This article was originally published in Business Life.
Later this month the Chinese calendar moves on numerically to 4707 and symbolically from the earth rat to the ox, second only in importance to the year of the dragon. (Our picture shows seasonal greetings from Shanghai wine importer Summergate.)
The colourful celebrations that accompany this transition in the many Chinatowns around the world are a source of invaluable business to every Chinese restaurateur. And it is hugely encouraging to report that the quality and variety of the food and service (that could previously only have been described as sullen in many cases) in many Chinese restaurants around the UK is now much better than it ever was.
In London a great deal of this improvement has interestingly taken place outside the confines of Chinatown, which branches out from Gerrard Street between Leicester Square and Shaftesbury Avenue.When Alan Yau chose to combine modern design with modern Chinese cooking first at Hakkasan and then Yauatcha it was in new buildings that lend themselves much more easily to such a combination than the narrow streets of Chinatown. And when Shao Wei opened Bar Shu, which specializes in what can be fiery Sichuan food, it was on a corner site in Frith Street, formerly L'Epicure, one of London's first French restaurants.
History is partly responsible for this development. As British Chinatowns first began to emerge 50 years ago, it was in areas where the Chinese took over property being vacated by longer established immigrants. Manchester's thriving Chinatown is based around George Street in a series of building that were once textile warehouses run predominantly by the Jews – it was here in the early 1930's that my uncle suffered a serious accident when a bale of cotton fell from an outside hoist directly on to his back.
But if the physical layout of London's Chinatown – a series of tall buildings each housing a sequence of small dining rooms linked by corridors and steep stairs with the kitchens invariably in the basement – cannot be changed, then a new wave of Chinese restaurateurs is bringing a long overdue improvement to their interiors, their menus and, most excitingly, their ability to reflect the regionality of Chinese cooking.
The Baozi (pronounced bow-dza) Inn occupies a small site surrounded by Chinese supermarkets and takes its name from the stuffed bun that is the ubiquitous snack of northern China, where wheat is the staple and rice a luxury.
The black lacquer interior, with old newspapers featuring Chairman Mao on the walls, is certainly atmospheric even if the tables and stools are utilitarian rather than comfortable. But the food is good. We began with the signature buns, filled with pork, eggs and radish, then moved on to some Chengdu crescent dumplings in a savoury broth, wontons in a chilli oil sauce and an excellent dish of sour and hot flower beancurd with brown rice vinegar, soy and topped with peanuts. Great value for under £10.
Leong's Legends occupies a site that for years served vast portions of roast duck and roast pork in a couple of rooms that were, to be blunt, less than salubrious. Now it has been transformed into a much classier joint where the waitresses wear slinky Chinese tops and the subtle lighting creates a far more sophisticated atmosphere.
The menu is heavily inspired by the cooking of Taiwan and includes stir fried chicken with rice wine and an oyster omelette but there are also excellent versions of stir fried squid, spicy aubergine and garlic chive dumplings.
Finally, to Plum Valley on Gerrard Street, undoubtedly the plushest of these three restaurants with deep banquette seating and clever lighting. The menu is extensive, offering excellent dim sum at lunchtime, including beef tripe with ginger for the adventurous, and a range of rice dishes cooked in a claypot for two as a meal to be shared in the evening.
Food aside, Chinatown's other great appeal is that it is very close to London's theatreland and the service is invariably swift.
Baozi Inn, 25 Newport Court, London WC2 020-287 6877
Leong's Legends, 4 Macclesfield Street, London W1, 020-7287 0288
Plum Valley, 20 Gerrard Street, London W1, 020-7494 4366.