Xu London is an elegant Taiwanese restaurant in Soho, offering up a welcoming touch of glamorous 1930s’ Taiwanese styled cuisine including varieties of street food and classic dishes. The restaurant gets a very high rating from TripAdvisor and other such review sites, so I always wanted to try it out and see for myself. Last week, I finally got the chance to visit there with a friend and it certainly did not disappoint.
When I first walked through the entrance, it seemed like I had been transported back in time. As mentioned, the theme of Xu is a typical 1930’s Taiwanese tea house and the attention to detail is meticulous! Accented dark wood paneling, high ceiling fans, art-deco styled furniture throughout. It was absolutely charming and the presentation very chic! In the center was a quaint tea counter serving up many authentic tasting cups. A lovely touch indeed.
There is also an upstairs section containing a small bar with the bar tender mixing some nice refreshing cocktails.
The menu has a good selection of small "to-share" plates, mains and sides. We were advised by the waitress to order at least a couple of them between the two of us, which turned out to be spot on advice.
STARTER
We shared a couple of starters including Xian Bing, Tomato & Smoked Eel and Taiwanese Sausage Taro Dumplings. They were all top notch quality with a great presentation. Both looked great and tasted delicious to boot!
The Tomato & Smoked Eel however was my absolute favourite! It sounded odd at first, but turned out surprisingly wonderful with each bite a veritable explosion of flavours!
MAIN
For our main, we opted for Shou Pa Chicken and Beef Short Rib & Marrow.
The Shou Pa Chicken was Xu’s signature dish that most surely did not disappoint. The chicken was marinated in traditional spices and roasted upon a charcoal oven. OMG, the meat was incredibly tender and one of the best chicken dishes I’ve ever tasted! Very highly recommended.
Perfect to go with a bowl of Lardo Lard Rice with crispy onions on top. Simple yet tasty and something you cannot miss out on.
The bone marrow beef was so flavoursome too, served with cucumber slices and pancake. Simply delightful and refreshing.
We would have tried out their desserts but were told the table must be ready for the next booking of guests. Apparently, we had exceeded our dining time of 1 hour 45 minutes. This part was slightly annoying. To be fair, it was mentioned on their website after I checked later that evening. The service was friendly and efficient but could be more flexible when attending to us during our meal.
The total bill including service came to £73 between two of us. It was not cheap considering this is without a dessert and excluding alcohol, but then again the price was not above the price point expected for this type of establishment in the Central London area.
I have to say overall, food at Xu restaurant was generally excellent. A little different than more mainstream Chinese cooking but still perfectly executed. If you want something different, I would definitely recommend this place for an enjoyable and pleasant night out.
许儒华苑是一家位于伦敦苏豪区的台湾茶餐厅，供应特色台湾风味小吃，在TripAdvisor和其它网站上得到了不少好评，所以我一直都惦记着要去那里瞧一瞧。上周，我终于有机会和朋友一起去大吃一顿，呵呵。
走进餐馆，许儒华苑古色古香的雅致装潢让我感觉好像穿越时光回到了二，三十年代的大上海。餐厅正中间有一个古朴的茶柜，架上一格一格装着上等的台湾茶叶，一位茶艺师正在娴熟地为客人们准备茶水，非常有特色！餐厅共有两层，楼上有一个小酒吧，听说这里的鸡尾酒也很不错。
菜单上以台湾风味小吃为主，也有主菜。服务员很贴心地让我们多点几个小菜，看来这里的份量应该挺精致的吧。
前菜
前菜我们试了这里的猪肉馅饼，烟熏鳗鱼番茄和芋头饺子。样样看起来都玲珑小巧，非常有特色。猪肉馅饼一口咬下去，浓浓的肉汁，咸中带辣，好吃！烟熏鳗鱼更是出众，我还从来没有想过鳗鱼与番茄的配搭能创造出如此鲜美的味道，很赞哦！
主菜
我们点了店里首推的招牌“手扒鸡”，果然名不虚传！鸡腿和鸡身用传统香料腌制好以后，放在木炭烤箱上烤制。鸡肉细腻嫩滑，皮很入味，简直是我吃过最好吃的手扒鸡！再配上一碗猪油拌饭，真的是非常完美！
另外，牛髓夹饼也蛮有创意。大骨头中盛放着牛肉碎和酥脆的红葱，配搭着细长的青瓜条，再包裹起来吃的卷饼，能享受到不同层次口感。
本来我们还想尝尝他们家的甜点，可惜被告知预定了这张桌子的下位客人马上就要到了。原来这里每桌限定用餐时间是1个小时45分钟！那没办法咯，只能下次再来。
我们的账单一共是73英镑，并不便宜，但在伦敦中心也不算很贵。总体来说，许儒华苑的台湾美食与众不同，创意十足，很值得推荐！大家有机会也来尝一尝吧，呵呵。
Restaurant Information
Xu
30 Rupert St, London W1D 6DL, UK
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