LDNGuide
8 London Restaurants Serving Lunar New Year Specials
On 22nd January, we’ll celebrate the fourth animal in the Chinese zodiac and hopefully usher in a year filled with longevity, peace, and prosperity. Will that actually happen? It’s TBC. Regardless, that shouldn’t stop you from ringing in the Year of the Rabbit with a special meal from one of these excellent London restaurants.
THE SPOTS
Limited edition Year of the Rabbit buns, big Taiwanese feasts, and some fresh merch are on the menu at Bao to celebrate Lunar New Year. There’s a £39 set menu from 20th January to 5th February for groups of six or more, with courses including bao, scarlet cha shao gammon, and sweet red bean curd-filled rabbit-shaped buns. Meal kits and a special collaboration t-shirt with Carhartt WIP will be available online.
Carousel has teamed up with Amy Poon for a two-night Cantonese steamboat feast over the 19th and 20th January. The family-style meal includes fresh seafood to poach in simmering broths, alongside vegetables, glass noodles, meats, and Poon’s own ‘umami-rich’ sauces. For pud there’s nian gao, a traditional sticky rice cake that represents prosperity. You can book here.
photo credit: Chris Coulson
An eight-course tasting menu on 23rd and 24th January will be on offer at Taiwanese spot Daddy Bao in Tooting. For £50 a head the celebratory meal will get you things like grilled scallop with umami butter and crispy seaweed, fragrant fish bao, and mushroom broth with crispy longevity noodles.
The superb, fancy AF Chinese restaurant in St. James’s has a whole load of Lunar New Year specials on. There’s a set menu featuring a dim sum platter, half their signature Peking duck, steamed silver cod, and lots more for £148 per head. Or, from the specials menu, you can order dishes like honey-glazed king obsiblue prawn and sweet Chinese new year cake with gold leaf.
photo credit: Noodle & Beer
Winner winner Lunar New Year dinner. In Spitalfields, Noodle & Beer’s celebration is twofold. Firstly, any table at the Sichuan restaurant spending at least £35 on the 21st and 22nd January, and the 5th February, will be entered into their £70 red envelope competition. Secondly, there are six specialty dishes to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit—with six being a lucky number in Chinese culture—including Fortune Mousse Cake and their signature tian-shui mian udon noodles.
Both Yauatcha's original Soho location and its spot in the City will be celebrating the Year of the Rabbit with a limited edition menu, a cocktail (the Bunny Sour), and the Chinese restaurant's pineapple pastries with a chocolate rabbit on top.
There’s a trio of special buns on offer from the Cantonese bun specialist in Soho. The ‘Lunar Bunny’ will be filled with White Rabbit candy cream, the ‘Faat Choi’ Bun of Fortune will be a gooey black sesame creation, and the ‘Dai Gut’ Bun of Luck will mix melted dark chocolate with mandarin. You can order them online here or get them at the restaurant from the 22nd to 24th January.
One for both horticulturalists and dim sum fans is Mimi Mei Fair’s plans for Lunar New Year. The swish Chinese restaurant has brought a florist in to transform the Mayfair spot into a particularly lush version of the Rainforest Cafe. There will be a tree for guests to dine under, with gilded cages filled with red envelopes hanging from the branches. Food-wise there’s a ‘Basket of Wealth’ which is three types of dim sum, mains include crispy pork with pineapple and pomelo, and there’s a traditional sticky rice cake with chocolate ice cream for dessert.
