Proud Chinatown old-timer

10 April 2012

Fung Shing - one of the first restaurants in Chinatown to take cooking seriously.

Some decades ago, when the restaurant was still a dowdy little place with a mural on the back wall, Chinatown's number one fish cook, chef Wu, ruled the kitchens.

When he died, in 1996, his sous-chef took over.

Since those glory days the restaurant has changed beyond recognition and now dining rooms stretch all the way from Lisle Street to Gerrard Street, ever bigger and ever brassier.

Critics tend to suggest that there has been a slight decline in overall standards, but that may be rose-tinted hindsight and the menu is still littered with interesting dishes.

To start, ignore the crispy duck with pancakes, which is good but too predictable, and the lobster with noodles.

Instead try the steamed scallops with garlic and soy sauce - nowhere does them better.

Or spareribs, barbecued or with chilli and garlic.

The prosaically named 'mixed meat with lettuce' is also good, a savoury dish of mince with lettuce-leaf wraps.

You could happily order your mains solely from the chef 's specials: stewed belly pork with yam in hot pot; crispy spicy eel; roast crispy pigeon; or oysters with bean thread vermicelli in hot pot.

Other dishes are good too: perfect Singapore noodles; crispy stuffed baby squids with chilli and garlic; and steamed aubergine with garlic sauce.

The Fung Shing has always been classy, but what is unusual, certainly in Chinatown, is the gracious and helpful service.

This a restaurant where you can ask for advice with confidence, although you'll need an unflinching wallet if the recommendation is braised double-boiled shark's fin in hot pot.

Fung Shing
15 Lisle Street, WC2 7BE

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