Speedboat Bar, 30 Rupert Street, London W1D 6DL. Snacks £5-£12.50, salads, stir-fries £10-£14, curries, specials £12-£25, dessert £8, cocktails £7.50-£10, wines from £30
The restaurant at 30 Rupert Street, on the edge of London’s Chinatown, was once one of the most beautiful in the city. Now it’s one of the most dynamic. As Xu, a Taiwanese-style tea house, it was a stage set of 1920s polish and clean lines. The walls were part-panelled in block marquetry, and there were booths upholstered in leather the colour of café au lait. There were sexy wall sconces, and flashes of marble trim and tiny private dining rooms built cleverly into the small space. You came here for crisply fried pork buns and pleated dumplings in puddles of jade-green broth.
