was impressionable, and a number of my fellow employees would go there on their lunch breaks. Back then, they wait staff would yell and order you around, which somehow added to the mystique. (Eighteen years later I can't believe there ever was any mystique related to Wong Key.)
Now, the staff wears matching T-shirts and they're almost polite, and if you know what to do, you ensure you eat on the first floor - but be warned, you may be unavoidably seated with strangers.
On my last visit, I ate with six others, happily seated around a large table, and feasted on wonton soup (big enough for three), the starter platter (with good chicken wings, very good prawn toast and very, very good fried spring rolls). For our mains, we had much of what you'd expect - sweet & sour chicken, chicken in black bean sauce, beef with vegetables, vegetables in oyster sauce. Everything was delicious except for the curry, but maybe we should have known better.
Our bill - which included about a dozen Tsing Tao beers - came to approximately £20 each.
Once again, Wong Kei delivered pretty much exactly what you want from a reliable Chinatown stand-by - cheap, quick, good food.
I first ate at Wong Kei in 1990, when I worked part-time at Tower Records in Piccadilly Circus. I was impressionable, and a number of my fellow employees would go there on their lunch breaks. Back then, they wait staff would yell and order you around, which somehow added to the mystique. (Eighteen years later I can't believe there ever was any mystique related to Wong Key.)
Now, the staff wears matching T-shirts and they're almost polite, and if you know what to do, you ensure you eat on the first floor - but be warned, you may be unavoidably seated with strangers.
On my last visit, I ate with six others, happily seated around a large table, and feasted on wonton soup (big enough for three), the starter platter (with good chicken wings, very good prawn toast and very, very good fried spring rolls). For our mains, we had much of what you'd expect - sweet & sour chicken, chicken in black bean sauce, beef with vegetables, vegetables in oyster sauce. Everything was delicious except for the curry, but maybe we should have known better.
Our bill - which included about a dozen Tsing Tao beers - came to approximately £20 each.
Once again, Wong Kei delivered pretty much exactly what you want from a reliable Chinatown stand-by - cheap, quick, good food.
Here Is The Writer : Madame B
Foreign-born Madame B thinks she's a City girl, but mostly just walks our streets checking things out and searching for the best wi-fi hotspots offered by The Cloud. You can spot her typing furiously on her shiny white MacBook, wearing dark sunglasses and drinking a glass of champagne. She's one half of the Shopaholics, which might explain things...
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