The Won Kei restaurant on Wardour Street¹ in Chinatown is pretty much undisputedly the best chinese food in London, and very cheap with it! This is proved by the long queues that form on Saturday nights, despite the facts that the waiters are incredibly rude² and that the restaurant is in fact enormous.

In fact, to say that the waiters are incredibly rude would be a mistake, since there is a great deal of variety depending on where you end up. On entering the door a waiter will call over to you asking for the number of people in your party, and on that basis will direct you either downstairs to the basement, to a table on the ground floor or up to the first floor (where you may in turn be directed up to the second floor). Be sure to have your fingers crossed while this process is going on, as the notoriously rude waiters inhabit the basement, and they get progressively more polite the further up you go.

DOs and DON'Ts

• Don't expect to get a table on your own - it's all communal and you will be put on a table with other people unless you're just the right number.
• Don't try to pay by credit card.
• Don't expect to be able to spend a great deal of time eating - you'll be expected to shovel it down and vacate the space for the next party.
• Do do what the waiters tell you to, or you'll get chucked out.
• Do try to decide what you're going to have before you go in, as you won't get long to look at the menu once inside.
• Do drink chinese tea, and don't drink wine - it's far too expensive, not very good, and might bring your meal for two above ten pounds (something I've never achieved without!).

You might be wary of trying the Won Kei, and wonder why people flock there if it is so regimented and harsh an eating experience, but you will understand if you try the food. I'd particularly recommend the Chow Ho Fun (wide, white rice noodles) with beef in black bean sauce and the roast duck noodle soup.