Liverpool is home to one of Europe's oldest and largest Chinese communities and with that comes great food.
The city and surrounding areas are brimming with top choices when it comes to Chinese restaurants and takeaways and we've rounded up our top picks to get your taste buds tingling. From huge banquets, to delicious salt and pepper ribs, our list of the best Chinese restaurants in and around the city features stand out dishes and what to expect from each venue.
This weekend, Liverpool will celebrate Chinese New Year on Sunday, January 22, so it's the perfect time to book a table, or order a takeaway and support the community as the city welcomes the Year of the Rabbit. To inspire your choice, take a look through our pick of the best Chinese restaurants in and around Liverpool, in no particular order. You can share your own favourites in the comments section, too.
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Mr Zhang's Kitchen
ECHO writer Storm Newton visited Mr Zhang’s Kitchen before Christmas and while looking at the menu in the window, she was told by someone coming out, "It's like they've taken an actual restaurant from China and dropped it in Liverpool."
Storm visited with friends who'd spent a year living in Yinchuan in the Ningxia Province and they too agreed with how authentic the restaurant was. The menus are primarily in Mandarin and everything on the table is served to share, with hefty portion sizes.
The food is fresh and delicious, with complex flavours you'll be familiar with if you're a fan of Chinese food. Stand out dishes include the Kung Pao chicken if you want a ‘chippy staple’ like you've never had before. The fresh chicken breast is finely diced with an abundance of vegetables in a delicious, lightly spiced sauce.
The sweet and sour deep fried seabass comes whole and is flayed by the chef, so when it's lightly battered and dropped into oil, the tender flesh splays out into manageable chunks.
Address: 8-10 Myrtle St, Liverpool L7 7DP. Phone: 0151 345 0102
Open: Daily 11am to 10pm
Sans Café
The Chinese café has been serving hungry dock workers for decades. Sans was opened around the 1970s by Tseng Chikha from Sichuan, China, known locally as San by his loyal customers who struggled to pronounce his real name.
Tseng died in 2014, but his partner Lin still cooks up the much loved food in the cafe. Lin has previously said she won’t change her cooking methods to cater to English tastebuds, meaning customers can expect a traditional meal.
Sans has plenty of five star reviews and highlights on the menu we've sampled include dumplings, chop suey roll, savoury cakes, chow mien and the special curry.
Address: Lightbody St, Liverpool L5 9UZ. Phone: 0151 207 6392
Open: Monday - Saturday 7.30am to 6.30pm and Sunday 8am to 4pm
The Golden Harvest
The Golden Harvest is a hidden gem that deserves to be put on the map. Located on Litherland Road in Bootle, the Chinese restaurant is in the heart of the community - but not many people outside the area know about it. It's a great place to visit if you're looking for good food, friendly service and a hint of nostalgia.
The decor inside is traditional, we're talking red fabric banquet chairs, thick red carpet and white tablecloths, but this only adds to its charm.
Highlights on the menu include chicken and sweetcorn soup, dry honey ribs and beef with green pepper in black bean sauce. We recommend choosing one of their banquet options for a discounted meal.
If you're in the area, it's well worth heading to The Jawbone Tavern first and enjoying a few pints before ending your day with a cracking Chinese. The Golden Harvest boasts a rating of 4.6 on Google and 4.5 on Tripadvisor.
Address: 9-11 Litherland Rd, Bootle L20 3BY. Phone: 0151 538 6775
Open: Mon, 4 to 11 pm; Tuesday Closed; Weds-Thurs, 4 to 11 pm; Fri-Sat, 4 pm–12 am; Sun, 4–11 pm
K.C Fish and Chips
The Orrell Park chippy is known for its popular salt and pepper box and its high rating suggests its a local favourite. Named the “munchies box” the salt and pepper delight comes in either large or small sizes.
There’s also a vegan option. Each box includes noodles, fried rice, salt and pepper chips and two drinks. Customers can then choose three options from a variety of salt and pepper treats including wings, chicken balls, ribs, shredded beef and shredded chicken.
If it’s an indulgent Friday night takeaway you’re after, KC is guaranteed to have something on the set menu for you. Be sure to order well in advance however, as it can get particularly busy in the evenings and over the weekend.
Address: 109 Moss Lane, Liverpool, L9 8AQ. Phone: 0151 538 9237
Open: Mon, 4pm to 9.40pm; Weds-Sun, 4pm to 9.40pm
Anna Jung’s
Wavertree venue Anna Jung’s is a much-loved local chippy that also boasts a vast Chinese menu. Based on Grosvenor Road, it’s a local legend, with queues to get in often snaking along the street outside it.
The staff are friendly and welcoming, and keen to offer advice and recommendations to newcomers which heightens the community feel of the venue. There’s an extensive menu featuring chip shop favourites alongside authentic Chinese dishes.
There’s everything from chow mein to spring rolls, with a variety of rich, decadent sauces packed with flavour to choose from, too. Anna is regularly on hand to chat with customers, too.
Whenever I visit, the food is piping hot, well prepared and seasoned to perfection. There’s no glitz or glamour, but it does offer a truly charming, homely atmosphere that’s hard to replicate. It’s a little off the beaten track, predominantly surrounded by houses, but it’s well worth seeking out.
Address: 64 Grosvenor Road, Liverpool, L15 0HB. Phone: 0151 733 7600
Open: Mon-Sat, 11.30am to 1.30pm. It then reopens at 4.30pm until 8pm on Tuesdays, until 10pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and until 10.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays
Yuet Ben
Liverpool's oldest family run Chinese has become something of a scouse institution, with its traditional Northern Chinese recipes passed down through generations. Yuet Ben, which means ‘honoured guest’, opened in 1968, originally on Great George Street before moving to Upper Duke Street a decade later. Over the year’s it’s attracted celebrities including Cliff Richard, Dawn French and Les Dennis, and local footballers.
One of its best loved dishes is the Yuet Ben barbecue ribs (£10.90) and another best seller is its aromatic crispy duck and pancake (£11.90). The menu isn’t too overwhelming in size and there are two sharing menus available for two or more people, priced at £17.50 and £24.90 per person. It also has a full vegetarian/vegan menu available.
Address: 1 Upper Duke St, Liverpool L1 9DU. Phone: 0151 709 5772
Open: Weds-Sat, 4.30pm to 8.30pm
New Orchid Garden Restaurant
With its black and red interior and illuminated fish tanks, the New Orchid Garden is a stylish Chinese restaurant in West Derby. It’s a popular spot for those celebrating special occasions and on any night you’ll find a mixture of families, couples on dates and groups of friends filling the restaurant and creating a relaxed, buzzy atmosphere.
The a la carte menu is absolutely huge, with nearly 300 dishes, appetisers and specialities to choose from, including loads of veggie options. You can also tuck into a four course steak dinner, with Chinese soup and starters and a dessert for £25, if that’s more your thing.
High praise to anyone who can work their way through an entire Banquet B, which includes prawn toast, crispy fragrant duck, beef and black bean sauce, chicken and satay sauce and sweet and sour pork for £16.50 per person.
Address: 359 Eaton Rd, West Derby, Liverpool, L12 2AH. Phone: 0151 228 4488
Open: Mon-Thurs, 5pm to 11pm; Fri 5pm to 11.30pm; Sat 4pm to 11.30pm; Sun 4pm to 10pm
Phoenix Palace
Along a busy stretch of West Derby Road in Tuebrook, this is the sort of place you could drive right past without noticing it was there. But you’d be missing a real treat, with the restaurant described by one ECHO food reviewer as serving ‘pound for pound the best Chinese food in Liverpool’.
With its red patterned carpets, white linen tablecloths and homely crockery, the Peking-style Chinese restaurant is traditional and understated inside. It’s the kind of place where those who know about it have been visiting for years and trying, not always successfully, to devour every last morsel of its impressive banquets. It also operates a bring your own bottle policy, which helps make it more of an affordable night out.
Address: 581 West Derby Rd, Tuebrook, Liverpool L13 8AE. Phone: 0151 228 5607
Open: Daily from 6pm to 10pm
Choices
Choices Bar is run by an incredible team of staff with more than 30 years experience in the industry. The Birkenhead takeaway, located on Duke Street, has gathered an excellent local reputation, scoring an average of 4.4 on Google reviews.
The ECHO's social media editor Hannah Rees is a big fan of their chicken fried rice and Foo Yung, and has yet to change her order in the three years she has been ordering from there. But if you’re after something different, the takeaway offers a mix of over 150 English and Chinese favourites including crispy chilli and Cantonese style dishes.
Located next to Birkenhead Park station, it is the perfect stop off for picking up some food on your way home. But with delivery offered, it's also somewhere people living in Wirral can consider.
Address: Choices Bar Chinese Takeaway 124 Duke St, Birkenhead CH41 8BT. Phone: 0151 652 7300
Open: Mon-Sun, 4.30pm to 10pm
Lu Ban
This gorgeous little Chinese restaurant is certainly tucked away, and manages to serve an array of authentic dishes in a very glamorous setting. Lu Ban in Cains Brewery Village offers a range of large and small plates for foodie lovers.
The cuisine is said to be inspired by the Chinese region of Tianjin, with chef Dave J Critchley and his team clearly creating each dish with a nod of respect to Chinese culture and traditions. The restaurant has some stunning interior, and most certainly makes a change to sitting in front of your telly with a Chinese takeaway.
The ECHO's Emily Sleight recommends the jasmine smoked ribs, saying they're 'honestly some of the nicest ribs I’ve ever tasted in my life'. There's so much meat on them, it quite literally falls off the bone with every bite.
The pork and pineapple main course is worth the £18 price tage, and features some amazing flavours you just can’t get at your local takeaway. A visit here is a real treat with a very high standard of food.
Address: Cains Brewery Village, Stanhope St, Liverpool L8 5XJ. Phone: 0151 315 8888
Open: Thurs-Fri, 3pm to 11pm; Sat, 12-11pm; Sun, 12-8pm
Chung Ku, Childwall
This takeaway on Childwall Priory Road near the Fiveways has a huge menu filled with everything you’d expect from a Chinese, including chow mein, foo yung, fried rice and sweet and sour dishes. What keeps people coming back is the quality.
One ECHO reporter who’s a regular at Chung Ku in Childwall, said it’s ‘always delicious, piping hot food’, with Bongo’s Bingo founder Jonny Bongo apparently a big fan. The crispy duck is said to be particularly sensational.
Address: 9 Childwall Priory Rd, Liverpool L16 7PA. Phone: 0151 722 9808
Open: Daily from 5pm to 10pm
Shanghai Palace
True to its name this Bold Street restaurant has an ornate feel inside, with opulent green, gold and red decor and beautifully patterned wallpaper. It’s contemporary, yet classic and the food continues in this manner.
There’s plenty of choice on the menu, without it stretching on endlessly forever and hats off to anyone who can polish off its £30.50 Banquet B, which features 14 dishes for two people, or a whopping 17 dishes if there’s five of you dining. One ECHO staff member who has visited described it as ‘excellent authentic Chinese’.
Address: The Lyceum, 1 Waterloo Pl, Bold St, Liverpool L1 4NW. Phone: 0151 707 6070
Open: Daily 12pm to 10pm (temporarily closed this week for refurb, reopening Thursday, January 19)
Golden Park, Wirral
There’s a lot of hype around Golden Park in Bromborough, Wirral - don't let the basic exterior of the building put you off, because the food here is absolutely scrumptious.
This restaurant is always busy, yet it still manages to deliver piping hot and fresh food to hungry customers incredibly quickly. Its huge menu consists of mouth-watering appetisers such as quarter crispy duck pancakes, deep fried crispy wontons and sesame prawn toast.
For main courses, Golden Park has just about everything from pork dishes, chicken dishes, beef dishes, noodle dishes, vegetarian options and more. There’s a really relaxed family vibe at Golden Park which is one of the reasons its so loved.
It’s a place where you don’t need to worry about stuffing your face and being in a food coma, and that’s what makes this casual dining setting so fabulous. We highly recommend the king prawns in satay sauce and the sweet and sour chicken. Just make sure you’re wearing comfortable clothes when you visit here, because you’re going to be mega full.
Address: 866 New Chester Rd, Bromborough, Birkenhead, Wirral CH62 7HF. Phone: 0151 334 1331
Open: Mon - closed; Tues-Thurs, 4.30pm to 9:30pm; Fri-Sat, 4.30pm-10pm; Sun 4.30pm to 9.30pm
Chy
This Renshaw Street restaurant originally opened in 2014 and prides itself on authentic, classic Chinese food at an affordable price. The venue underwent a full interior refit and modernisation in 2018.
Local artists, Danny O’Connor and David Cain were commissioned to design Chinese-inspired murals to complement the new colour scheme of the restaurant. The menu was also redesigned to feature a range of dishes combining conventional Chinese cuisine with a bold, modern approach to dining.
The restaurant’s main menu includes Chy specialities, such as Wok fried fillet of seabass served on a bed of pak choi with chopped chillies, red onion, garlic and a drizzle of soy sauce. It also has a vegan menu which includes salt and pepper tofu, plus an early bird set menu and lunch options.
Address: 5-9 Renshaw Street, Liverpool L1 2SA. Phone: 0151 708 7787
Open: Sun-Thurs, 12pm - 10pm; Fri-Sat, 12pm - 11pm
Maggie Fu
Maggie Fu is family owned and independent with two restaurants, on Smithdown Road and Hanover Street. The venue quickly gained a huge reputation thanks to dishes such as its Salt and Pepper Chicken.
During lockdown Maggie Fu even proved so popular it was almost impossible to order on the phone. The restaurants specialise in Asian Street Food and its menu includes starters such as Prawn Toast, Salt and Pepper ribs and spring rolls.
Popular mains include Katsu or Thai Green Curry or a range of Big Bowl options which include Shredded Crispy Chilli Beef, Sweet and Sour Chicken or Salt and Pepper Chicken. The restaurant is such a hit with diners that its branded cups frequently go missing - and Maggie Fu even has to ask customers to bring them back. The branded Maggie Fu cup features the restaurant’s logo and artwork, and people can now buy them for £2 each - so they won’t have to smuggle them home instead.
Address: Penny Lane House, 346 Smithdown Road, Liverpool, L15 5AN. Phone: 0151 733 9300. 37-39 Hanover Street, Liverpool, L1 3DN. Phone: 0151 709 0955
Open: Penny Lane - 5pm - 10pm Monday to Friday, 1pm - 10pm Saturday and Sunday. Hanover Street - 12pm - 11pm all week.
Ying Wah
Ying Wah is a popular Woolton restaurant that’s been in operation for decades. The quaint suburb boasts a variety of independent restaurants, cafes, shops and bars with Ying Wah a firm favourite. Based on Woolton Street in the heart of Woolton village, the hit restaurant boasts a chef with more than 30 years’ experience.
It’s more spacious than it initially appears from the outside, with a main dining room and a private function suite upstairs that’s available for hire. The decor is modern though still inviting, with atmospheric blue lighting, stylish booth seating, and touches of marble for a clean and contemporary feel.
Currently owned and operated by the Ng family, it was first opened in 1974 by the family’s close friend, James Chan. Richard Ng took over four years later and it has remained in the family ever since. Mr Ng’s son, Simon, is Ying Wah’s current owner and aims to offer customers the same dedication and family feel the area has come to know and love.
Address: 11 Woolton Street, Woolton Village, Liverpool, L25 5NH. Phone: 0151 421 1222
Open: Seven days a week, with varying times. From Monday to Thursday, it’s open from 3pm until 10pm; on Fridays and Saturdays, it’s open from 2pm until late; and on Sundays, it’s open from 2pm until 10pm.
Chows Eating House
Just along from Parkgate’s famous fish and chip shop is Chows Eating House, in a period building with pretty views of the Dee Estuary from the first floor. Serving legendary banquets where the food just keeps on coming, Chow’s is considered by many to be the best Chinese restaurant in Wirral.
Its champagne bar, stylish decor and impeccable service make it popular for those celebrating a special occasion.
Address: The Parade, Parkgate, Neston CH64 6RW. Phone: 0151 336 2385
Open: Weds-Sat, 4pm to 11pm; Sun, 3pm-10pm
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