Soho's Chinatown is London's epicentre for Chinese food. Packed into a few streets between Leicester Square and Shaftesbury Avenue, you'll find dozens of restaurants serving everything from dim sum to hotpot.
But with so many options, how do you choose? And what if you have specific dietary requirements?
The Chinatown landscape
Most restaurants in Chinatown serve Cantonese cuisine - the sweet, savoury, saucy style that most Brits think of as "Chinese food." Dim sum, roast duck, chow mein, sweet and sour - it's all Cantonese.
But Chinese food is so much more than Cantonese. And increasingly, Chinatown is reflecting that diversity.
Beyond Cantonese
In the last few years, Chinatown has seen a wave of restaurants specialising in regional Chinese cuisines:
- Sichuan - Fiery, numbing, bold. Think mapo tofu and dan dan noodles.
- Northern Chinese - Wheat-based, lamb-heavy, spice-forward. Hand-pulled noodles, rou jia mo, cumin dishes.
- Hunan - Similar to Sichuan but smokier and without the numbing pepper.
- Taiwanese - Bubble tea, popcorn chicken, beef noodle soup.
The Greedy Sheep falls into the Northern Chinese category - specifically Xi'an and Lanzhou-style street food. It's bold, warming, wheat-heavy food that's very different from the Cantonese restaurants around us. For a wider lay of the land, our insider guide to where to eat in Chinatown breaks down every major regional style.
For halal diners
If you eat halal, your options in Chinatown are limited. Most restaurants use pork extensively and cook with alcohol. The Greedy Sheep is currently the only 100% halal Chinese restaurant in Chinatown - meaning the entire kitchen and menu is halal, not just selected dishes. If you're walking up from the tube, our pick of the best restaurants near Leicester Square covers more nearby halal-friendly options.
Our top picks at The Greedy Sheep
1. Lamb Noodle Soup - the signature dish 2. Rou Jia Mo - the 2,000-year-old Chinese burger 3. Crispy Chilli Beef - wok-fried with Sichuan pepper 4. Pan-Fried Dumplings - golden bottoms, juicy filling
We're at 8 Little Newport Street - a one-minute walk from Leicester Square. Open 12pm-10pm, seven days a week.
