A. Wong

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Coordinates: 51°29′35″N 0°08′26″W / 51.4930°N 0.1406°W / 51.4930; -0.1406
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Not to be confused with Awong.

A. Wong
Map
Restaurant information
Established2012
Owner(s)Andrew Wong
Food typeCantonese
RatingMichelin stars
2 Michelin stars (2021–present)
1 Michelin star (2017–2021)
Street address70 Wilton Road, Pimlico
CityLondon
Postal/ZIP CodeSW1V 1DE
CountryUnited Kingdom
Websiteawong.co.uk

A. Wong is a Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant, located in Pimlico, London. It serves modern British retake on traditional Cantonese dishes. It is owned by Andrew Wong, a third-generation London restaurateur who is also the restaurant's chef de cuisine.[1]

History[edit]

In 2012, Andrew Wong, a third-generation restaurateur, opened A. Wong, named after his parents, in Pimlico and became its chef patron.[2][3][4] The site was previously the location of his parents' Cantonese restaurant Kym.[3][5] Wong's wife Nathalie manages the restaurant.[2]

Among notable guests of the restaurant were brothers Ferran and Albert Adrià of El Bulli.[4]

Menu[edit]

The restaurant has provided traditional Cantonese dishes with modern British twists.[6] The menu has been seasonal and included Peking duck, guotie (pan-fried dumpling) and xiaolongbao (Shanghai pork dumpling) with ginger-flavoured vinegar foam.[4][5][7] It has also offered the "Taste of China" tasting menu, which included "soy chicken, ginger oil osetra caviar wrap", Shaanxi shredded lamb 'burger' "with Xinjiang pomegranate salad", char siu "with grated foie gras", "Chengdu street tofu", "Anhui fermented seabass", and "Wuwei smoked duck" (无为熏鸭).[3][8]

A. Wong also offered a Xinjiang-inspired dish of deep-fried beef strips with chili and a sauce; "'1,000 chili' chicken with snails and Sichuan pepper"; Kung Pao chicken; "seared wagyu beef with mint, chili and lemongrass"; aubergine with Sichuan sauce; and crispy noodles with brown gravy.[8] It also has offered dim sum dishes, like prawn cracker with deep-fried seaweed and "pork and prawn dumpling" with "a citrus foam", and desserts, like duck egg custard and "poached merengue with fruit textures".[9][10]

A. Wong also offered "Why We Don't Eat Shark Fin Soup", a soup dish containing agar and chicken broth with oil extracted from steamed ham "rolled in sugar". Derived from shark fin soup, Wong's dish substituted agar for shark fins because shark finning is banned in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. A. Wong also offered "Why The Buddha Didn't Jump Over the Wall" ("barbecued sweet potato with some fermented, salted black-bean relish"), inspired by the Columbian exchange in the 1500s and based on a popular Cantonese dish of "pumpkin and black bean sauce".[5]

Wong wrote a 2015 cookbook, A. Wong: The Cookbook.[11]

Reception[edit]

The restaurant earned its first Michelin star in October 2017.[12] It then earned its second star in January 2021, becoming the first Chinese restaurant outside Asia and in the United Kingdom to hold two stars.[5][7][13] To this date, it has been the only two-Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant outside Asia.[7]

Ben McCormack in November 2018 called A. Wong "the best restaurant in Victoria" and "possibly the best Chinese restaurant in Europe".[8]

Chef and restaurateur[edit]

Wong was born in early 1980s into a family that operates Chinese restaurants, including his parents Albert and Annie.[2][5] Wong's grandfather, a Chinese immigrant, owned some East End pubs and a restaurant in Chinatown, London.[3][5] Wong initially did not aspire a career in hospitality, and his father wanted him to pursue further education.[14]

Wong attended the University of Oxford for a bachelor's degree in chemistry but did not finish after one year and a half.[2] He then studied social anthropology at the London School of Economics.[7] In 2003, due to his father's death, Wong decided to help his mother Annie run the family's four remaining Chinese restaurants, including one Cantonese restaurant, Kym's, opened in 1985 by Wong's parents and named after his grandmother.[2][3][14] Wong then took cooking classes at Westminster Kingsway College and spent six months in China studying varieties of Chinese cuisine.[2]

Wong opened another Chinese restaurant Baoshuan in New Delhi in 2018.[4][7] He also operated another Chinese restaurant Kym's, which lasted from March 2019 to late 2020, in Bloomberg Arcade of London.[15][16] He became a research associate at the SOAS Food Studies Centre of the SOAS University of London in May 2020.[5][17][18]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "'The sky's the limit': Spanish and Chinese chefs' dazzling dim sum". South China Morning Post. 13 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Andrew Wong (A Wong)". Great British Chefs. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e Lanyon, Charley (20 February 2019). "London's Chinese restaurant revolution: China's regional cuisines reimagined from high to low". South China Morning Post. ISSN 1021-6731. ProQuest 2184251061. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d Vishal, Anoothi (11 February 2021). "How Andrew Wong is welcoming The Year of the Ox". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Wang, Andy (10 February 2021). "How London's A. Wong Embraced the Past to Push Chinese Fine Dining Into the Future". Robb Report. Retrieved 3 January 2021. The author of the magazine article is not to be confused with the chef of a similar name.
  6. ^ Sitwell, William (12 February 2021). "A. Wong's impact on London is tangible – all thanks to a very special chef". The Daily Telegraph. ProQuest 2488772449. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e Wong, Andrew (24 March 2021). "In Conversation With The Two Michelin-Star Chef Andrew Wong". Elle India (Interview). Interviewed by Isha Mayer. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  8. ^ a b c McCormack, Ben (26 November 2018). "A. Wong restaurant review: could it be the best Chinese restaurant in Europe?". The New York Times. ProQuest 2137637480. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  9. ^ Rayner, Jay (31 January 2016). "A Wong: restaurant review". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  10. ^ Chesterton, George (4 June 2019). "A Wong is the place to find the Chinese food of your dreams". GQ. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  11. ^ Brian, O'Rourke (14 October 2015). "Cookbook Review: A. Wong The Cookbook". HuffPost. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  12. ^ Khomami, Nadia (2 October 2017). "Nine-seat Araki sushi restaurant wins three Michelin stars". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  13. ^ Fabricant, Florence (26 January 2021). "Debajo, From a Former Ferris Chef, Opens in the Made Hotel". The New York Times. ProQuest 2480815709. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  14. ^ a b Wong, Andrew (1 February 2018). "Andrew Wong on Chinese Food and Why He Won't Serve Spring Rolls". The Independent (Interview). Interviewed by Emma Henderson. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  15. ^ Hayward, Tim (14 March 2019). "Kym's, London: 'an almighty curate's egg' — restaurant review". Financial Times. ProQuest 2191213860. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  16. ^ Plush, Hazel (29 September 2020). "Four countries including Italy and Greece face quarantine restrictions". The Daily Telegraph. ProQuest 2447147260. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  17. ^ Hill, Lauren Jade (9 July 2021). "Andrew Wong: life through a culinary lens". Tempus. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  18. ^ Wong, Andrew (8 December 2020). "Meet the Michelin Chef: Andrew Wong". The Wordrobe (Interview). Retrieved 22 August 2021.

External links[edit]


51°29′35″N 0°08′26″W / 51.4930°N 0.1406°W / 51.4930; -0.1406

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