Chinese: Wong Kei

41-43 Wardour Street
W1D 6PY
Tel: 020 7437 8408

Date of Last Visit: Thursday, June 21, 2007

The Victims: Ben, Gerry, Matt

The Damage: £20 each with drinks

The Background: My Chinese friend Echo has told me on a number of occasions that Wong Kei is THE place to go in Chinatown for Chinese food. Matt has organized a night out for Gerry and Ben and myself–a variety show at the Cafe Royal in Picadilly–and so we drop into Wong Kei for dinner beforehand.

The Loos: I started my Wong Kei experience in the ladies’ room, and it was really gross in a very disgusting way. The stench hit me the moment I walked through the door. The 5-second rule could not be applied here. A little power-washing would go a very very long, long way. Like long in a dig-a-tunnel-to-China-way. Yuk…I am grossed out just thinking about it. The things I do in London for my blog readers, I swear.

The Food: We started with some duck pancakes, which were really nice, as they usually always are. And a platter of mixed vegetarian items for Gerry. I don’t get the whole crispy spinach thing. It’s hard to eat, and it’s not very good! It’s like eating paper, no?

Now while we were enjoying our starters, the woman at the table next to me got a great looking dish. Our server explained that it was eel, and being a huge fan of unagi, I decided to give it a shot. I got the unagi and pork dish with white rice. The pork was really great, but the eel wasn’t my favorite. So I ended up having a few pieces of pork for dinner, along with some white rice. Not the most filling meal.

The Drinks: Tsing Taos all around, plus a bottle of HOT SAKE. If I had a band, I would call it HOT SAKE. Forgive me if I’ve told you this before.

The Service: Echo has warned me that the service isn’t very good, but I thought it was okay. Sure, it took us a bit to get the check at the end, but that was alright. I was expecting rudeness, gruffness and maybe a little name-calling, and we didn’t get any of that. Part of me was slightly disappointed.

The Verdict: If I go back, I will go with Echo and make her order for me. Given the number of people streaming in the doors, Wong Kei has something going for it. I just have to find out what it is. It certainly is not the toilet facilities.