I'd heard rave reviews but we weren't sold on everything we ordered. The spicy beef was good and a decent portion for the price. The seaweed salad was nice and not too fishy. I'd recommend it. The cucumber salad wasn't very flavourful...I've made better myself. The chicken and peppers was too hot. It had a 2 chilli rating but definitely seemed like a 5. I like spicy food but there were so many peppers it overpowered the chicken and the chicken wasn't the good quality either. My friend said the dumplings were good. read more

Silk Road - Chicken a peppers. Too spicy - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

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Not spicy and kinda rude service. Also a bit of a trek to get there from the city center read more

Silk Road - Wi-Fi - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

I would advise you to point to this photo when you visit, order it, and thank me later. This is a delicious restaurant serving food from a region of China that I can say for Americans, is not severed commonly enough in the States. Recently visited this place on a trip to London w/ my lady and we were very happy with the spicy soup dish served with jalapeno, chicken and potatoes photographed and appended to this review. Not the most ADA friendly (naturally, as this is a UK spot) restaurant, with a step going into the entrance and also tables and benches within the interior which is shared by all patrons. Be advised. 5 Star dish! read more

Silk Road - Excellent! Braised chicken, jalapeno and potato!! - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

Great way to discover another type of Chinese Cuisine. This western pay of China cooks more with lamb, I imagine for religious reasons. There are nice options for vegetarians too. The noodles and the dumpling are home made and you can taste it! read more

Silk Road - The potato a aubergine hot dishes! - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

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I hear a lot of people describe Silk Road for not being the typical Chinese restaurant and more authentic because they are not one to serve sweet and sour chicken. Although that may be true I just want to clarify that most of London's Chinese restaurant and takeaways specialises in Cantonese dishes as the first Chinese refugees were from Hong Kong so they established their cuisine in UK first and because China is a big country, cuisine can vary in different provinces. So Silk Road specialises in Xinjiang's cuisine in western China which has their cuisine influenced by the Mongols and the Muslim quarter which can be seen by the use of cumin in their marinates. We arrived early and slowly saw the restaurant fill up till every table was filled and sharing tables like canteen style. Before rush hour started we saw a group of elders happily chatting away, making fresh dumplings which were probably for rest of the evening. It was really nice to see our food made in such manner. Decor was dated like old style school canteen with several rows of wooden benched tables and service was efficient and casual. Xiajiang lamb shish Marinated pieces of lamb and their fat roasted over charcoal. These were meaty, although quite chewy. It did hold in a lot of notes of spice releasing as you chew into them with cumin being the most apparent. Not the healthiest but you get the benefit of the flavour and its juice. Beef dumplings These were reasonable, filled with lovely stock inside. But they lacked herbs and other texture in the filling to make them memorable. The pastry could have been slightly thinner for a softer texture too. Boiled lamb. Back to my childhood when my mum used to get all the bones stewing from the soup we had and I used to use my fingers to dig out any meat left on them. These were just as good. The meat was lovely and fatty, falling off the bone, seasoned well and went so well with the half raw onions adding a little kick of spice. Don't drink the broth as it is as salty as pure salt itself. I don't think you were suppose to in the first place though. Pork with black fungus Home cook Chinese food at its best. Lovely sesame wine marinated pork stir fried with sweetheart cabbage and crunchy wood ear fungus. The broth was clear and sweet from all the lovely fresh ingredients. TEP noodle Another home comfort food. Soft silky whisked egg in a simple sweet thick tomato sauce clinging onto every strand of beautiful hand pulled noodles that were irresistible slurpish. Careful with the overload of peppers if you can't handle spice like me. Easily avoidable though. Middle plate chicken I've seen this dish all over social media but it was a let down for me. I found the broth a bit too thin and watery and lacked the richness it needed to flavour the belt noodles. Although the noodles were disappointing too with some of it clamping together creating a layer of hard dough. Chicken was overcooked losing its elasticity and tenderness. The potatoes were fluffy but the drier variety so were forgettable. I expected better. The luxury lamb noodles Probably my favourite out of all the noodle dishes. Being stir fried the noodles took on more flavour and had a nice smokiness from the wok. It was skilfully cooked, perfect seasoning, juicy pieces of lamb, well spiced and lovely textures from the vegetables, meat and crispy runny egg. I did really enjoy my evening at Silk Road although quality wasn't consistent throughout or anything spectacular. An more authentic approach would have included more flavour and definitely a richer broth for the noodles as cooking time and marinating time would have been longer. Having been to Xi'an Impression and Chang's Noodles that serves similar dishes I can say that it definitely falls behind them in authenticity. Whilst dining there I realise that the diners were mainly western rather than the Chinese ethnicity. That says a lot too as both Chang's and Xi'an impression were filled with Chinese diners. Not worth making the extra journey if you live in central London but definitely worth it if you're in the area. read more

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Big Plate Chicken (大盘鸡）is really awful! It supposes to be the signature dish of Xinjinag Ciusine and it turned out to be completely wrong- the dish was very tasteless, with blend and super dry chicken. We came all the way for this dish and can't be more disappointed! Boiled lamp is in good portion but again, is wrong and pretty blended as well. Lamb skewer and homemade cabbage are pretty good. If you want to try XinJiang cuisine - which I really recommend - then here is the wrong place. If you want to have a whatever-take-away style Chinese food - Silk Road is one. Oh, and cash only btw. 大盘鸡太糟糕了，老板娘说是"改良给外国人吃的" - 喜欢它的外国人太傻了！那至少不要叫大盘鸡嘛，而且就算是随便一道菜，也真心不好吃，很平淡无味，鸡肉很老很干。 手抓羊肉分量很足，但大多数都是骨头没有肉，味道还是不足。羊肉串okay的，但没有老地方或兰州拉面好吃。炝炒白菜真心不错。 听说Victoria Line的walthamstow新开了一个新疆馆子，新疆人自己开的，同去的回族朋友说正宗很多。下次一定要去试试看。 我好想念北京的阿达西、卡西姆之类的！ 对了 只收现金 read more

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My home city is in Xinjiang. My junior high school friend took me here. I felt very grateful to eat my hometown food here though there are small changes on some cuisines. Living in New York City for about 2 years, I didn't find any Xinjiang restaurant good and reasonable as this! Highly recommend! Yes, they are very busy and it's better to make a reservation. Staffs tried to satisfy your requests. The first time we were there was Sunday night without reservation, and it's crowded...they found is seats where we can stay longest time. The second time I made a reservation for two. However, it ended up one more person was coming... They still tried to find us appropriate seats even we had change at the last seconds. And they are many others customers were arriving. Feel glad their restaurant is running well:) read more

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Silk Road left me so bulbous, stained with chicken drippings, and oh so happy. We started with a round trio of dumplings, and at £3 for about 8, this is the kind of good value dining, I can get down with. Of course we had to have the big plate chicken, which come with the fattest carbiest noodles (I heartily approve), and they do a good job soaking up the slighty spicy but mostly sweet broth. The chicken is very bony, but I love working for the little nuggets of soya'd meat, but people with little people in tow might want to watch out for a stray shard or little rib bone in the craw. The skewers come out deceptively hot, so don't just cram that bespiced tripe into your facehole without doing some blowing or letting it rest. The tripe picks up the char and flavors well, and they'll fill you up if you're not careful. The lamb skewers are on a whole other level of flavor, though eat these while hot since that fat will conceal on you, and no one likes chewy fat (or maybe that's a plus?). Tsingtao should be your cooling beer of choice, and Silk Road is happy to keep you topped up. The homestyle aubergine is meh, and it doesn't seem to have taken on much of the seasonings. The "Chinese leaf" dish is confusing, but great with a big bucket of rice the next day. I think we all paid about £11 each, but I had enough food for two more meals after, so great value. Definitely make a reservation, particularly for big groups. read more

I would prefer to give Silk Road a 3.5 star rating, but since that isn't possible, a 4 star rating will just have to do. Silk Road is Chinese restaurant featuring Szechuan/Xinjiang cuisine. Therefore, you should know that the food is spicy! We came here with a few friends who weren't prepared for the heat, and it was an uncomfortable dinner for them to say the least. The highlights of the night were the luxury lamb noodles (the hand-pulled noodles are out of this world) and the double cooked pork (amazing!!). The shishes were just OK because they were just small pieces of meat covered in cumin. Silk Road is super good value for money (definitely less than £20 per head), and you can tell it's a gem of Camberwell. Definitely book before you come here because the queue was out the door when we got to the restaurant. read more

Silk Road - Aubergine, delicious but very oily - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

We came here years ago when the restaurant first opened and the only memory from that meal was a chicken dish coming to the table still pink in the middle. Things have moved on a lot since then! Our visit last night was delicious. We had: Beef dumplings: the best thing about these were the fact the the skins were homemade. Nice chew to them. To be honest, the filling wasn't anything to write home about but they were enjoyable nonetheless. Lamb skewers: as previous posters have mentioned, they come with globs of fat which probably fares well if you're in a freezing bitter climate. The lamb was perfectly cooked with just the right level of seasoning. Very good but I would probably pass on them the next time to make room for others things. Noodles with lamb: this was delicious. Lovely hand pulled noodles with small pieces of lamb. We really enjoyed this. The only slight drawback is that the noodles are obviously sitting in bowls in the kitchen so they can just quickly top each with the appropriate sauce/meat/veg combo and whisk it out that door. The noodles come stuck together in a single mass so be sure to mix it all up to loosen! Cabbage with preserved chile: this was by far the BEST dish we ordered. It was stir fried green cabbage with what I think was a soy and Chinese vinegar combo tossed with loads of dried red chiles. This was an amazing dish. The sauce paired so well with the cabbage which is only slightly wilted from the heat and still had a great crunch. I could have easily eaten another plate. Overall, a very satisfying and tasty meal that was great value as well. We also had two beers and it all came to £30, including tip. I would also add that you should definitely share your meal if you are there with another person. This food is meant to be eaten family style and not in the western vein of 'this is my dish, that is your dish'. I felt a bit sorry for the two women next to us who had ordered this way. It really takes the fun out of dining being a shared experience. Call ahead to reserve a spot. They get very busy with people spilling out onto the pavement to wait for a table. read more

Oh dear LORD. I'm so happy I finally made it to Silk Road after being so sceptical of the place (for no good reason.) Full disclosure: I'm not from Xinjiang. I've never been to Xinjiang but I have spent a LOT of time in Xi'an which is actually the beginning (or the end) of the Silk Road. A lot of the flavours found in Xijiang's cuisine also found their way along the Silk Road to Xi'an. So eating here is like getting a little taste of home every single time. This means yes, it's absolutely authentic. Coupled with the fact that food here is SO reasonably priced and portions are generous, the reason it's constantly packed with Chinese and Westerners alike should become fairly clear. I'm not one to stray from what I know is a winning combination so I usually order a cold cucumber salad, a stir fried chili cabbage, a bowl of noodles (take your pick) and a few skewers of BBQ lamb (a staple in Xi'an and Xinjiang!) The big or medium plate chicken is great but if you order it be prepared to have no enthusiasm for anything else as even the smaller portion is huge. This place is literally packed every single night. Getting a table here is HARD! There is literally no day where this place isn't packed. You've been warned. Book ahead, queue ahead, cause a distraction. Do whatever you have to do to get a table because it's war when you show up expecting there to be space. There just won't be. read more

The beer is almost as cheap as my former Student Union. THUMBS UP. We'd been meaning to try out Silk Road for a long time. Too long, in fact. The vibe was kind of frenetic, and squashed, and we were told as we were sitting down that we had to eat quickly (ha, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED) to make room for a reservation. So, fine...not the best table side manner. The food made up for it. It doesn't sound like much in text, but go for the cold cucumber salad marinated in chili and garlic and vinegar. It's refreshing during this (brief) London heatwave. I am also a mega-fan of the sautéed cabbage which also doesn't sound like much - cabbage? Really? - but is crunchy but tender, and perfectly seasoned with warm chili and other savouries. I'm a dumpling fanatic, and the fact that Silk Road has several options all around the 4 GBP mark bodes well for my return. Lamb and onion, beef, shrimp/leek/egg and some fried dumplings. I can recommend the shrimp and the fried dumplings, as well as the vinegar/hot sauce option to douse 'em in! The hand pulled noodles were a surprise; tender and toothsome (HA I AM EYEROLLING AT MYSELF FOR USING THAT DESCRIPTOR) an unexpectedly flavoured with cumin. Another illustration of how Silk Road - with its Western Chinese inspiration - is not your average "Chinese" (see: Cantonese) offering. Beers and four plates of food across 2 of us: in/out in record time, with a $22 dent, total. Yelp note: cash only! read more

Medium Plate Chicken isn't exactly an M&S food porn name, but you can forgive Silk Road for keeping their menu simple - they're too busy concentrating on making good food for pennies and for dealing with the loud drunk hordes of Time Out Cheap Eats diners that have descended on the place this year. Medium Plate Chicken is actually on-the-bone spiced chicken and potatoes cooked in a star anise and sichaun pepper broth with a large freshly-made belt noodle. It's a main course for 2 for about £12 and is a step down from Big Plate Chicken (which is more like for 4 people). It's a fantastic dish of Xinjiang food and well worth ordering (for Xinjiang - think Turkey crossed with China). Other Xinjiang dishes to try are the lamb skewers, lamb noodles and lamb lamb. Okay I may have made one of those up - but you'll be surprised how much lamb there is on the menu if you think this is going to be anything like a normal Chinese meal. Also worth a shout are their sichuan dishes, especially the cabbage in spicy sauce. I think the Chinese worked out a long time ago how to get people to eat their vegetables - saturate them in spices! Bottom line - two of us ate several starters and a huge main course - for £30. It was interesting and delicious and like no other Chinese restaurant in town. Go. read more

I heard so many great reviews about the restaurant and was excited to give it a try! And based on the somewhat unfriendly attitudes of the staff, I thought for sure that the food was amazing. Otherwise, why would folks pack the seats of a place with such rude customer service? Well, I finally got to try it and was totally underwhelmed. Everything I ordered tasted like a glass of water (totally unseasoned) and the condiments they offered didn't make it much better. I ultimately had to mix everything I ordered in a bowl plus the condiments, and viola(!) -- taste appeared. There's lots of great food in London; I don't understand the hype over this place. If you must go, then make a reservation or be prepared to wait in line. I would not go again. Neeeeeext... read more

I am admittedly one of the most ignorant people of Chinese descent when it comes to Chinese food. Though I have eaten a lot of it, and grown up with it, I am almost clueless as to what comes from where and regional differences. To me, Chinese food, is Chinese food and it can be either good or not so good. So it came as a surprise that Xinjiang cuisine was quite different from anything that I've had before. Our party of five arrived with a member who had been here before and was more than happy to navgiate the menu for us, and as such, we ordered with gusto in an attempt to sample as much of the food as we could. Almost all of the dishes were of some level of spicy, which was great for some of us, but daunting for some of our less adventurous members. Ultimately, none of the dishes were beyond the threshold of tolerability for any of our party members. The spicy cabbage and spinich stir-fry dishes were excellent. The lamb and pig tripe skewers were delicious. The stir-fry pork belly dish was very good, if a little on the rich side. The dumplings were good, though forgettable. The boiled lamb was a bit of a surprise as a huge plate of lamb bones (with some meat attached to them) and about three bulbs worth of cooked onion piled on top descended on our table. The lamb was very simple, tasty and rustic though a little difficult to eat. So difficult in fact, that one of our party members managed to cut her hand on a bone whilst eating. It probably didn't need all that onion either. Perhaps the only disappointing dish was the highly lauded middle chicken dish, which ended up being a large bowl of spicy broth with dry chicken and undercooked, powdery noodles thrown in it. The service was prompt, but in typical Chinese style, very cold and not too friendly. But that is to be expected. Considering the amount that we ate and drank, the whole dinner was ridiculously cheap and definitely well worth what we paid. Unfortunately, the experience gets minus points for the upset stomach I had the next day. read more

Great great GREAT food at a tremendous value. It could be a bit larger (not the best for solo eaters and that's how I went on my first visit) and service could be a tad more efficient. But I get it- it's hard maintaining a small space when you've been lashed time and time again with "Best Cheap Eats" accolades in the city. You will not go wrong with their dumplings, or the weird-sounding Black Fungus dish (much tastier than it sounds). They really do serve provincial dishes that you probably have never tasted before, so it's certainly worth a trek down to ol' Camberwell to experience. Try to book reservations! read more

Whoa! This was easily one of the best Chinese meals I ever had outside of China. But don't even think of coming unless you have a reservation or are willing to wait for a long time for a table. We came on a weekday night around 8 PM and it was filled to the brim, with a ton of people waiting outside. I was surprised that the diners were non-Asians. From past experiences, this would be an indication that the restaurant serves "Westernized" Chinese food. Luckily that was not at all the case. We ordered ten dishes to share, plus more than a dozen of lamb skewers, which were absolutely authentic and brought me back to childhood days standing on the street corners in Northern China on the coldest days of winter, stumping my feet for warmth while waiting for my skewers to cook on rectangular grill boxes. Seriously, try everything! There was nothing I wouldn't recommend, from cucumber in sauce to beef stir-fry to dumplings. Even the cabbage in vinegar sauce dish was wonderful, crunchy with the perfect balance of sweet and sour flavors. Who knew cabbage can be this tasty?! read more

Very affordable and very tasty. Would recommend calling ahead for a reservation. One of my favorite places to eat in London.

I lived in NYC for two years, couldn't find one Chinese restaurant that didn't engage my gag reflex. My first week in London...jackpot. As a party of 3, we had booked a table and still had to wait close to a half hour, but once sat, service was swift and efficient (for our trouble, the manager graciously offered unlimited green tea free of charge). The food was well-cooked, flavorful, and authentic without being overpriced. The "spiciness" guide is a bit off: a "1" is as if it's totally mild, my weak taste buds could actually handle a "2." I will certainly be returning here! read more

Silk Road - Western Chinese tapas well done! - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

Delicious! And so cheap! This restaurant boasts food from the Western region of China - I must admit I've never seen Chinese food with potatoes in it before, so I'm not sure if that's Western Chinese or just this restaurant's version of amazing food, but it was amazing. First of all, get the lamb skewers. Yes, they come with chunks of fat between the pieces of lamb, but they're delicious too. Get at least two per person. I probably could've eaten ten of them, but luckily intelligence prevailed over gluttony, and I saved room for our other dishes as well. The dumplings and "Big Plate Chicken" were also amazing. The BPC might have been more appropriately named Big Bowl Chicken, but I'm not complaining. You'll get a huge bowl of broth with chicken, potatoes, veggies, and these super large noodles. It took all four of us to finish it off, so make sure you have an appetite. I don't find myself in Camberwell very often (actually, this was my first time), but when I do, I go to Silk Road. Hit it up. read more

Nice authentic food at very good prices. Nothing fancy for presentation or decor but good service. Was voted one of the best cheap eats in the area by one of the big papers so quite popular. Wasn't brave enough to try some of the more unusual dishes but thought the dumplings were v tasty. read more

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It's quite difficult sometimes to find quality regional Chinese food in London. No I do not want your Kung Pao Chicken and Broccoli with Beef. Nor do I want your goddamn spring rolls. Give me something with more authenticy! Silk Road has filled this void with Xinjiang food made with heart and soul. And best of all, they take reservations. You better do it too, because it gets packed. My favorites: Big Plate chicken, which is enough for 4 people and contains heaps of chicken, potato, belt noodles in a peppercorn broth Lamb Shish noodles (cumin lamb with noodles) TEP noodles (with a tomato and egg sauce) Fried dumplings, skip the boiled and go for the fried I know they sound mundane but trust me these sides go well with the noodles: Aubergine Cucumber with garlic Bak Choi Cabbage Our last bill was £53 for 4 people, and we ordered all of this too. CASH ONLY by the way. This place makes me so warm and happy, I'll trek out to Camberwell any day to get quality food instead of settling for the greasy Chinese takeaway joint around the corner. read more

This place is pretty delicious and it won't break the bank. The most we have ever spent hear was £18 per head with a beer each and it resulted in a food coma. Try to find 4 or so friends so that you can order, share and taste as much as possible. Which really should be a standard behavior with all Chinese. I would recommend booking a table (even on a Tuesday) as this is a favourite of many, many people in the area. The space is small but there are tables perfect for 4, 6 and 8 but any bigger than that your group will be split. It has the very delicious London-Chinese regular dishes of spiced cucumber salad, which is a must every time that you order. They have a specialty of Chinese style 'kebabs' which are tasty and fatty and full of flavour but not my thing (if it is your thing they are small so don't under order!). I think this place is particularly good at the vegetable based dishes such as the home-style cabbage, fungus with pork and Aubergine etc. The big bowl of noodle and chicken bits stew/soup thing (unsure what it is called) is sure to warm the cockles on a cold day! They also have dumplings which, when soaked in the cabbage sauce, are sooooooo delicious. The vinegar and chili they have on the table are some of the best that I have found on chinese restaurant tables since living in London. If you are a non sharer: shame on you. Don't take up my table. There is an alcohol list, unsure if it is BYO but it looks like it would... read more

I should start saying this place is a three for quality but a five for value!! The food is specific to a region of China and different to your mainstream places. There is loads of choice and what we had was good!! Mostly a bit on the greasy side and not the best quality ingredients but still tasty. The speed at which they get the food out and the number they cater for makes me guess that they have most things pre made. The restaurant is reasonable size and comprises of a bunch of benches for communal eating. The staff were much more attentive than usual Chinese restaurants and we weren't made to leave as soon as the last morsal left our sticks (which was novel and nice!) I'd recommend booking as this place has recently been advertised in timeout and is very popular, but definitely a worth a trip to Camberwell... Especially for the barging basement price! read more

Went with my flatmates tonight Opinion 1: 'You'd be hard pressed to find a better Xinjiang place than that in England, or Europe for that matter' 'My review will matter the most because it's at the top and nobody on yelp reads past the first bit anyways' Five stars Opinion 2: "I would give it four stars, but then, I have never been to a Xinjiang restaurant that I would give five stars to" Opinion 3: I'd say this is a solid dining option that I would definitely visit again and particularly want to try the boiled dumplings. I was expecting more of a halal Uyghur place as that is what I am used to when I think of Xinjiang food. (There is pork and alcohol on the menu... first world problems) They got the spiciness right but there isn't any naan and the grilled lamb shishes were just so-so Four stars, could bump up to five if the dumplings prove to be legit. Overall average: 4 1/3 stars, rounded down to 4 stars Historical note: The history of Xinjiang is extremely complex- it only became a province of China in the late 19th century and is inhabited by a majority who are non-Han Chinese, most of whom are from central asian ethnic groups, and has a muslim majority. The food there uses a lot of lamb and other things that can be cooked on skewers, raisins, pilafs, cumin, and noodles. The food is a mix of mainly turkic/indic cooking with some more typically East Asian cooking styles and ingredients read more

This place is fantastic. I had the medium plate chicken (which should more accurately be called the medium canoe chicken - it was gigantic!) while my wife had one of their vegetarian options. The belt noodle (which comes with the med plate chicken) is ridic - ours was literally a single noodle the size of a belt - if I thought it could withstand the light rain I would have worn it going home. Tasty nonetheless though. My wife isn't a big fan of Chinese food, but this place won her over with their extremely fragrant and flavourful dishes. We're excited to go back. Be warned, if you're going with vegetarians there aren't many options on the menu to choose from - but what you do choose you'll most likely be happy with. read more

A Western Chinese restaurant completely different from anything you'll find in the West End. A tiny little restaurant with bench-style seating. They specialise in lamb and noodle dishes, lots of spicy things, some really tasty aubergine and cabbage as well. These noodles could change your life - thick and doughy and very substantial - you'll find it hard to go back to ramen every again. The only problem is the service. We couldn't help but notice the three other parties that came in after us (the only other parties that came in after us) that were larger and still somehow got their food before us. Also, our dishes weren't all brought to us at once, so it was good that we had planned on sharing. Really better to come here if you're more patient than you are hungry. The food is a five, but the service is a two. read more

This place is brilliant. Amazing menu with really unique specialties. Famous for the Big Plate Chicken but there are many other great dishes too. Staff are efficient as it's a busy place and they do want to keep tables turned over, but our server was good enough to talk an recommend some dishes to us. He even remembered what we DIDN'T order at the end and told us to come back and have them. The dishes are enormous, so when something looks pricey, it's probably too big for one person, or even two... The aubergine is AMAZING. read more

Very affordable, no cards but I guess it's understandable. It was great, as good Chinese as I've ever had I think. Great that they do have 'suggested menu'. Really enjoyed the kebabs that everyone is recommending. Especially the spicy paste, didn't care much for the fat pieces in between. Had middle plate chicken. Really liked the broth and meat itself. It wasn't very hot and the bones were a pain but that's my lazy ass talking. Also had dumplings boiled, really liked those. Hm I guess I cannot complain. I liked it all, though never had the wow experience. For this price (20gbp for two people) it is probably unbeatable. Funny thing, we ordered Herbal Tea and Jasmine tea without realising one of those was a cold drink and other was a normal tea. Oh, and atmosphere, from what I know of China, it is very much like that. Incredibly noisy, lots of people talking on communal tables and the traffic outside is also loud. Both me and my partner are rather quiet so it was little hard to keep conversation. It gets very busy! Listened to advice from a fellow Yelper and booked one day in advance and got a place for an hour. Book early is my advice. read more

What a refreshing delve into "Chinese" food. I can honestly say that i wasn't looking forward to the meal that friends had all but forced me to attend but what a revelation. hot hot hot, well not just hot but hot and flavour full and distinct. The four of us shared 2 mains and 3 starters there was a bounty of food which all came out at odd times but who cares its not the type of place you would go to for top service. The Medium plate chicken was an amassing stock with chicken wings, pepper, anise, potatoes and chillies floating around in it when we had devoured all the bits they cam along and dumped a bunch of these doughy hand rolled flat noodles. i cant do justice to them by saying anything but once you try these noodles it'll be all you want to eat for some time. The Cucumber in sauce was great and not like anything i've had before, garlicky, chillily, oily with bundles of zing. Awesome! Oh i can go with out mentioning the tripe with chilli mmm, you got to try it. Dont expect much from the decor, service or general ambience of silk rd but go there for a different look at chinese food and you wont be disappointed. We ate a feast drank a beer each and the bill came to a tenner each. read more

Just wonderful. All the food we had was excellent. Vibrant place, quick service, all good :) very suitable for vegans and vegetarians. Do reserve a table in advance! read more

Silk Road - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

Don't bother. We'd booked a table, arrived early. Told to wait and then told our table had been given away and they had nothing else. Staff unhelpful and rude. Went to Wuli Wuli down the road where staff were lovely, as was the food. read more

I was looking forward to trying this unique Chinese restaurant, but the experience was ruined because my boyfriend ended up with food poisoning the next day. We had the cucumber salad, dumplings and the medium plate chicken with belt noodles. We are not sure what made him sick, but think that it was something to do with the chicken. This was so disappointing, as he was excited to return, and bring me along for my first time. Won't be returning for a long while. Beware! read more

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Ah, my beloved Silk Road. Hands down my favourite place to eat in Camberwell (yes, and that's despite Angels & Gypsies). Legendarily the first restaurant specialising in Xinjiang cuisine in the whole of London. More may have appeared since, but not on my doorstep! Anyway, for the uninitiated, Xinjiang cuisine is FIERY, pungent, not subtle, and entirely different from most Chinese (Cantonese, most likely) you'll have tried. This having a lot to do with the Xinjiang province (the "restive Xinjiang province", to give it its full name) being primarily Muslim, and right in the centre of Asia, thousands of miles from the sea. You won't get prawn crackers here! You will however find their jaw-dropping chilli and cumin-encrusted lamb skewers - I'll never forget the rush of first trying those. Always order 'em, ever since. That, and the signature dish, "Middle Plate Chicken" (apart from the rare occasions when I've been with a group big enough to warrant "Big Plate Chicken" - ie over ten people!). Throw in a few dumplings, a side or two (especially the amazing, sweet "home-style" aubergine) you're away. In fact, you'll have too MUCH - helpfully, they'll pack the rest for you to take home with you if you ask. I feel like I have to explain the aforementioned signature dish, as it's a thing of wonder. Pieces of marinated chicken on the bone, potatoes, green beans, dried chilis, all swimming in a magnificent, dark, star anise-y broth that you somehow can't stop eating even though you're sweating profusely and feel like you might be in physical danger. Then they turn up with the thick, homemade "belt" noodles - the odd sighting of the old lady rolling them out at a table in the back is a special occasion indeed - and dunk them unceremoniously into the remainder. So on you go, because these are a treat you can't miss out on, even as you're struggling to manoeuvre them into your bowl, splashing yourself and your companions. It's great fun. (Don't come here on a first date). After all that fun and games, the bill always seems to be stupidly low - I hope they don't get wise to this. Cash only, evenings only (apart from Saturdays). Seek it out! read more

The fold here is outrageous. It's mad busy and the service isn't great but for the price there's no better Chinese food in London. Definitely get the fish kebabs. read more

Since leaving Vancouver, I've been dying for some authentic Chinese food. I've never tried Xinjiang food before, but a friend highly recommended this restaurant. I'm not gonna pretend like I really know what Xinjiang food is, I've wiki'd it, and I like it :) 5 of us ordered: - boiled beef dumplings (10), with spicy sweet soy sauce: The filling was good, but I'm not usually too fond of boiled dumplings as the wrapping gets a bit soggy. - pan fried pork and leek dumplings (10): amazing fried goodness, the beef dumplings were good, but I definitely preferred these ones. Only £3 for 10 pieces! - chili cumin lamb skewers (5) and tripe skewers - bursting full of flavor, I should have ordered more at only £1 / skewer! - chili cabbage: Chili cabbage is one of my fav dishes, slightly on the greasy side, but really good. - chili spinach: good, still prefer the cabbage - chili pork belly: my favorite dish of the night - boiled lamb: exactly as described, a massive dish of boiled lamb bones boiled in a spiced broth with onions. Tasted good, difficult to eat, I even sliced my hand on the bone but I guess I was too eager to eat. My only complaint is that it was a bit on the fatty side. - middle plate chicken with belt noodles: apparently this was their signature dish, but it was a bit of a let down. The spicy aromatic soup dish arrived first, with chicken, chilis, and potatoes - it looked good, and though I didn't eat it right away, I thought it was just lukewarm rather than hot. That might have been my fault for not eating it straight away. However, the belt noodles arrived 5 minutes later, the waiter slid them into the bowl. I thought they were a bit too chewy / powdery and stuck to my teeth - I love noodles, but I wasn't crazy about these ones. The chicken was ridiculously dry though. - 13 tsing tao beers, £2 each - 1 bottle of wine, £12 food: £52 alcohol: £48 works out to £11 / person for food only, or £20 after adding on alcohol - and we still had some leftovers. Overall, the food here is decent and amazingly fair priced for what you get. I'd come back here and try a few other dishes. My 2 complaints are that the food is slightly on the greasy side, and that their signature chicken dish doesn't live up to the hype - I definitely wouldn't order this again unless I'm assured that the one we got was a one-off inferior dish, and that its *generally* served better than that. read more

INCREDIBLE! The food was the best, most authentic chinese food I've had in London and at a very reasonable price. Great atmosphere too... highly recommend! read more

Rave reviews all around so I had to check it out. Maybe I should have expected it from a Chinese restaurant - but vegetarian options were very limited. I read a review somewhere saying the vegetable dishes were excellent and they were indeed nice - but as a couple of veggies sitting down for lunch we had to choose from starters and sharer dishes with only two vegetarian mains on the menu. The vegetarian noodles however was hands down the BEST noodle dish I've ever eaten in London. So for that alone it's worth it. And if you eat meat or you're visiting with carnivorous friends: definitely face the endless queues and enjoy. read more

I simply adore this place! Well cooked steaming bowls of authentic Chinese cuisine. Its no Ritz but to me that is half the appeal. My personal favourites (and must tries!) are home-style cabbage, steamed cabbage smothered in a rich sweet soy dressing. Steamed dumplings - the pork and leek are particularly good - be sure to leave them to get gelatinous before plunging into a mix of vinegar and chilli (left of the tables to you can blend your own potency!) TEP noodles are hand made and stretch belt noodles tossed in fresh tomatoes, peppers and egg - sounds simple but the rich tomato sauce and almost chewy constancy of the noodles is to die for. All washed down with a bottle (or 3) of cold sing tao - Bliss for under £20. What more could you ask for? read more

Amazing authentic Chinese food. They do take reservations, so I highly recommend booking as it gets crazy busy. However, my husband and I came in without a reservation and were able to be in and out in 30 mins. We had their recommended meal for 2 - my favorite item was the spicy cabbage. So good! read more