Food House

Chinese

48-36 Gerrard St, W1D 5QH

££

Chinatown is awash with so much choice it’s often overwhelming. A tourist hot-spot, it leads Londoners to view it with a healthy scepticism – the food might seem authentic but with so much choice how do we know it doesn’t suffer on quality? Once you’ve found your spot and like it, you will return there countless times. This is the relationship I had with Gerrards Corner – at one end of Wardour Street, as I had been there as a kid with my parents and never really bothered to try anywhere else. That was until a friend and I were on the hunt for a cheap central spot to get a weeknight dinner. We left it quite last minute and Chinatown came to mind as a place that kind of always has space as there are so many options and I was keen to branch out from Gerrards Corner, which is on the pricier side and is dominated by white tablecloths.

After sifting through a few recommendations, we booked Food House – which is confusingly named New China on the outside. We sat outside as even though it was freezing they had a nice little tent and heater set up which kept us nice and warm. Neither of us were too bothered about drinking, preferring to save our vices for the deep fried sweet and sour kind instead, so we opted for a Jasmine Tea (£3) and an Aloe Vera juice (£4). When looking up Food House online, I was slightly apprehensive that the dishes would be of the super traditional kind: think lots of tripe, offal and trotters. However, I was relieved to find that the menu consisted of all my regular favourites.

We ordered some Prawn Toast (£7.5), a Dim Sum Platter (£9.5), Cantonese Roast Duck (£17.8), Chilli Shredded Beef (£12.5), Choi Sum (£11.8) and an Egg Fried Rice (£3.5). The prawn toast was crispy and greasy; the traditional stuff that I much prefer to any fancier versions. However, it was slightly too crispy on the edges, meaning it became a little on the dry side. The Dim Sum platter had two servings of four different dumplings which made it pretty cost effective. I still don’t rate Chinese dumplings anywhere near as much as their Japanese Gyoza cousins, but as far as dumplings go these were pretty good. The crispy chilli beef was just as shiny as the star of the show at Dim Sum and Duck – proving that this really is a dish that fares better fresh, rather than being disappointed with takeaway versions.

To branch away from the typical Aromatic Duck, we decided to opt for the Roast Duck instead. The portion was huge, so you do get a lot for the slightly pricey tag of £17.80, however, a lot of the pieces require some cautious chewing around large shards of bone. I know this only adds to the flavour, but you do end up leaving a lot on the plate, purely due to the faff of navigation. The meat is incredibly rich, and to be honest became a little too much after a few pieces. This would be a dish to indulge in with a larger group, as one or two pieces satisfy your duck needs without overwhelming. To top off the dishes, we had some garlic choi sum to add some greenery to our table, as well as a classic egg fried rice: both tasty, excellently seasoned and good enough to eat on their own.

Much like the food marathon of Dim Sum and Duck, we again had ordered a little too much, but managed to polish off the majority of it. This time, however, we were not told by any of the staff to not order any more, neither were we rushed to take away our plates or deliver our bill. As far as Chinatown goes, this was one of my more pleasant experiences. Expect the expected: good Chinese food in the centre if town for a decent price tag. For £37 I was completely and utterly stuffed.

OVERALL RATING: ****