Angel, Chinese Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: “The atmosphere is downbeat but the food is addictive” at this Chinese canteen near Angel, which serves “tasty, spicy food with lots and lots of pepper”. “Try and avoid the more conventional Chinese restaurant dishes for an authentic regional treat.”

2024 Review: “Authentic, mostly fiery, Sichuan cooking” is showcased at this modern pub-conversion, “conveniently a few minutes’ walk along the canal from King’s Cross”. The menu includes plenty of items that in Britain used to be hidden away behind untranslated Chinese characters – chicken feet, frog legs, pig intestines – and “given the large plates, you need a big group to do it justice”.

“Makes a refreshing change from the Japanese ramen joints nearby” – Sunny Wu’s year-old small canteen doesn’t generate vast feedback, but if you’re looking for an interesting cheap bite in the heart of Islington it’s worth a visit for its Canton, Hakka, and Min dishes. Top Menu Tips – Hainanese chicken and house-made Yi Bua sticky rice cakes.

“Wow! I’m not a vegan but I was really impressed” say many fans of the “astonishingly good vegan food, mostly Sichuan”, at this fast-growing group where “the dishes are so full of flavour even meat-eating friends are now tofu converts”. The grub is “perfect not only for vegans but for anyone put off by Sichuan cuisine’s fondness for tripe, offal and the less-commonly-eaten parts of animals” – while vegetarians are “delighted to have so many options to choose from”. The dining rooms tend to be “overly bright and somewhat frenetic at busy times”, but they’re “great fun to visit with friends and order abundantly”.