I absolutely loved XU! The food is delicious - small, fresh, beautifully cooked sharing plates matched with a great wine list and lovely cocktails. The restaurant is utterly charming- small railway style booths all very close together but the restaurant still manages to retain a big slice of glamor with lots of darkwood pannelling despite the narrow space - I think the set up matches the style of food and creates a fun, buzzing atmosphere. Service is friendly but fast paced in keeping with Taiwanese Street food Café theme so do not expect a lesiurely 3 hour lunch or dinner here. This place is about great food and atmosphere.
Great place to eat. Friendly staff, amazing food and good selection of cocktails and teas. Food flavours were so good and as we shared all our choices we got to try most of the menu. Highly recommend it.
Tried their tasting menu and really appreciated that it included so many of their popular items. That being said, the rest of the offerings felt like fillers. Service was excellent even though the they seemed short staffed on the evening of my visit.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Eagle-eyed Londoners will have noticed that an increasingly large number of new restaurants in London are branches, spin-offs and extensions of existing restaurants. That is no accident – experienced operators and proven ‘concepts’ are easier to stomach for commercial landlords, investors, venture capitalists and other risk-averse commercial partners. Xu is a case in-point – this higher-end spin-off of street food veterans Bao is backed by JKS, the restaurant group and investors behind Bao’s Soho and Fitzrovia restaurants (although JKS’ other success stories, such as Lyle’s and Hoppers, shows it can take a few risks too).
Indeed, it’s unlikely Xu would be located on such prime real estate, adjacent to the heart of the West End, or have such a lovely interior if it wasn’t for the JKS’ comparatively deep pockets. The dark wooden panels and pine green interior are meant to evoke a bygone colonial-era Taipei. Although it’s a tad too ahistorical to fit that time period, it’s an undeniably handsome space. The neat touches, such as the underseat drawers at some tables for tucking away bags and coats, will almost certainly distract you from noticing how comparatively small it is.
With the almost total implosion of Leong’s Legends, there are are precious few standard bearers for traditional Taiwanese food in central London. It’s important to note that Xu doesn’t really try to take up this mantle. It instead takes the general idea of non-gua bao dishes, one of the best and most under appreciated things about Bao’s menus, and innovates further.
There are little bits here and there that could really be improved upon, but overall we thoroughly enjoyed Xu, from a feast of teas, takes on Taiwanese food and decor to luxuriate in, you’ll be in for a treat here! Of the dishes we ordered, everything was tasty although some portion sizes we wish were bigger. With the beef pancake dish the most inspired and the lardo onion rice and shou pa chicken really hitting the spot!
Excellent Chinese / Taiwanese food. Everything we ordered was very good. Only complain is portions are on the smaller side :-) So, if u r a big eater, might have to order a few portions. We were 4 adults and ordered the following:
- 2 portions of the fried dumpling xian ping: good portion of meat inside the dumpling with juices/ soup inside he dumpling which is so yummy. Those familiar with Chinese dim sum: this is similar to the xiao long pau
- taro dumpling: of all the dishes, this was our least favorite. Didn't quite taste the taro and meat filling was average.
- bak kwa: authentic as how it is done in Taiwan
- sweet bread: this was also very good
- iberico char Siew pork: best dish of the yummy.. so so juicy, tender..
- shou pa chicken: didn't hit the excellent scale but not bad.. we felt it was a bit on the salty side
- ma po tofu: not enough tofu :-)
Will definitely head back to try some other dishes
Had dinner in two on a Saturday night, without reservation. We arrived a bit early (6pm) and got a table almost immediately.
Extremely good and well trained staff, differently from many restaurants in London they fully deserve the service charge.
When it comes to the food, the quality is very good (miles ahead any other restaurant in the area) although rather pricey. In two we had three small dishes and a main (the chicken, which was recommended) and a dessert. For 30£ per person, it was absolutely worth it.
The best part of the restaurant is the atmosphere. They try to recreate a cozy vintage decoration and they are quite effective at that. Great for a date or for a special occasion, probably not a place for a casual dinner with friends.
We had a mishap with our table booking but the staff were very attentive and managed to sort everything out. The service at XU is excellent. You can tell the staff work really hard. The selection of jerky was my favourite dish, as was the sweetbreads. Food was good but nothing really stood out to me as "WOW". They ace the drinks side of things - great cocktails and drinks menu, we shared a really good sake while others tried the cocktails. Cool little spot for drinks. Love the glassware.
Very romantic and exquisite. They are very authentic from food to interior design - so it might make you feel that you are in the opposite side of the globe. My partner and I haven’t made a reservation, so had to wait. But the wait was not at all painful, as they have small bar upstairs which offers really good selection of cocktails. Overall, it was really awesome journey. Loved it very much.
Absolutely excellent.
The quality and refinedness of the food is impeccable. The menu is not super large and thats what i love about it.the numbing beef tendons, The pork dumplings, the Bak Kwa, the drop chili crab are all excellent dishes.
The decor is cosy and intimate with that old time tea parlor feel of the 1920s. The tea infused cocktails are also super interesting. Definitely one of my favorite spots in London.
Group of 4 tried our luck and got lucky on a walk in at 8pm, double win as we got a semi private room at the back that was a real treat. Food was great, menu a little confusing but once the friendly som filled us in we where happy. We should of ordered more than we did, all the dishes came at the same time and very fantastic. Great selection of wine. Look forward to going. Back.
A lovely decor, it makes you feel like you are in a scene of The Last Emperor. Lovely food and ambience. The service was super good and despite the broken English of the young lady serving us, she was so helpful and nice. 6 stars! Price ok in the end, as we had a lot of food, not cheap though! Will definetely come back and try the upstairs dining room and bar next time around.
One of my favourite places in London right now. Great value, great service. The ma po tofu is a game changer. Also the XU reisling is an excellent wine. The staff are super knowledgeable and will help you through the menu easily. The lunch rice bowls are especially good value and the £39 set menu will leave you stuffed.
We were treated so well here and the Taiwanese cuisine was delicious! We booked a table for three on a Wednesday night and they had reserved a private little nook for us with elegant curtains. Service was impeccable- staff were attentive incredibly helpful and friendly and gave great recommendations on how and what to order for three of us. Great idea to share starters and go for your own mains. The dishes are so interesting and delicious- highly recommend the cuttlefish toast and chilli egg drop crab. And so reasonably priced!
In my opinion, a bit of style over substance. There were six of us at a table for 4 and they do not have any tables larger. Can't even combine tables as the tables are fixed. It was very cramped to say the least. Most of the plates used were chipped. Sometimes small details like this count for the extra stars in reviews...
However, the service was good and the food, tasty and slightly different from the Chinatown norm.
Reserve in advance or try a walk-in.
The restaurant is beautiful inside with a luxurious feel. Food can be a little spicy so be sure to put forth any concerns to your waiter. Lastly don’t start your meal without trying the cocktails.
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