The inside scoop on where to eat at Chinese New Year

As the Year of the Rabbit hops in, the biggest names in Chinese cooking give David Ellis the lowdown on where to celebrate

- David Ellis

WHEN a country is as vast as China, the idea of it having a singular cuisine swiftly teeters into the ridiculous. So it is: going for a Chinese might mean plates from Sichuan and Hunan, blistering with numbing spice; it might mean the sweet seafood of Cantonese cooking; or perhaps the colourful precision of the sweet-andsalt of dishes from Jiangsu. It might mean high end or low; exacting or cheerily shapeless; food for bottles of beer or pots of tea. It can be, then, hard to know where to start at the local spot on the corner, in the warren of Chinatown, or among the moneyed of Mayfair?

 

And so we radioed for help. Ahead of next week's lunar new year, some of the biggest names in Chinese cooking offer their favourites, at both the peak and foot of pricing. We've cut repeat mentions of a few names - A Wong, Imperial Treaure and the Royal China Club had multiple shout-outs (Filipino-born chef John Javiar was at pains to mention their lobster dumplings are the best he's ever had) - but below are 21 of London's best Chinese restaurants, as chosen by those in the know.

Z He, Bun House