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Sounds like an oxymoron but yes, chic Chinese has come to Chinatown and looks like it’s here to stay. In a part of town better known for sweet and sour pork, cheap buffets, and gaudy dining rooms, the unthinkable has happened.
Hakkasan kicked off the chic Chinese trend in London with quality food and service in award-winning designer digs. The copycats quickly followed – Shanghai Blues, Royal China Club, Yauatcha (Hakkasan’s little sister), and Pearl Liang just to name a few. The mid-range versions also followed suit – Ping Pong and Dim T.
All these new generation restaurants have one thing in common and it’s no accident…they are not in Chinatown. The avoidance of Chinatown is strategic and very understandable. Good quality ingredients is not Chinatown. High prices is not Chinatown. Good service is not Chinatown. And certainly chic is not Chinatown. Any sane businessman will place their chic Chinese as far away from Chinatown as possible.
Haozhan Takes the Bold Plunge In Chinatown
Earlier this year, one restaurateur boldly decided to break the stereotype. Joe Kong is merely 29 years old but he comes from a restaurant family. His father is the long-time successful owner of New Fook Lam on Gerrard Street in Chinatown.
Kong graduated from university a few years ago and decided to help his father in the restaurant. When the space next door to his father’s restaurant became available, Kong decided to take it over and came up with the concept of providing Hakkasan style and quality of food in a similar environment with quality service. The key difference is the price will be mid-range rather than wallet busting. Hence, we witnessed the birth of Haozhan.
The head chef is ex-Hakkasan and two other chefs hail from Kai, a quality Mayfair Chinese restaurant serving a Mayfair and celebrity clientele. The food is “Modern Oriental,” where ingredients are fresh and high quality and combined in innovate ways.
 Wasabi prawns combines lightly fried prawns with a wasabi paste sauce and a dish of tofu is topped whole scallops on each piece of tofu. The critics and diners are singing praises of these two dishes. The dining room is decorated in black wood finish and feels more like a trendy Soho dining room than its tacky neighbour to the south. The service is patience with a smile and a conversation.
And oh yes, it’s in Chinatown. Is Kong mad? Very likely. The response from his business partners and friends was this concept is too risky in Chinatown. But this probably only encourages the madman.
However, in history, madness many times breeds greatness. Judging from the critical acclaims in virtually every London newspaper, I think we may have a winner. The reviews, the inviting atmosphere, and the good food at moderate prices are filling this dining room with customers that include Ken Livingstone and restaurant critics who return again and again after their initial review.
When he took over the space, Kong did not know what concept the new space would breed. After some thinking, debate and the fortune of having a Hakkasan chef as a regular customer at his father’s restaurant, the Haozhan concept emerged.
I suspect that Kong probably did not realise he was pioneering a trend that could transform Chinatown from tacky touristy to cultural chic. He probably did not suspect that within months of Haozhan’s emergence, a similar venture would open up just a few doors down the street.
Plum Valley Follows Suit with Gusto
Manager Paul Lu stepped out of retirement to run Plum Valley. After over 20 years in the restaurant industry and raising two sons who would become a barrister and a banker, he deserved a break.
 However, when he heard about the concept behind Plum Valley from the owner, he decided to come back to the long hours of running a restaurant. Plum Valley opened on the 7th March in what seems like a soft launch.
Fresh organic and innovative cooking combined with a designer dining room and slick friendly service. This is Plum Valley’s vision. Lu claims, “We try to use organic ingredients wherever possible. This is unique in Chinese restaurants.”
The restaurant’s main target audience is both the Western audience as well the new generation of Chinese diners, the young professionals who grew up in the UK. In describing this new generation, Lu states, “The second generation of Chinese know how to enjoy life and have good jobs and plenty of money. Plum Valley aims to serve their demand, which is very different from the first generation.”
The food is high quality and full of innovation. Scallop dumpling includes a large, juicy scallop topping the dumpling and garnish with real gold shavings. Other dumplings in the dim sum menu include drunken prawn dumpling and wasabi prawn dumpling. 
Dessert include the unique lilly bud jelly. In fact, the chef creates a new dish every day and offers it to diners for tasting and feedback. This dedication to innovation is uncommon for Chinatown restaurants who tend to stick to the old favourites.
There is also a respect for tradition and the tea menu pays tribute to the best of Chinese tea. Jasmine flower tea is a full bud of jasmine flower that opens up in a wine glass when filled with hot water. A pot of any tea is served in a traditional tea pot and fresh tea leaves are provided with each refill.
Chef Lam hails from the Chiu Chow province in China and has been a chef in various Chinese restaurants for over a decade. Lam is clearly passionate for his craft. In my conversation with him, he brings out various dishes he is most proud of and orders the staff to present it like works of art.
 Plum Valley is still quite new and the menu in the front window is temporary. The restaurant critics have yet to discover it. However, I suspect this will change quickly. On a night when I dined, the restaurant was full. Once the reviewers descend on Plum Valley, we will most likely need to reserve in advance to get a table.
Plum Valley and Haozhan have in the space of a few months begun a transformation of Chinatown in London. The stereotype may finally be broken for a part of town that has held onto traditions for many years. For many this is a welcomed change but for the traditionalists, this may be a threat to the fabric of Chinatown.
However, Chinatown is like every other neighbourhood in London, an evolving entity and this next step in the evolution is about bringing style, better service and décor, and higher quality food. Not a bad change at all.
What is ground-breaking here is not just the transformation of London’s Chinatown. It marks the first Chinatown in the Western world to begin such a change. New York, Vancouver, San Francisco, and Sydney have larger Chinatowns than London, but they have not made this change. I think London’s Chinatown may be igniting a global transformation of the world’s Chinatown. We shall wait and see.
Haozhan, 8 Gerrard Street, London W1, Tel: 020 7434 3838
Plum Valley, 20 Gerrard St W1D 6JQ, Tel: 020 7494 4366
Todd Tran
Photos taken by Richard Hong and Pamela Yau |
