Banstead, Taiwanese Restaurant Guide

“Great value, great flavours” sums up the appeal of this fun Tooting venue, which serves a short menu of filled Taiwanese buns and cocktails, and is named in honour of owner Frank Leung’s father, Joe (who ran a restaurant in Salisbury for 32 years). As of September 2024, it has a Taiwanese cocktail bar, Good Measure, in the basement. See also Mr Bao in Peckham. Top tip – “I loved the beef tataki”.

“Great Taiwanese bao buns”, “lovely service and good cocktails” have brought success to this welcoming Peckham local (est. 2016 – now with spinoffs Daddy Bao in Tooting and Master Bao in both Stratford and Shepherd’s Bush Westfields). “The menu can look a tiny bit samey, but that’s a bit misleading”. Top Menu Tip – “weekend brunch is superb: don’t miss Taiwanese sausage with Cantonese scrambled eggs, mapo beans and hash browns on the side”.

“The dishes just keep coming and not one of them disappoints” at the Peng family’s Pimlico veteran – “an unusual Chinese restaurant that asks what you like and produces a banquet of what suits you until you say you’ve had enough”. “They’ve been doing it for a long time” (since 1982) “and they do it well” – it remains one of London’s better Chinese restaurants in a “rather agreeable retro way”. “The team try hard to make every visit special” and – though it is quite “pricey” – it’s excellent “for a treat”.

“Eat in or take out, these buns are delicious” – the universally agreed take on this Taiwanese street-food operation founded 13 years ago by Shing Tat, his wife Erchen Chang and sister Wai Ting Chung, now with six sites across the capital and part of the JKS Restaurants group. The “good-value” filled steamed buns “really make you want to go back” – “I called in 3 times in the same afternoon!” – while “the noodles are fab, too”. The only real complaint concerns the settings, with some branches “far too cramped” given their popularity.

“Eat in or take out, these buns are delicious” – the universally agreed take on this Taiwanese street-food operation founded 13 years ago by Shing Tat, his wife Erchen Chang and sister Wai Ting Chung, now with six sites across the capital and part of the JKS Restaurants group. The “good-value” filled steamed buns “really make you want to go back” – “I called in 3 times in the same afternoon!” – while “the noodles are fab, too”. The only real complaint concerns the settings, with some branches “far too cramped” given their popularity.

“Eat in or take out, these buns are delicious” – the universally agreed take on this Taiwanese street-food operation founded 13 years ago by Shing Tat, his wife Erchen Chang and sister Wai Ting Chung, now with six sites across the capital and part of the JKS Restaurants group. The “good-value” filled steamed buns “really make you want to go back” – “I called in 3 times in the same afternoon!” – while “the noodles are fab, too”. The only real complaint concerns the settings, with some branches “far too cramped” given their popularity.

“You can’t go past the xiao long bao” – “soup-filled dumplings hand-made onsite and steamed to order” – say fans of this Taiwanese-based global chain with three London outlets (in Covent Garden, CentrePoint and Selfridges). “All the other dishes are a bit hit and miss”, though, while a well-travelled minority reckon they’re “nothing like the original restaurants in Asia”, with prices – by comparison to e.g. Singapore – that are “off the scale”. But you must go: “cute robots help clear the plates!”

“Eat in or take out, these buns are delicious” – the universally agreed take on this Taiwanese street-food operation founded 13 years ago by Shing Tat, his wife Erchen Chang and sister Wai Ting Chung, now with six sites across the capital and part of the JKS Restaurants group. The “good-value” filled steamed buns “really make you want to go back” – “I called in 3 times in the same afternoon!” – while “the noodles are fab, too”. The only real complaint concerns the settings, with some branches “far too cramped” given their popularity.