The La Mian Stall is an institution and long time resident at the the sunday market at Brick Lane…read more To find them, they are near the top of brick lane market, right underneath the underpass, closer to Shoreditch High Street Station than Aldgate East. Sundays only from some time in the morning until 5pm when the market shuts down. What you will find is a little taste of Asia in the best possible way. Hand-stretched flour noodles (la-mian) made right there before your very eyes, boiled, then served in the broth and meat accompaniments of your choosing. I had one with minced pork and 'special sauce' (who doesn't like special sauce?) and it was really good. The noodles were (obviously) really fresh, the broth was decent, and the pork bits salty and flavourful. AND all for about £5 a bowl. They also have chicken, roast pork, chilli tripe, and all kinds of available versions in addtion to some wok-fried items and really tasty dim sum. The only dim sum I tried was char siew bao, and it was legit (£1.50 for two). Plus they have a plastic table-clothed table for a few people (can maybe fit about 8 or so people) and some cheap plastic stools to sit on, so it is one of the few places along the brick lane market where you can actually sit down to eat. So authentic in its practicality and function that it makes me smile. This is also a great stall because you can stare at the guy making noodles, which is a fun show in itself. He's got skills.

** IMPORTANT NOTE: I think these guys go on holidays for 3-4 months at the beginning of the year,…read moreso don't freak out like I did when I kept visiting Brick Lane every Sunday hoping to catch them! Hopefully they'll be back soon :( ** I've been extremely picky about Chinese food since arriving in London, but luckily, this little La Mian stall under the bridge at Brick Lane has got it right! Fresh hand pulled noodles (la mian), swimming in a bowl of broth with your choice of roast duck, chicken, minced pork, and a few other variations. They also serve up other small dim sum items, such as pork buns, shrimp dumplings (har gow), pork dumplings (shiu mai), spring rolls, etc. I've tried their roast chicken leg, which is very good. The broth that they use is a mixture of soy, chicken (possibly beef) bouillon stock powder, plus a few other things. I think the broth could be better, but for the quantity I get, and by London standards - there's not much else to complain about! I've also had their tan tan noodles, which came with 5 or 6 pork shu mai. The shu mai was alright, I don't think they make this, and it was in a spicy peanutty soup. I've had proper tan tan noodles before, and this kind of missed the mark. Tasty in general, yes.. but doesn't really resonate a true bowl of tan tan noodles. i think I'm just gonna stick with normal noodles in a basic broth + meat! As for seating, there's a little table with a few small stools, but good luck getting a seat unless you're on your own! There's also a huge jar of chili oil on the table too, so don't forget to drizzle some over your noodles before taking off. The cost is very reasonable, especially for the quantity that you get. I think it runs you anywhere from £5.50-£7 per bowl, and even though they don't look THAT big - don't let it deceive you, as you will literally have to roll away. In Chinatown, a crappy bowl of noodles will cost you about £6, plus their "discretionary" (translation: mandatory) service charge. However, be prepared to wait for your food! Its awesome watching the noodle man do his thang, but with everyone standing around watching, its hard to figure out where to queue, and if people are even waiting in the queue. I believe this is a 2-man show, and while I get that they are popular and I'm sure they're popping out as many orders as they can - we waited 45 minutes for 4 bowls of noodles, which is a bit ridiculous. I think if they had a 3rd person in there, it would really speed things up. In any case though, if you have a lazy Sunday, get in line :)

Fast, fresh, delicious!! Haven't had shen jian bao in years,…read moredelighted to have stumbled across them

Loooved the pan fried soup dumpling - never had anything like it. Be careful when biting into it…read morebecause the hot soup/juices might explode out of the dumpling.

First let me start by saying this place was so hard to find the entrance to. Between the…read moreconstruction and many many locked doors, I finally found the 1st floor entrance. Once I got there the food did not disappoint. The dim sum options were plentiful and delicious. However my fav dishes of the night, the crispy duck (life changing). Every piece has crispy golden fried skin. The buns are replaced with thin wraps and all the condiments. Next would be the drunken noodles with shrimp and scallops. Definitely worth a visit but bake in extra time to find this front door.

Excellent food, service and atmosphere. Rare 4 star from me…read more Tried the set menu and it was excellent. A lot of food though, much more than we could eat unfortunately so bear this in mind

I can't vouch for others but to be honest the food is quite decent. Prawns were fresh as a starter,…read moreand that chilli paste is superb - certainly worth a star of its own! It's at least royal China level but certainly more pricy! Mind you we did go on Sunday when the restaurant was practically empty. Which reminds me of how they were a bit of a snob in a sense that, there were only like 3 customers in the whole restaurant yet they ask us (2ppl) whether we had a reservation, and when we said no they gave us a look...

I ordered a delivery from Shikumen Luxe and while there were some good dishes, for the price was…read morepretty disappointing. Spring rolls were large and flavourful but a tad greasy, and the same could be said for the duck rolls. The roast duck with mango was an unusual flavour combination but one that worked surprisingly well - definitely recommended. If you end up ordering the crispy shredded beef, make sure to eat it ASAP - it might have been good when hot, but by the time we opened it it was like cardboard. Between two people we spent around £100 and while this bought us a lot of food, it was a much less enjoyable meal than what £120 will buy you at Hakkasan - or indeed what £50 will buy you at any local Chinese takeaway.

After having a great meal at COTE, we noticed an Asian restaurant nearby. We tried their Happy…read moreHour. Delicious dim sum and great service! Love the drinks as well.

The location is great when you're dining outside on the boardwalk facing the Tower of London during…read morethe sunset hour. The food is tasty, but the portion is small for the price you pay (8 pounds for 3 dumplings), but hey you're in the touristy spot of London. So this is probably expected. The service seemed to be a little mismanaged and it seemed one waiter left during peak dining hours which left the other waiters to pick up more tables. Needless to say, we had to call for their attention quite often.

Duddell's is conveniently located by London Bridge station. The traditional green and gold interior…read morewith vaulted ceilings is quite striking. I had the half duck and it was one of the best I've ever experienced. They carve the duck at your table. The first course is the traditional crispy duck skin with pancakes and a variety of sauces and accompaniments. Once the crispy skin is carved, they take the remainder of the duck meat back to the kitchen to prep a second course. You have a choice of sauces to stir fry the duck meat, which is served with egg fried rice. Outstanding!

Located in the historic St. Thomas Church near London bridge, this is definitely not where I…read moreexpected to find cantonese food, but what a pleasant surprise it was. Chef Daren Liew who was previously an executive sous chef with the Hakkasan Group has definitely brought an elevated version of authentic cantonese food to the London restaurant scene. I came here for dinner a few days ago. At dinner they serve a trio of dim sum (dim sum symphony) with other classic cantonese dishes while at lunch it's a full dim sum menu. We ordered: - Peking duck: Traditionally not a dish in the cantonese cuisine, I hesitated to order Peking duck at a Cantonese restaurant as it's usually cooked in cantonese roast duck style rather than real Beijing style. To my surprise, this the best Peking duck I've had outside of China. The duck is carved right in front of you (only took a few minutes) in two ways: crispy skin only and meat with skin, just like how it's served in Beijing. On the side, there are traditional dipping sauce and toppings (shards of green onion, cucumber) and a few more creative toppings (pomelo pulp, peanut sauce, etc). I ate the skin with sugar first, it was perfectly crispy and extremely satisfying. We devoured the rest of the duck by making little duck wraps and the only regret was that we only ordered the half duck rather than the whole! - Dim sum symphony: beautifully presented trio of dumplings with prawn, lobster and crab fillings. They looked delicate but was full of flavours. - Baby bok choy: to balance the meal with a bit of green, we ordered sautéed baby bok choy with garlic. It was fresh and tasty. - Seafood vermicelli: this is the only disappointment of the meal (hence minus 1 star). I love vermicelli, but the noodle we had was simply too dry that we couldn't even finish the plate. Overall I am a big fan of this place and the peking duck in particular. The service was friendly and efficient, and the environment is very elegant. I'd definitely come back to have a whole duck next time!

Well... I am not a fussy eater...but I think you would be better off by getting frozen dimsum from…read moreChinese supermarket and save some ££ to eat at a better dimsum restaurant. We went there with low expectations, because we were a bit hungry and wanted to do a "research" there...We came out with an even lower verdict than our initial low expectation! Dimsum size were unusually small, cheap ingredients. We had some duck spring rolls (tiny ones), but where is the duck meat? Everything was a bit bland.. I have to say, the interior design of the restaurant looked really flimsy and weak..everything is lack of depth and thickness...(the tables were not too bad) (from a designer point of view) The only interesting thing was the jasmine and lily tea..It "blossoms" in a tall clear glass filled with hot water. So theatrical and well thought out sequences from a unassuming dry tea leaves ball to slowly opening up "flower"..and then the chain of jasmine flowers popping out from the centre and float within the glass of water..and then.... slowly some red petals emerging from within the tea leaves ball... If only they could be as thoughtful in preparing their dimsum...then i would give them more stars!

Unsurprisingly, this Ping Pong is exactly the same as every other Ping Pong. The dim sum is…read morepleasant rather than spectacular. Due to the location, this place gets no passing trade, it goes from empty at 11:55am to packed at 12:05pm and the staff flounder a little. The shu mai are fine the lychee juice is interesting if somewhat sweet, perhaps it would be better with some lemon juice.

'Bout time !!…read more Founder Ning Ma's grandad is the true inspiration. Dumplings in a street market in Bejing was his trade and it transposes very easily to the West. Dim Sum is breakfast food in Asia but works for any given hour in the West. Think of River Orchard Road in Singapore and the 24 hour Roti Prata spots there. I have been screaming out for this kind of kerbside spot since forever and it looks like the wave is coming. Hell to the yes!! Dan Doherty (Duck and Waffle @ Heron Tower) is pushing the concept and so the likelihood of the Mamalan London locations getting Tsunami'ed is a good bet. Once that happens the dream of an easy seat will be over so get in quick otherwise website carries a click & collect + Free Dumplings when you spend over £10. Takeaway does not give you the same experience as eating in but it saves you having to stand on a pavement once the chill sets in!! Good thing is that others will follow with variations on the concept and once London is satiated then we will start to see the spread North. Yip-the-fck-eee I had the Pork & Chinese Leaf dumplings with dipping vinegar & the Prawn buns with sriracha mayonnaise. True to form, I had to go for the 'Smacked Cucumber' on the side just for the name alone !! Go on, dare to tell me you did not just have a little smirk right there ;) My drink was the Asian Persuasion which I have renamed "Love You Long Time Buster!!" (Vodka,Lychee,Lemonade & Mango). Not sure they were up for that but, the customer is always right where I hail from .... #dimsummer

Note: I had it delivered. However, the dumplings were just not good. Strange texture and the…read morefilling made them seem like they were frozen or store bought. Lacking flavor and left a lot to be desired. The noodle soup was ok but again, not very flavorful. I would recommend finding other spots

We had spent the whole day at the Museum of London with just a sandwich to keep us going and we…read morewere on for the Street Art Walk with Yelp, so we wanted something hot in the tummy, before another 3 hours of walking. Taoo was along the way and the menu looked interesting and it seemed like they would dish out food quickly so we headed in. The menu was simple and we ordered quickly, the food too arrived quite quickly, but these were not freshly prepared buns/baos/ dumplings. It felt like they had been reheated and hence they had lost their original light and airy textures. We tried one of practically everything on their menu and had the same problem with each one. The fillings were tasty enough, but the wrappers and buns had dried out. Not a pleasant expereince at all. I did pick up their loyalty card when ringing up our purchase at the cash counter, but junked it as soon as I got home. I won't be returning.

It is a dimsum takeaway place. The menu is rather limited with 4 types of steamed dumpling but…read moreoffers some buns and rice dishes. I think it is a great lunch option alternative to the standard sandwiches and salad. Has set menu, I opted for set a which was cheapest but ample for lunch. Really nice addition to the biz lunch area

Having paid our first visit to Love Shack, it's been added to our list of favourites in the city…read more The setting, atmosphere, and staff were all welcoming and lovely, and the food was terrific. The no sin duck pancakes and sticky toffee pudding were particular standouts, but we loved everything we ordered, and are excited to come back and try more dishes!

What a fantastic vegan experience. A really fascinating menu, and the chefs are geniuses with…read moremushrooms. The Peking duck was a standout, but everything was amazing. Lovely staff and a warm, welcoming atmosphere. We will be back for sure!