Central, News, Reviews

Cha Chaan Teng

Jeremy Pang, (TV personality, book-writer and founder of School of Wok) has just launched an exciting new restaurant, Cha Chaan Teng, near Holborn.

You wouldn’t really know before entering there was such a beautiful big space in the basement restaurant but this gorgeous new spot has an eclectic décor, from 70’s multi-coloured tiles and a stunning bar area with trendy retro furniture, to lovely white lanterns hung above massive round tables complete with integrated lazy Susan’s to make sure no one hogs all these amazing dishes to themselves!

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The restaurant’s name translates as ‘tea house lounge’ which were all the rage in 1950’s Hong Kong. Think greasy spoon cafes serving Western-style food to the East: Spam and wonton soup, coca cola ribs, duck French toast with orange sauce and bao burgers! Choose from small plates to share, along with tasty bar snacks to nibble on while downing a fresh & fruity tea-infused cocktail! The bao burgers have a bar of their own where you can choose from a mouth-watering menu of six options, favourites included the salt & pepper squid bao with wasabi and sriracha chilli mayo as well as the spicy beef short rib bao with a soy and oyster sauce glaze…both ahhh-ma-zing! Vegetarians weren’t forgotten, there’s also a sweet potato rosti option and a crispy aubergine bao slider on offer.

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Although slightly hesitant at first, the crusty roll (on a very British mini tiger bread roll) with spam and egg converted us. The spam was covered in panko breadcrumbs, tossed in a coconut shallot crunch, topped with spicy sriracha, carrot and coriander pickle along with a cute fried quail egg on top.

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Winning main dishes included the whole crispy sea bream (so tender it fell off the bone) which came covered with a top secret sha cha sauce and toasted rice crumbs. Then there was the sweet and sour pork shoulder, packed with loads of flavour, a generous portion of crispy pork and chargrilled pineapple was a match made in food heaven! There’s plenty of tasty sides like Jeremy’s fave dish, the fried duck and XO sauce rice and one of our top picks was the steamed aubergine with a light sweet and tangy sauce.

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We’re going to put money on the Peanut Butter French Toast (served with a pot of deliciously sweet condensed milk) being THE new IT dessert to take over from Shackfuyu’s Insta-famous French toast & matcha ice-cream. You heard it here first.

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Friendly, helpful service throughout combined with very reasonably priced mains (around £10-£20 and buns, rolls and sides around a fiver) make Cha Chaan Teng ideal for most occasions. The tunes were bumpin’ making it an ideal place to start the night with friends and it would make a great date spot with the dim lighting and sexy private tables.

Cha Chaan Teng is now open so go check it out for yourself!

http://www.chachaantenguk.co.uk/

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