Taste of China — Restaurant in London

📍 Hunan Ren 84 Southampton Row, London WC1B 4BB Right outside SOAS/UCL & just 5 mins’ walk from the British Museum — perfect post-exhibition food stop!

I’d heard about this place forever but never tried it (maybe student budget fears?). This time a friend was craving Hunan food so we finally came — and WOW. Instantly crowned my No.1 Hunan spot in London. 💯

⸻

🔥 MUST ORDER: Stir-Fried Pork with Zhangshugang Chili Yes, THE legendary chili that costs ¥200 per jin in China! Thinly sliced fatty pork, fried to perfection with this magical chili that’s not crazy spicy but so flavourful and aromatic. I could eat two bowls of rice with just this. We literally cleaned the plate — even the chili bits. 💬 The owner said it’s only available this month — GO. NOW.

⸻

🍳 Chopped Chili Fried Rice ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is what every Hunanese soul dreams of. Duo-style chili (pickled + fermented), soft fluffy scrambled egg, a splash of soy sauce — tastes exactly like childhood. Even our low-carb friend went in for seconds.

⸻

🥶 Mouthwatering Chicken (Cold Dish) Super tender (maybe corn-fed chicken?), soaked with flavour, and the cucumber salad underneath was great too. It just happened to follow two STUNNING dishes, so only 4.5 stars 😆

⸻

🎃 Salted Egg Yolk Pumpkin Crunchy strips, coated in rich salted egg yolk — addictive and perfect as a side!

⸻

🐷 Crispy Pork Belly Decent! Crispy skin, no complaints, just not mind-blowing.

⸻

🍜 Ants Climbing a Tree Not the most memorable, but still a good comforting classic.

⸻

👯‍♀️ 3 people, 6 dishes — all plates wiped clean. Honestly way better than expected. Can’t believe I never came here as a student — the place looks fancy but the price is super fair. Around £20 per person for a full-on feast!

Perfect for hosting guests or just treating yourself. I’ve finally got an answer when people ask me: “What Hunan restaurant do you recommend in London?” — This one. Every time.

Already planning my next visit. Can’t stop thinking about that...

If what we had for dinner yesterday (Christmas Day) here is the same level as any ordinary day’s, we honestly WON’T RECOMMEND this restaurant to anyone.

GBP 85.2 (AUD 170) was paid for below three dishes and a small bowl of steamed rice (GBP 5.8 each). The beans is way too salty, the saltiest ever I had (我是山东人). We had to keep drinking water while eating it with rice. The chilli is even more than kidney for the second dish, we already asked to have less chilli/less spicy prior to order everything. The sticky rice with ribs and steamed rice are ok.

We were disappointed that on a Christmas dinner, at 5:30pm (half full only) with nearly doubled price of ordinary price paid (yes they raised price on yesterday as a tradition here, which is understandable for a public holiday), the food quality is unexpectedly low, which really ruined our Christmas (we come from Australia).

Shame to call themself as “ Taste of China”, if they really believe Chinese cuisine...

They say that if you want good Chinese food then go to a restaurant with lots of Chinese customers. We'll this restaurant certainly had that and they had lots of interesting dishes thet we had never tried before. The cauliflower and chicken was excellent, our absolute favourite. The mange tout with cashew nuts in garlic was great too. The waiter was great. Our party had three adults and two children and he recommended a set course for three plus some additional rice and noodles for the kids. We also did not want soup so we had an additional main dish. Really great service and very flexible. So why only four stars? Well it was expensive even for central London. £33 each for the most basic set meal and our bill came to £138 which included four 7ups and one small beer. The 10% service charge had been added automatically which is a bit cheeky. Oh and the egg fried rice was forgotten and I had to ask for it.

That said I the food was great and we would...