“What shall I have for lunch today?” Do you ask yourself this question every day? Would your usual answer be Pret, Wasabi, Itsu, Subway or M&S? Why these places? For me they are close to my office, quick, they have the variety and they allow me to take-away! Well, today I have discovered somewhere which meets all of the above criteria but they are introducing something very different – takeaway dim sum.

The restaurant is called NOW. It opened on July 2010 and is located right outside the Liverpool Street Station. You just can’t miss it: its distinguishing interior design attracts the attention of passers-by.

The staff are very welcoming and tell me that the restaurant is inspired by the street food stalls that you may find in cities in Southern China such as Hong Kong or Shanghai. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of street food, it’s the temporary food stalls that appear during morning or lunch hours, where office workers stop by to fetch a quick take-away or just eat on the foldable tables and chairs provided; widely popular because they are quick and affordable.

NOW is providing you with such an eating experience except for foldable tables and chairs you will find tall wooden tables. A Southern Chinese dining experience but in a more sophisticated surrounding.

The menu consists of light starters ranging from seafood salads to char sui buns. I would recommend the seafood salad or the beef salad, extremely fresh and tasty. The main menu gives you a choice of three different dim sum  baskets (classical, seafood and vegetarian) but each contains a variety of different dim sum. The vegetarian dumplings were good even without dipping them in soya sauce.

For side orders you can get a very generous bowl of chicken won ton soup or hoi sin duck rolls (author recommend). For drinks, I would recommend the special ice teas they display in the fridges. There are always three types of ice tea but different flavours every day so you will never get bored! Check out the strawberry bubble tea, you get the little white ‘pearls’ on the bottom of the cup. For desert they also have the traditional egg tarts.

The other good news is they even serve quick breakfast before 10.30am. Their speciality is rice porridge (also known as congee) with ‘surprise of the day’ toppings.

In terms of price range, I will say that a £5 to £6 budget will get you a decent quantity for lunch. You can order either a starter or a desert and enjoy any one of the dim sum  baskets plus a side order. The price is competitive and good for value.

If you are a dim sum lover NOW is definitely the place to try next.

Address:

22-23 Liverpool Street,
London,
EC2M 7PD

(020) 7042 9191 

Article by @Jennfc // Photos by @FRHong
More photos please view here .