A permanent pop-up ‘incubator space’ has opened in London’s Chinatown to promote new east and southeast Asian restaurants. The first to occupy the site, at 15a Little Newport Street, is independent Taiwanese concept Dragon Cat Café, which specialises in bubble tea and snacks.

At the new space, it will focus on freshly made fluffy Taiwanese pancakes known as ‘wheel cakes’. Traditionally filled with stuffings such as red beans, matcha and vanilla custard, they will also be available in novel flavours including Oreo cheesecake and cheeseburger.

West End landlord Shaftesbury is behind the incubator project, and its restaurant director, Julia Wilkinson, said: “Nurturing emerging brands has long been a key part of Shaftesbury’s strategy, and Chinatown London has a great history of doing just that; dozens of our existing tenants trialled their concepts here, and many have since taken further sites across the portfolio and elsewhere.”