Wong Kei

WONG KEI

Cuisine: Chinese

Nearest tube: Picadilly Circus

Address: 41-43 Wardour Street, W1D 6PY

Tel: 020 7437 8408

Wong Kei wins the distinct honour of Joel's 'Most Visited' restaurant. Wear it with pride, boys.

Disclaimers out of the way first: Wong Kei is not a pleasant place to eat. It is not an elegant dining experience. The standard procedure is: get in; eat; get out. This place is probably more famous for its brisk, unfriendly, and often downright rude service. And I wouldn't change it for the world.

There's something unspeakably satisfying about the whole experience. Walking in without bothering with the pleasantries of a smile or a 'good evening', you hold up the requisite number of fingers before being unceremoniously ushered up or down a grubby flight of stairs into a packed dining room, as you are then herded onto a table that will almost certainly already be seated with other diners. A menu is shoved under your nose as a waiter grunts in your general direction. Yeah, welcome to Wong Kei. Now hurry up and order.

But hey, I love it. Us Londoners are fundamentally rude, so this is an eating experience that mirrors our black hearts, doing away with the sickening insincerity and etiquette that usually plagues a visit to a restaurant. Like an abusive relationship, I keep coming back for more.

The reason being of course, the food. And the prices. The food is good. The food is cheap. An enormous plate of delicious, authentic food costs around a fiver, providing you locate the hidden set meals at the back of the menus, which all seasoned WK veterans do. I usually go for Mapo Tofu - minced pork and tofu in a spicy savoury sauce, or mixed seafood ho-fun, which consists of king prawns, squid and fishballs ontop of thick flat noodles. At this point I'll admit that I usually order the same thing at any Chinese restaurant, but that just means I'm experienced. And the food here isn't the best I've ever tasted, but it's still warm and satisfying, a bit like an old pair of slippers.

Mixed seafood ho-fun, complete with chilli oil

A comparison to an old pair of slippers isn't really the perfect way to conclude a review of one of my all-time favourite restaurants, but hey, Wong Kei isn't really a perfect restaurant. It's quick, it's cheap, and it's tasty. What more do you want?

Service 3/5

Food 3/5

Value 5/5

Ambience 2/5

Total: 13/20

Why you should go there: Good hearty food if you're skint or in a hurry

Don’t leave without trying: Deep fried squid with salt and chilli