Lao Dao — Restaurant in London

Date: 16/10/24 Cost: £40pp

I was excited about Mikaela's pick for Nibblers - this being a woman who books Michelin starred restaurants on weekends away to see Metallica when the rest of us are drinking lager, tearing sleeves off each other’s shirts and then stopping off for late-night chips and mayo; who had a better handle on Hong Kong’s culinary scene than her native boyfriend before even setting foot on the continent let alone any of the islands. I imagined mystical channels of research revealing hip dining options at the forefront of London’s scene, and so it proved: Lao Dao was discovered on The Infatuation, a review site full of articles with titles like “The London Smashburger Power Rankings”. For their part, Lao Dao’s Instagram describes their food as “Propa Chinese Xinjiang street food”, advising readers to “preserve the old and know the new, IYKYK” - this a reference to the grade II listed building’s former use as a sausage shop. All very trendy.

And the place was on brand - not a sausage string in sight - with carved wooden chairs, handmade wooden tables and stacked wooden shelving units full of traditional trinkets in front of a lovely painted wooden bar stocking Wusu beers from the region. Xinjiang, a sparsely-populated area of north-west China once bisected by the silk road, borders countries such as India and Afghanistan, and is home to the historically nomadic Uyghur people - facts that have shaped its cuisine over centuries into a real mix of flavours.

We did the usual and ordered a load of sharey starters - so many that various waiters came to take menus away, thinking that was our lot. Ha! A spiced cucumber salad is always a decent support act to prepandial beers, and this one did the job. Both portions went. The okra salad was weirdly vinegary, but both of those went too. The century egg was marmite, splitting the table. I can kind of understand why a sort of jellied, translucent ashen cold boiled egg mightn’t be to one’s taste but I thought it was delicious, and actually it paired well with the contents of “wanathey teapots” Max ordered for the photo op.

But the lamb skewers and the fried beef dumplings were easily the stand-outs. The lamb tasted barbecued, but the salt/cumin/chilli seasoning and the fact they were actually served on foot-and-a-half long metal spikes set them way apart from what you typically get in your uncle’s garden. The dumplings were soft and tender with a crispy fried skirt on the bottom of each providing that texture contrast. We ordered more of both.

Next there was a spicy cabbage dish that everyone loved, splashing around in a delicious sea of soy and seasoning that we poured onto our miniature plates in happy haste and then back out into the abandoned cold beef starter when we needed the plates for other things. The mushroom dish was fine; normally a lover of beansprouts I found those disappointing; the tofu I didn’t try. There were egg noodles with beef in a tasty spicy sauce and take-it-or-leave-it Xinjiang-style fried noodles, thick like udon, that I’m struggling to remember much about.

Our waiter had earlier wanted to know whether we were sure we wanted the large dapanji. With our pace slowing and Roo spotting signs warning against food waste it had yet to arrive, and when it did, in a bowl a baby could have bathed in, our ambition was well checked. The chicken pieces seemed to have come from an entire family and were topped with a single noodle reminiscent of a carousel at one of Heathrow’s baggage reclaim halls, but I’m pleased/ashamed to report I was still spooning the delicious marinade undignifiedly into my mouth/all over the table, bemoaning a lack of rice to mop up with, long after any actual solids remained.

It’s probably fair to say across everything we ordered there were a couple of misses among the hits, but we definitely managed to experience some ‘propa’ quality within the quantity of it all, and I can now comfortably call Lao Dao the best Xinjiang cooking I’ve ever...

After reading several reviews, and passing by this restaurant many times, we decided to give it a try. Upon entering, the atmosphere dissolved really quickly when we were to share a table with other people (in a fairly empty restaurant...), at a seat where there was a constant cold breeze (which explained why the staff was wearing puffy gilets).

Past that, the menu was oddly reminiscent of a local Camberwell restaurant with regional Chinese cuisine that we very much like, tried and tested, so our expectations were quite high. We decided to go large and order quite a few things.

The vegetarian options on the menu are clearly marked which is amazing. TEP noodles has been a favorite of mine, and I always have them with belt noodles (like biang biang noodles). We also tried the potato starter, vegetarian dumplings, and beef noodles with smashed cucumber appetizer.

The cucumber salad was ok, though smashed to the point where it was almost unappealing... On one hand the mains and starter portions were fairly large so no problems here. The TEP noodles, and the potato starter looked like they were the same dish but... There was absolutely zero flavour to it. No salt, no spice, it was just plain, despite the colour. Load sof chilli oil and soy sauce kind of resolved the issue. But the most revolting part was that the noodles were chopped, or broken up, into tiny irregular pieces. It felt like I was eating leftovers... The potatoes also had a strange texture. Both over and undercooked ... Never tasted anything like that before. The beef noodles were better, but not groundbreaking (just appreciate the fact that they were not broken into pieces ...). Ordered a naan to eat with the leftover sauce, but it was brick hard... Couldn't finish it. The dumplings were ok. The tea on the other hand was very nice and sweet.

Positives: big portions, tea was lovely. Price was ok.

Negatives: the mains & starter lacked flavour, the texture was odd, the naan was brick dry.

Hopefully this review will serve as criticism to build on. Hate to be that person, but I really didn't feel like it was a "wonderful Saturday...

Budged option, quick service, comprehensive list of Xinjiang dishes, good bbq lamb. Recommend their grilled lamb chops, which takes 30min to serve. Their naan is nice(looks like bought from other bakers) I might be picky, but their cooking techniques could be further improved. Each dish has the right ingredients, but the flavor is not meeting my expectations. For example, the lamb skewers are juicy, but over salty as they spray too much spice and salt on top to cover the fact that lamb was not pre-seasoned. I personally don’t mind blend flavor as long as the lamb is fresh. But their catering to some heavy palate is a bit overdone. The salad looks correct, but the chopping is a bit sloppy and lack of seasoning as well. You could also argue that their ingredients are fresh, nothing stale. But the correct way may to prepare the salad is to season with salt to dehydrate it. The pilaf is the worst. They use the wrong rice. It should be long-grain, not short grain, in order to let the rice absorb the sauce. The lamb shanks is supposed to be stewed together with the rice, but they cooked rice with lamb meatless bones and then put some grilled skewer cubes on top as a make-up. To be fair, their preparation of food is freshly cooked on spot and convenient for mass catering. But it also means they could not season the raw ingredients for long enough time. I will leave the judgement to you. A bit disappointing that I came specifically due to its high rating score. Not bad if you wanna grab quick...