Already broken your resolutions from January 1? Don’t fret — the Chinese Year of the Dragon roars into life on February 10, promising nobility, honour, luck and success.
Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, is the biggest public holiday in China, east and south-east Asia. Food and drink play a key part in the festivities, with special new year dishes served that are rich in symbolism.
The “prosperity toss” salad of yusheng is the most famous; “yusheng” means “raw fish” and sounds like the Chinese word for “abundance”. The idea is that the higher the ingredients are tossed into the air with chopsticks, the more luck will rain down over the 12 months ahead.
Dumplings are another traditional dish, as the number of dumplings eaten is said to correspond to one’s wealth for the following year. The Cantonese word for fish — “yu” — sounds similar to the word for “wish”, and is served whole for preference, as the head and tail symbolise good beginnings and endings. Whole chicken, meanwhile, represents rebirth, long strands of “longevity” noodles a long life while meals often finish with nian gao, a sweet glutinous rice cake that symbolises reaching new heights in the year ahead.
Chinatown and the West End are the focus of London’s New Year celebrations, which are the largest outside Asia. The details have yet to be confirmed but usually involve a parade from Charing Cross Road to Trafalgar Square via Shaftesbury Avenue, with plenty of food to grab en route. For more eating inspiration, check out our guide to the best Chinese restaurants in London, the capital's best dim sum and where Chinese chefs themselves like to eat.
Just like its counterpart on December 31, dining out for the Lunar New Year is, alas, not the cheapest time to visit a Chinese restaurant, though London’s Chinatowns around the West End, Queensway and Spitalfields are likely to offer the most bang for the buck. And for a New Year bargain, on Monday February 5 the Bao chain will be offering hundreds of its classic peanut and pork bao for free at 11am.
Here, however, we’ve selected the London restaurants offering the best celebrations for Chinese New Year, from Michelin-starred blow-outs and special menus to lion dances and wishing trees. Fire-breathing, however, is optional.
This list will be updated as the Lunar New Year approaches.
Hakkasan
London’s Michelin-starred pair of Hakkasans are getting ready to party this Chinese New Year with wishing trees, lion dances, Champagne cocktails and a New Year Feast menu (£128). Things kick off with a “Wishes of Prosperity” dim sum duo of lobster and cheese lantern puffs and black truffle wild mushroom dumplings ahead of smoked "eight treasure" duck and wild red king prawns with braised dragon beard noodles. The lion dance will take place at Hakkasan Hanway Place at 6.30pm on February 8 and 5pm at Hakkasan Mayfair on February 10. Don’t forget to hang your ted ribbon on the wishing tree upon leaving.
How much? £128 (for a minimum of two people), or order a la carte
When? January 30-February 25
17 Bruton Street, W1J 6QB and 8 Hanway Place, W1T 1HD, hakkasan.com
House of Ming
The St James' Court hotel is the London outpost of India's swanky Taj group, of which the House of Ming is its in-house restaurant, having established itself as one of the best Chineses in New Delhi. It’s a beautiful-looking and smelling space, all gold-plated ceilings and wafting incense, made even more attractive this Lunar New Year with "lucky bamboo" centrepieces and the traditional red envelopes. Six specials represent good luck for the Lunar New Year; Yunnan-style lamb with celery and ginger chilli sounds nicest of all. Wash it all down with a Firestorm, a cocktail made with dehydrated oranges, five spice and a flaming garnish.
How much? Chinese New Year dishes from £24
When? February 9-11
St. James' Court, A Taj Hotel, 54 Buckingham Gate, SW1E 6AF, houseofming.co.uk
The Ivy Asia
London's trio of Ivy Asias (Chelsea, Mayfair and St Paul’s) is welcoming Chinese New Year with a double whammy of a new weekday dim-sum menu and a special Lunar New Year set menu. On the dumpling front, expect classics of prawn har gau, chicken siu mai and duck spring rolls; the set menu includes the likes of crispy wontons, black miso cod, char sui pork belly and a “Red Dragon” ice cream dessert. There’s absolutely nothing ground-breaking here but if approachability rather than authenticity is a priority, The Ivy Asia cuts the mustard and quality is higher than the chain origins suggest. Dine on February 10 and there will be dancers ,musicians and tarot readings.
How much? Chinese New Year set menu, £65 (vegetarian, £60); dim sum from £7.50
When? January 29-March 10; live entertainment February 10
EC4, SW3 and W1, theivyasia.com
Mimi Mei Fair
As some restaurants pack away their Chrtimas decorations each year, one wonders if Mimi owner Samyukta Nair stores her wishing trees in her attic every winter, ready to unwrap the following Lunar New Year. For the Year of the Dragon, the pair of trees is being dressed in the propitious colours of blue, green, pink and maroon in honour of the wood dragon, strewn with hydrangeas and hung with gilded cages for diners to deposit the red envelopes containing their wishes. To eat, a “basket of wealth” containing a trio of dim sum will be followed by crispy Norfolk pork with pineapple and pomelo or tiger prawns served with egg white and black bean sauce; to finish, there is chocolate bar served with a mandarin and pecan.
How much? Three courses, £128, including a welcome Courvoisier Cognac cocktail
When? February 1-24
55 Curzon Street, W1J 8PG, mimimeifair.com
Pan Pacific London
The Singapore-based high-rise hotel over the road from Liverpool Street has a couple of offerings this Chinese New Year. Afternoon tea sees a collab between the hotel’s executive pastry chef Francesco Mannino and Bun House co- founder and Chef Z, with lamb and bamboo shoot buns alongside baskets of sui mai and patisserie. On the evening of Chinese New Year, Straits Kitchen restaurant will be serving a six-course menu kicking off with with a yu sheng bluefin tuna salad ahead of wagyu steak, braised abalone, steamed turbot and a dulcey cremeux dessert.
How much? Afternonn tea, £68; six-course menu, £138
When? Afternoon tea, February 8-March 25; dinner, February 10 only
80 Houndsditch, EC3A 7AB, panpacific.com
Gouqi
This swish Trafalgar Square Chinese is overseen by two alum of Hakkasan: suave restaurant director Alan Tang and chef Chee Hwee Tong, who won the original Hanway Place Hakkasan its Michelin star. High standards of both service and cooking, then, are pretty much guaranteed, but so are high prices. Still, if you can’t push the boat out on New Year’s, when can you? Tables of four or more must order an eight-course set menu (£128) while smaller groups are free to pick and choose from the likes of pork belly with abalone in premium oyster sauce and a kumquat and coffee dessert shaped into a yin-yang dragon shape. The restaurant will be decorated with Chinese red lanterns, an illuminated 10-metre dragon and firecracker displays while there will be free toys for kids. Note that tables are being served in three sittings at 5, 8 and 10.30pm.
How much? Eight courses (tables of four or more), £128; three courses (tables of 1-3) approx £100
When? February 9-10
25-34 Cockspur Street, SW1Y 5BN, gouqi-restaurants.co.uk
Daddy Bao
Chinese New Year isn’t just for China: Taiwan celebrates the Lunar New Year, too, and this Tooting purveyor of the island's most famous culinary expoert is going all out on the bun front for the Year of the Dragon. The all-day feasting menu (£60) includes venison and plum bao (tofu and plum for vegetarians) but there’s more to the menu than bao, with dishes chosen to represent good fortune, from dumplings that look like ancient Chinese gold ingots and fried nian gao, a traditional rice cake that represents prosperity. Still hungry? Add on a whole bream for an extra £15.
How much? Four courses, £60 (£50 for vegetarian/pescatarian menu)
When? February 11
113 Mitcham Road, SW17 9PE, daddybao.co.uk
China Tang
If the Dorchester location were not enough of a clue that China Tang is more luxurious than the average Cantonese, then sliver-plated chopsticks, embroidered napkins and wallpaper imported from China and hand-finished in situ should indicate the size of the final bill. For such a glamorous setting — one might be dining in a Jazz Age ocean liner — the refreshingly straightforward menu offers a poshed-up version of Anglo-Chinese favourites, though for Lunar New Year there’s a special menu running alongside the à la carte offering prosperity toss salad with raw fish, lobster with XO sauce on crispy noodles, and wok-fried whole tiger prawn. Feeling confident about the finances in 2024? Order “Five Blessings Descend Upon Your Home”, a dish of mixed seafood, poultry and Japanese abalone to share for £588. Lion dancers will perform at dinner on February 9 and 10.
How much? Chinese New Year dishes from £20
When? February 9-11
53 Park Lane, W1K 1QA, chinatanglondon.co.uk
Ting
Sky-high Ting, on the 35th floor of the Shard, might offer one of the best vantage points in London on New Year’s Eve, but it’s a bobby dazzler for Lunar New Year, too, though fireworks may be harder to spot. The New Year’s menu has been designed to symbolise luck and prosperity: crispy duck bites with pancakes and oscietra caviar; barbecue pork belly with Chinese mustard; wok-fried spicy prawns with dried crab, crispy garlic and dried chilli. Good fortune for the year ahead might not be guaranteed but the views, at least, will leave you feeling on top of the world.
How much? Chinese New Year dishes from £21
When? February 9-13
Level 35, 31 St Thomas Street, SE1 9QU, ting-shangri-la.com
Yauatcha
London's pair of dim sum and Cantonese specialists, in Soho and the City, are offering an almost month-long celebration of the Year of the Dragon. The Chinese New Year menu features seven Chinese celebratory dishes based on auspicious ingredients, from abalone chicken shui mai in the dim sum platter to Alaskan king crab in kam heong sauce with taro and dried shrimp, plus a Lucky Dragon petit gâteau, a white sesame sponge and praline cake with kumquat compote and ginger cream. A lion dance will take place at Yauatcha City at 7pm on Febraury 9 and 3pm at Soho on the 10th.
How much? Sharing menu for a minimum of two diners, £98; individual Chinese New Year dishes from £12
When: January 30-February 25
15-17 Broadwick Street, W1F 0DL and Broadgate Circle, EC2M 2QS, yauatcha.com
Canton Blue
This serene Chinese is the more under-the-radar option at the swish new Peninsula London hotel, where Claude Bosi’s top-floor Brooklands restaurant and bar has been hoovering up all the attention. Canton Blue, however, is well worth a visit, not least for some beautiful, blue-toned interior design (with added New Year decoration this February) and many tables in secretive booths which are great for romancing. For Lunar New Year, a special six-course menu will include steamed lobster with ginger, spring onion, baijiu and chicken sauce, and wok-fried British wagyu tenderloin with garlic and black pepper. A lion dance and high pole performance will take place in the hotel’s courtyard at 11am on February 10.
How much? Six courses, £168
When? February 7-16; lion dance, February 10
The Peninsula London, 1 Grosvenor Place, SW1X 7HJ, peninsula.com
Park Chinois
Even by Mayfair standards, Park Chinois takes opulence to new levels of gold-plated, velvet-swagged ostentation, which makes the restaurant’s more-is-more approach to everything from interior design to culinary inspiration the perfect rendezvous for Lunar New Year. Eleven days of immersive entertainment are promised from February 1-11, including nightly lion dances, live entertainment from the in-house band and a Chinese drummer on Feb 9 and 10. To eat, expect the likes of wok-fried abalone or double-boiled fish maw followed by New Zealand scampi with truffle or rib-eye of Australian wagyu with pineapple XO sauce. Really want to show off? Pre-order “Eight Treasure” roasted suckling piglet with glutinous rice, Chinese pork sausage, salted duck egg and dried shrimp (£438).
How much? Chinese New Year dishes from £18
When? February 1-11
17 Berkeley Street, W1J 8EA, parkchinois.com
Hutong
Few places seem as natural a setting for the getting into the spirit of tossing a yusheng salad as high as possible as this swish restaurant on the 33rd floor of The Shard, where wealth and happiness appear to be one and the same thing, judging by one’s fellow diners gazing out at the London skyline and the hills beyond. Elsewhere on the seven-course menu are fried tiger prawns with black pepper and chilli, duck with Sichuan pepper and pickled chilli, and black truffle fried rice. On Saturday February 10, Hutong will play host to an evening of festivities including a Chinese calligrapher, a traditional dancer and a lion dance.
How much? Seven courses, £118; live entertainment on February10
When? February 7-12
Level 33, The Shard, 33 St Thomas St, London SE1 9RY, hutong.co.uk
A. Wong
To really celebrate in style this Lunar New Year, the only two Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant outside Asia is marking the occasion with a special 30-dish banquet matched to vintage Champagnes from Dom Pérignon. New dishes created especially for the dinner include tangerine fish with chiu chow beef broth, braised daikon and oscietra caviar, and oil-flashed oysters with fish fragrant aubergine sauce, shrimp chilli and finger lime. There won’t be 30 glasses of Champagne, alas, but the wine matches will include Dom Pérignon Blanc 2013, Rosé 2009, P2 2004, and 2012 poured from the magnum.
How much? 30 dishes, £500, including Dom Pérignon pairing
When? February 8
70 Wilton Road, SW1V 1DE, awong.co.uk
