Wong Kei’s (pronounced “wonky’s”) is a well-known Chinese restaurant on Wardour Street, off Leicester Square in London. I had the pleasure of eating there last night, and this is a review of that visit.
I have eaten at Wong Kei several times but had not visited for a number of years before ... Read review
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Advantages: Cheap, fast, fun Disadvantages: Arguably, not the highest quality food (but not bad either)
Wong Kei’s (pronounced “wonky’s”) is a well-known Chinese restaurant on Wardour Street, off Leicester Square in London. I had the pleasure of eating there last night, and this is a review of that visit.
I have eaten at Wong Kei several times but had not visited for a number of years before last night. The restaurant is famous for its cheap food, fun and informal atmosphere, and most of all, rude waiters and I was interested to see ... .../>
The restaurant is spread over several floors and sure enough, when my husband and I entered, we were told “upstairs…please”. We joined the queue on the stairs, and after a few minutes, we were shown to two spare seats on the first floor. One thing to note about Wong Kei is that you do share tables with other diners, and this is usually part of the fun. However, we noticed immediately that most of the old, large tables for eight or more people ... more
Wong Kei’s (pronounced “wonky’s”) is a well-known Chinese restaurant on Wardour Street, off Leicester Square in London. I had the pleasure of eating there last night, and this is a review of that visit.
I have eaten at Wong Kei several times but had not visited for a number of years before last night. The restaurant is famous for its cheap food, fun and informal atmosphere, and most of all, rude waiters and I was interested to see whether the place was as I remembered it.
The restaurant is spread over several floors and sure enough, when my husband and I entered, we were told “upstairs…please”. We joined the queue on the stairs, and after a few minutes, we were shown to two spare seats on the first floor. One thing to note about Wong Kei is that you do share tables with other diners, and this is usually part of the fun. However, we noticed immediately that most of the old, large tables for eight or more people had been replaced by a larger number of small tables for four people. We were shown to a table where a young Chinese couple were busy having an argument. Oh dear. We smiled at them as we seated ourselves, but they avoided eye contact and ignored us, so we did not impose ourselves on them any further.
Immediately we were seated, a pot of jasmin tea and two teacups were placed in front of us; this comes free with every meal. We had already decided what to order, as the menu is prominently displayed in the window of the restaurant, so we waved aside the menus and gave our order. As I mentioned, the food is cheap. You can get a set menu for £7 per person: this buys you, for example, rice, vegetables, sweet and sour pork and chicken in black bean sauce. However, it’s worth noting that this is for a minimum of 2 people, so is no good if you are dining alone (and this is one restaurant where you can comfortably done alone, particularly at lunchtimes).
However, we decided to push the boat out, and ordered the “special set menu” for £12 per person. Hey, my husband knows how to spoil me ;-) Looking around the room, I could see that the place was packed full. The clientele were mainly young, and mainly Chinese, with the exception of a group of loud Aussies and us. The waiters toiled non-stop between tables and a counter in front of the four “dumb waiters” that brought food up from the kitchens below.
First to arrive, and quickly, was a plate of mixed hor d’orves, comprising fairly standard barbeque spare ribs, pancake rolls, crispy seaweed and surprisingly good sesame prawn toast, which wasn’t at all greasy (one of my pet hates). Next we had crispy aromatic duck and pancakes, which was delicious. “Bad” examples of this dish can be overcooked – too crispy, to the point of being dry and inedible – or wet and fatty, but this was neither; it was perfectly cooked, with a pleasant aromatic flavour. We even had some banter with the waiter who bought the duck to our table and shredded it (curiously, using a spoon and fork, not a knife). I began to suspect that the staff had been on a customer care course since my last visit.
The arguing couple left, and the staff promptly re-set their side of the table. This wasn’t difficult, as the pink tablecloth was covered by a square of disposable white paper on each side of the table. No “crumbing down” here – just fold and remove, and replace with a clean piece! The other “cheap” thing about the table setting is that you eat from plastic bowls and plates (with a lovely Chinese pattern in red and green). Even the spoons are plastic - and of course, the chopsticks. Do not ask for a fork, unless you want to provide entertainment for the other diners.
The last part of our meal was a large bowl of egg-fried rice, vegetables, crispy shredded chilli beef, and chicken in black bean sauce. The egg fried rice was a bit stodgy, more steamed than fried but I prefer that to it being coated in many-times-fried oil. The vegetables were standard, and the chicken was passable, although the sauce had a distinct “MSG” signature to it. The beef was very good, in a thick sweet sauce with plenty of fresh chillies.
All in all, the meal was very enjoyable, and you can’t argue with the prices. Unfortunately, the restaurant can’t guarantee to seat you with people who want to make conversation. It’s also worth noting that you can only pay cash – presumably due to the dubious residency status of some of the employees. Not somewhere you’d want to take a new love you are hoping to impress, but a very pleasant evening for two old married who are glad to have escaped the kids for the evening.
Advantages: Cheap, entertaining, unique Disadvantages: Don't worry too much about hygiene
...no atmosphere and high prices. Won Keis bucks that trend completely. It's also the most eccentric restaurant in London and so an entertainment fest to boot. Let me explain. Here's what'll happen when you walk in. You'll be one of several parties shuffling throught the door. Quite fast, you catch the eye of one of the notoriously rude waiters, who will look you up and down and snap. "How many?". Give the number of your party and however many it is ... ...surprised by the bill. And whatever has happened to the waiters, a trip here is still a quite unique experience: the ritual entry, the mad decor, the fantastical mix of diners - Won Keis is a London institution and long may it remain so. Miss it at your peril. ...
ImogenW 17.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Won Kei, London
Advantages: great food at great prices Disadvantages: service is very poor
...Sqaure. When my family found Won Kei it was great because we knew their was a great restaurant where you could go to get delicious chinese food without spending a fortune. This restraunt is surrounded by millions of other chinese restraunts but it is always busy because everyone knows its a cut above the rest. Won Kei is open till very late at night so you can always get a meal after watching a late night film in Leicesters Square. The food at Won ... ...though the service is bad people still continue to re-visit Won Kei because the food is so wonderful and the prices are so reasonable. I you are ever in London I would definatley recommend this restaurant to anyone who'd love to have a great meal for an extremley reasonable price. ...
Pacyesangel 27.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Won Kei, London
Advantages: Very cheap, very good food Disadvantages: Rude service, ugly decor
...out!) the food at the Won Kei is *very* good, and considered by many to be the best Chinese in London. I usually go for a big one-dish-meal, as these seem to be the best - my favourite is the Chow Ho Fun (fat rice noodles) with Beef in Blackbean Sauce. This is the perfect place to go with a quick (perhaps rushed if you're sat in the basement) informal lunch with friends (though expect to be sat on a large communal table with strangers, filling up ...
SmileyBen 21.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Won Kei, London
This huge Chinese restaurant on Wardour Street has a cult following in London. Although as a chef I normally won’t go near a place that serves indifferent food, for this place occasionally I will make an exception, if I am drunk or up for a laugh. So I will add my Wong Kei story to the others, I think everyone who goes there must have one.
I have been chatting on the Net for a few years now. When a lady that I chat to regularly in Bianca’s ... ...some of the UK chatters agreed to meet up with her. None of us had met all the others previously. As a couple of us are Londoners we decided that Wong Kei was the place to go to break the ice.
As usual we were told by a surly waiter to join the queue of people snaking up the stairs, before grudgingly being given a table. We ordered the set meal, and settled down to our nosh, one of our party struggling because he was not allowed a knife and fork ...
spankygoodtime 20.05.2001 (26.05.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Won Kei, London
Advantages: no problems in finding a seat even if you are in a group of 74 people (experimented myself) Disadvantages: you can't decide where you want to sit and sometimes you have to share your table with others
Wong Kei is my favourite chinese restaurant.Its food is delicious and its big helpings are great value for money.During the years their waiters became less rude and sometimes they even smile and make jokes.More then once I wonder with my friends "Gosh he is smiling at me and he called me madam,are we sure we are in Wong Kei???"
I always eat here with a friend of mine who has been their customer for about 32 years so by now I know some little tricks.One ... ...like chicken raw in the middle, a chinese way to cook it, but it is fine if you order"sweet and sour chicken rice" (not in the menu) or with blackbean sauce.
Other two dishes that I love and they are NOT in the menu are "Beancurd and green vegetable rice" a vegetarian dish with oyster sauce fried tofu,carrots, green vegetables and mushrooms in a bed of boiled rice, or you can choose "Spicy pork chop rice" and you will have a dish with boiled rice ...
sweetcat 22.09.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Won Kei, London
