There's not much wrong with Wong Kei! (Wong Kei)

Member Name: ms_123

Product:	Wong Kei
Date:	01/01/10 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great food, reasonably priced

Disadvantages: Waiter seemed a bit put out

Christmas holidays are always a time for me to catch up with friends and this one has been no exception. Earlier this week I met up with a group of university friends at the Wong Kei restaurant located in London's China Town at 41-43 Wardour St. This is just off Shaftesbury Avenue and the nearest tube station is Leicester Square, which is about a 5-minute walk away.

I arrived on time but my friends were fashionably late and so I spent some time standing outside the restaurant. This gave me the chance to have a look at the menu to see what was on offer and what sort of price range we were looking at. I tend to avoid eating chicken or meat when eating out, so I was quite pleased to see that there was a huge range of vegetarian and fish dishes on offer. There was also quite a selection of chicken, duck, beef and pork dishes. These all seemed to be very reasonably priced, with a main course being in the £5 region. Add in rice or noodles for another couple of pounds and your meal was complete.

When my friends finally arrived we headed in. We were greeted by a waiter who said we could head upstairs to find a table. The restaurant is spread over three floors and I was surprised that two of these were packed. I took that as a good sign and even better was that many of these people were Chinese so the place seemed authentic. The different floors seemed to be a selling point for the restaurant even had Wong Kei t-shirts for sale that said 'upstairs' or 'downstairs' which I found quite amusing.

We headed to the top floor and were greeted by another waiter who seated us. We were the first group to make it to the top floor and the waiter seemed a bit put out to see us. Having read some reviews about the restaurant before going this is apparently normal and the restaurant have a reputation for not the greatest of service. Once we were settled the waiter took out order. I'd eaten several times in China Town but hadn't been to that particular restaurant. My friends had and it seemed like their Sweet and Sour Chicken had a bit of a good reputation. 4 out of 7 of the group went for this, without even looking at the menu!

I decided to be slightly different and went for the sweet and sour prawns with egg-fried rice. The order took around 15 minutes to arrive, but we were so busy chatting that we hardly noticed this. I was impressed that all the dishes were brought out at the same time. Normally when I've been out with friends and we've ordered different things they come out in various stages which is often quite awkward as people feel they have to wait for everyone's orders to come through. While we were waiting the waiter brought out complimentary Jasmine tea, which tasted lovely. Throughout our meal the waiter ensured that our pot of tea was fresh and kept topped up.

When the food arrived, it was beautifully presented and all looked very appetising. There was much oohing and aahing at our table! I'm not very good at handling chopsticks but was determined to resist the temptation of asking for a fork, no matter how long it took me to eat! My prawns were presented on a separate dish to the rice and I set about spooning some of the sauce onto the rice and tucked in. I noticed the sauce appeared to be quite thick and sticky and coated the prawns and vegetables very nicely. Digging in, I thought the sauce was quite sweet and had a lovely tang to it as well as a bit of a kick. The prawns had been lightly fried in batter before being placed in the sauce and tasted lovely with the rice. Overall my meal was delicious and I managed with the chopsticks! The portions were quite generous and I couldn't finish all my rice, although I did make a special effort to finish the prawns and vegetables as they were so nice!

With our hunger satisfied the waiter came and cleared our table and topped up our tea. We continued to chat for another half an hour or so and at no point were we made to feel that we had to leave, which considering it was lunchtime and one of their busier times, I was impressed with. The bill came to around £50 for the 7 of us, which worked out to be just over £7 each. For a central London location and the quality of the food, I consider that a bargain. With so many other dishes to try I'll certainly be visiting again.

Summary: One to try if you're in Central London