Wong Kei
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Recommendation added: 26/09/2006 20:15
By: shauna1 (YSUK rating +19)shauna1 has been thanked 6 times for this contribution
"Chinatown's most famous restaurant, this is no doubt one of my favourites. This place is so unique, you will end up doing what I have always done and take friends and family who have never visited Chinatown before for a meal, just so they can experience it!
Once you have reached the Wong Kei on 41-43 Wardour Street, Chinatown, Soho, you will enter the massive building which has five floors straight off the bustling street. As soon as you are in the doorway, you will be rapidly approached by a stressed looking waiter and abruptly asked "how many"? - please note that waiters here are notoriously rude which I think makes it so unique! Once you have confirmed how many is in your party, the waiter will shout instructions to another waiter and alas you have commenced your journey into the Wong Kei. Like some kind of a relay race, you will be passed between waiters untill you have reached your table on one of the floors. If you are lucky you will be sitting on your own table although most times I have been there, I have been sat with a group of strangers on a big round table with people from chinese locals to foreign tourists many times before.
As soon as you sit down, you will be hurriedly approached by a waiter who has about 5 seconds to give you your menu and take the drinks order. A great big steaming pot of china tea is free with each meal. Dont expect a posh menu. The food is a pretty standard selection with a few set meals. Also, you won't be mulling around between ordering and recieving. Your piping hot meal will arrive quickly in one of the dumb waiter and it will be slung at you by another 'high speed' waiter.
The place has a dingy interior, decor you wouldn't be proud of and very rude waiters but this place is always FULL of satisfied customers be it tourists or local chinese. What makes this place so fantastic is the atmosphere and the sheer efficient buzz of the place. The waiters run around like mad with food and drinks and people tuck into the great food and chat with strangers - the Wong Kei is definately a topic of conversation. You also get a cheap meal. Chinatown is fairly pricey and most of the restaurants are your pretty average chinese restaurant but at the Wong Kei you get cheap, fast and fascinating! Value for money is excellent.
Once you have finished your food (beware, I once sat back to take a quick break and a waiter took my dinner away!) You will get a bill and you will be expected to pay sharply and make way for the next diners. They don't accept credit cards and this is cash only. I dread to know why! You will leave feeling very full and somewhat bewildered about your experience.
The Wong Kei has never changed over the last 15 years I have been eating there. Don't come to the Wong Kei and expect a long, leisurely meal - you will be very disspointed. Come with an open mind and enjoy watching the restaurant be run with such military precision. You will get good food and good company and I am sure you will love it and be hooked like me"
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