As one of our friends from France came to London to visit we booked Restaurant He which offers Huaiyang (also known as Jiangsu) cuisine. Huaiyang cuisine is one of the four major cooking styles in China and refers to a region south of the Yangtze river which incorporates Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui cities.
When we arrived, we were welcomed warmly. We noticed the restaurant itself has minimal modern decor with Asian influences. We had many questions about the menu and our waiter was very patient and enthusiastic, answering all our questions.
After discussing the menu with the waiter, we ordered the following 7 main dishes:
- Jinling Signature Salt water duck (1/4) – a 400 year old recipe £12.80
- Guanyin Honey Tea Pork – grilled pork belly mixed fried Chinese iron buddha green tea in honey £15.80
- Jiangnan Spicy Chicken – stir fried baby rooster (with bones) with peppers and chilli £10.90
- Green Peas Tofu Pork – stirred shredded pork and baked beancurd, green beans £10
- Jasmine rice (2 serves) £6
- Golden Crispy Garlic Prawns – steamed tiger prawns covered with hot minced garlic topping £18.00
- Sheng Jian Bao – pork and leek pan fried soup bao £6.80
For dessert we shared the Ci Ba, crispy glutinous rice cakes filled with brown sugar and black sesame £5.60.
As you can see from the photos above, the dishes are nicely presented. Our favourite dishes were the Guanyin Honey Tea Pork which had a subtle and unusual flavour and the Spicy Chicken. While we love garlic smothered on the prawns, the prawns were not crispy and was too soft for us. Next time we come here, we will order the Jinling Roasted Duck and Yu-Shiang Eggplant instead of the Jinling Signature Salt Water Duck and the Green Peas Tofu Pork.
Address: 27 Red Lion Street, London WC1R 4PS
Opening Hours: Monday – Saturday 12 noon – 3pm; 5:30pm – 10:30pm
Cost: ££ – £££
Have you been to Restaurant He? Please let us know your thoughts!