Wong Kei is a famous restaurant in Chinatown for its rude service.
It is that famous you can google it on Wikipedia.
All that changed after 2001 when the restaurant got refurbished and friendlier waiters were hired but still there are some cocky ones.
To be honest, I am not a fan of Hong Kong style Chinese food but went because I was curious of how the restaurant was after renovation.
Not my cup of tea but it is the usual stuff you get from Hong Kong so if you miss food there, I would highly recommend it.
Saying that, I didn't order the roast duck but saw someone eating it and it looked good so I might try it next time as the famous duck nearby was disappointing.
Here were the dishes my friends had. Basically the Hong Kong fare.
Tried the flat rice noodles and tofu and it is the same but probably cleaner and fresh than the crap in Hong Kong.
Also had the beef brisket noodles which I would say taste better than Hong Kong because the beef is edible and tasty.
The broth is also rich with a hint of caraway seeds unlike the anaemic pale tasteless beef brisket soups in Hong Kong.
I would say the broth here is tasty like the one you get at Wing Kei noodles in Causeway bay while the noodles don't have that annoying lye flavour to it and the texture is much softer.
It is also recommended to ask for the chilli oil which spices things up even though it is tasty without whereas in Hong Kong chilli oil is definitely needed because the noodles and broth are seriously tasteless except for that nasty lye taste.
The only place for good beef brisket noodles in Hong Kong is Kau Kee where they also put caraway in the beef stock but their broth is weak.
I was a bit disappointed with the stir fried beef flat noodles because the strands were all broken which made it hard to pick up with chopsticks let alone a fork.
I found it bland overall.
The tea you get is also good and you can see why it is so aromatic because you get whole tea leaves.
Not top quality but better than average.
WONG KEI:
41-43 Wardour St, London W1D 6PY
