By Anton Constantinou
Chinese New Year is just around the corner, and what better way to celebrate it than with a meal at a top Asian restaurant in London.
From Chinatown to Shoreditch, the city is brimming with places serving dim sum, sushi and popular dishes like chow mein and peking duck. Whether it’s a multi-course dinner you’re after, or a quick bite to eat, London has you sorted.
So, on that note, here are 12 of the best Asian restaurants in London:
Baiwei
Address: 8 Little Newport Street, London, WC2H 7JJ
Nearest train station: Leicester Square
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Baiwei is a lovely restaurant in Little Newport Street serving fiery Sichuan cuisine. It’s a small cafe with wooden stools and traditional Mao-style paintings. If you like spicy food then head to Baiwei.
Cafe TPT
Address: 21 Wardour St, London, W1D 6PN
Nearest train station: Leicester Square
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Café TPT is a cosy, unassuming sort of place, great for those on a budget, offering all sorts of Cantonese and Malaysian food. More a street kitchen than a restaurant, its popular dishes include bak kut teh, Malaysian meat broth, deep fried crispy oyster, and fried pork dumplings.
The Shan State
Address: 100 – 102 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 5EF
Nearest train station: Leicester Square
For excellent Burmese cuisine, head to Shan State. This restaurant derives its name from the region Shan State in Myanmar, and spoils its visitors with a wide variety of local delicacies like lahpet thoke, ohn no khao swè, and pon ye gyi.
Candy Café
Address: 3 Macclesfield Street, London, W1D 6AU
Nearest train station: Leicester Square
Candy is an internet café specialising in Asian-themed drinks and deserts. It’s especially popular for its bubble teas, and offers over thirty different flavours of the stuff. Its signature dishes include kaya toast and sago pudding.
Shuang Shuang
Address: 64 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 6LU
Nearest train station: Leicester Square
Shang Shang is best known for its hotpots and invites diners to create their very own from a conveyer belt of ingredients. The restaurant is modern, nicely laid out, and one of the newer additions to Chinatown’s dining scene.
Hakkasan
Address: Hanway Place, London, W1T 1HD/ 17 Bruton Street, London, W1J 6QB
Nearest train station: Tottenham Court Road/ Green Park
Hakkasan is a Michelin-starred eatery with restaurants in Mayfair and Fitzrovia. It’s upscale, design-led, and features ornate wooden screens, open-plan kitchens and beautiful bar areas. Signature dishes range from peking duck with Beluga caviar to seared Wagyu beef with white asparagus.
Bao
Address: 53 Lexington Street, London, W1F 9AS/ 31 Windmill Market, London, W1T 2JN
Nearest train station: Oxford Circus/ Goodge Street
Bao comes highly recommended on several counts. It’s intimate, stylish and boasts some of the best steamed buns in London. You may have to queue to get in, but it’s totally worth the wait. Bao has restaurants in Soho and Fitzrovia, along with a bar in Netil Market.
E&O
Address: 14 Blenheim Crescent, London, W11 1NN
Nearest train station: Ladbroke Grove
E&O combines a Pan-Asian restaurant and cocktail bar. It does a wonderful dim sum brunch, and, by night offers tasty sushi and tempura. E&O can also be booked for special events like private dinners and parties.
Champor Champor
Address: 62 – 64 Weston Street, London, SE1 3QJ
Nearest train station: Borough
Champor Champor has a distinctly global feel about it. Its menu is Thai-Malay, and, inside you’ll find tribal artefacts and old Buddha statues. Its flavoursome food is matched by wonderful tea and herbal infusions. The restaurant also has a beautiful candlelit balcony, making it great for couples.
Banh Banh
Address: 46 Peckham Rye, London, SE15 4JR
Nearest train station: Peckham Rye
If you like Vietnamese food, then you’ll love Banh Banh. The trendy Peckham joint is run by five siblings who cook using the same recipes their grandma did in 1940s Saigon. Classic dishes include summer rolls, pho and a noodle salad.
Mamalan
Address: Unit 18, Coldharbour Lane, London, SW9 8PR/ 8 The Pavement, London, SW4 0HY/ Unit 9 Avant Garde, E1 6GU/ 511 Kingsland Road, E8 4AR
Nearest train station: Brixton/ Clapham Common/ Shoreditch High Street/ Dalston Junction
Two words: handmade dumplings. Mamalan is tasty and affordable, with spots in Brixton, Clapham, Shoreditch and Dalston. The Beijing kitchen offers mouth-watering noodle soups, buns and side dishes. The spicy chicken wings are also delicious.
Bang Bang Oriental Foodhall
Address: 399 Edgware Road, London, NW9 0FH
Nearest train station: Colindale
Bang Bang is London’s largest Asian food court and combines a wide variety of speciality restaurants and shops under one roof. Visitors come from all over to sample its many delicacies which span Tokyo to Malaysia. In one corner lies the patisserie and, in another corner, the formal Golden Dragon restaurant.
