London's chinatown is the heart of London's Chinese community. Especially lots of Chinese restaurants are located there offering authentic Chinese cuisine. But how suitable is this for vegetarians or even vegans? Read more here!
Chinatown London
Where best can you go to in London, when you are looking out for authentic Chinese food? The answer is simple: to London's Chinatown!
The district above Leicester Square belongs to the Chinese community of London. It's an attraction for tourists, too, who come to taste authentic Chinese food. But is chinatown suitable for vegetarians or even vegans, too?
If you look at a menu of a real Chinese restaurant, that is not tourist-minded or tries to adapt to the foreign country they are located in, there are some differences. Of course the huge majority of guests are actually Chinese, and they are wanting real Chinese food served in an authentic Chinese style. In China you put many different dishes on the table, and everybody helps himself / herself. You may eat rice or noodles with a dish or the rice only inbetween the courses to neutralise your gum.
In Germany for example, many Chinese restaurants, which like to attract Germans to their restaurants, serve their food in a more Western pattern like meat, vegetables and rice or noodles on one plate. You'll find some dishes, which are considered synonymous with Chinese food for Westerners like Chop Suey, duck sweet 'n' sour or a Peking Goulash soup. These dishes are in fact far away from authentic Chinese cooking and avoid strange flavours or ingredients for Westernes.
Many authentic Chinese restaurants are themed like Authentic Sichuan Cuisine or Cantonese Cuisine, etc.
In authentic Chinese cuisine, vegetable dishes play a certain role. Vegan food is mostly considered for dietry reasons and fastening season. On a reagular menu of a Chinese restaurant, normally at least a handful of vegetable dishes exist. You order vegetables with your other food, which is mostly meat or fish. Non-vegetarian dishes are very dominant on the menu.
If you order a bean curd aka tofu dish, it's not nesseccarily vegetarian. Ma Po's tofu, for example, is a classic Chinese dish cooked with minced meat. And do not take for granted, they cook everything in vegetable oil. It could be lard, too. But most Chinese restaurants I know opt for rapseed oil. You better ask your waiter to be sure. The staff is normally very open to your dietary wishes.
Within this block you will find everything Chinese culinary stuff you wish for.
I short-tested 3 different Chinese restaurants there to give you an overview on how well veggies can find a great meal in London's chinatown.
Tao Tao Ju Restaurant
The Tao Tao Ju China Restaurant is some kind of posh. They have a nice wine menu, which is not too common in Chinese restaurants. Normally you drink tea with your food.
The vegetable dim sums I ordered are clearly handmade and no convenience food. The sauce should have been homemade, too.
The tofu with salt & pepper was not bad, but I had it in much better quality at Good Friends Restaurant in Berlin. Vegetarians will get happy at Tao Tao Ju.
Wan Chai Corner Restaurant
The Wan Chai Corner China Restaurant was a bit hectic, when I was there and well-packed. Fortunately the portions are very generous. There is a good choice of veggie dishes available.
I noticed the staff can get quite nervous to rude from time to time with their Chinese fellows, what killed the atmosphere a bit.
As a starter I ordered a portion of fried vegetables to roll in some cabbage leaves. This was great and had almost the size of a main course. I haven't seen this before. Great alternative to spring rolls, indeed. The aubergines as my main course were well done and not fatty at all. Great value for money!
Gerrard's Corner Restaurant
I visited the Gerrard's Corner China Restaurant shortly after it opened for lunch service...and it was soon fully packed.
Ordering some jasmine tea, an oolong tea was served, that was clearly above the quality of any normal jasmine tea.
When ordering my food, the waitress realised quite quickly I'm a vegetarian or vegan. She asked me, if I want my fried rice with or without eggs. I ordered cheng fun with spring onions and some special mixed vegetables. I had to wait some time, but I was rewarded well after about 20 minutes.
This third restaurant will be a joy for vegetarians, too. Vegans will have a chance, too. I saw they are cooking with rapseed oil.
The result: Yes, vegetarians will always find some goodies in London's Chinatown restaurants. These dishes are not boring like you see oftenly on German (modified) Chinese restaurants like fried soy sprouts, veggie (convenience) spring rolls, veggie Chop Suey or stuff like that.
Compared to other European cuisines, Chinese cuisine will always be the better value for money, if you are into Chinese food in London.
If you go for the spring rolls in chinatown, they are homemade. If you order vegetables, try some of the different sorts of cabbage. As you could see here, there are always a couple of good choices for vegetarians around.
By the way: in London the food industry has learned, that vegetarians and vegans are an importent consumer group, who should be adressed propperly. This is something, I still miss in Germany...sometimes.
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