Poon's at Somerset House

We dined here on Friday lunchtime and it was a revelation. I've never had such delicious Chinese food before. The quality of all the ingredients was exceptional. Everything was perfectly seasoned. Beer, wines and cocktails were top notch. It's a stunning setting and a place where you want to linger and enjoy the atmosphere. The service from the whole team (especially Mila who advised us on the menu) was superb. Thanks to everyone who makes this such a unique place. We'll definitely be back and bring our friends.

Disappointing experience at Poon’s We visited Poon’s for Chinese New Year with high expectations, but unfortunately, it didn’t live up to them. Our food arrived before our glasses of wine — not the best start. The wontons were tasty, light, and full of flavor. I also enjoyed the CNY radish cake and the sausage rolls (though I’ve never seen those in China — not sure what the Chinese twist was, but fair enough!). The steamed sea bass was a simple but well-executed dish, even if the sauce was a bit too sweet for my taste. The eggplant dish was again too sugary, and the portion rather small. As for the soy noodles — just look at the photo. They were basically plain fine egg noodles with a soy-based sauce and a few scallions on top. At £12, that felt like a rip-off. How can such a basic dish cost so much? Overall, I wouldn’t recommend it. Yes, it’s in Somerset House, but once inside, it could be anywhere. While a few dishes were pleasant (though most portions were quite small), paying £160 for the meal — with only two glasses of wine — felt unreasonable. On the positive side, the staff were very polite and professional

Having now eaten twice at Poon’s Somerset House I can enthusiastically say this restaurant counts among my favorites not only for Chinese food but in overall restaurant dining satisfaction in at least the last five years. Hailing from San Francisco, I have experienced my fair share of Chinese cuisine of both the more traditional and elevated varieties. The food at Poon’s is impeccable in that it captures the sophistication of Chinese cuisine while at the same time remaining elemental, honoring the ingredients and letting their inherent flavors and textures shine through. The duck salad is sublime, the whole fish preparation (expertly filleted table-side) is unctuous and yet ethereal, and the noodle dishes are beyond compare bestowing fulsome aromas on the nose and delicate flavors on the palate. All of the starters and appetizers were greedily consumed by myself and dining guests with utmost fervor, especially the potstickers. The room itself, while grand and beautifully decorated has a sense of timelessness and beckons diners to feel at home in its conviviality and graciousness. I cannot recall a newer restaurant so soon into its evolution feeling so warmly established. The front of house hosts and servers contribute to the restaurant’s elan. For the discerning foodie, a meal at Poon’s cannot be overly encouraged.

Poon's cooks delicious, elevated Cantonese home style cooking. Everything we ate was moreish and beautifully plated. We loved Amy's prawn toast so much we ordered an extra portion. The poussin was a similar dish to one my Hong Kong grandmother used to make (I'm sure people not used to this style of cooking freak out at the red bones but that's how it's meant to come.) The restaurant is situated inside Somerset House. If you are wearing dry clean only clothes perhaps request a seat in the library as it's an open kitchen and dishes are fried in close proximity, especially if you're seated at the counter. Regardless, it was a lovely meal with a great wine list in a very agreeable space.

The boiled chicken was incredibly tender and flavourful, especially with the two different sauces. The vegetable pickles were so refreshing and tasty, too! I really loved the silken tofu, such a delicate flavour and texture. And the deep-fried sesame prawns were absolutely delicious. One of my favourite parts of the meal was the unique tea pot that I’d never seen anything like it! Check out the video. It was so nice of the lovely owners, a husband-and-wife team, to greet us, and one of them even demonstrated how the tea pot works. I can’t wait to go back and try other dishes especially the wonton soup which looked really good.

What a treat to find familiar authentic food at Poons! The service was amazing, Cynthia and our team anticipated everything we needed to make our evening special. Great wine recommendations, the seabass was cooked to perfection, from the signature marteeny to the wontons, the whipped furu, the poussin and the pickles, everything was s delight to the palate! Cant wait to return to try more!!!

I was excited to try this place but unfortunately many of the dishes fell short of expectations. We came for dinner and between the three of us, we shared the prawn wontons (some of the filling was a bit chewy but the chilli vinegar dressing was good), steamed scallop (lacked a bit of flavour), poons sausage roll (nice), the hill that Amy didn't die on (prawn toast which was just ok and tiny portion for £12), braised glass noodle (noodles were dry and flavour was bland), signature wind dried meats claypot (felt the ratio of rice to meats was off and the flavour was not balanced), steamed pork (the pork was tender and went well with the plain rice).

A elegant vibe in Poon’s at Somerset House. I had a lovely lunch with my family there. The foods are amazing. Especially the duck salad, the fermented tofu sauce with veggies, the steamed pork and my favourite prawn wontons (forgot to take photo). Actually every dish are tasty! Also the drinks menu I can see Poon’s team makes a lot of effort in this. There is rarely places in london that we can choose our favourite tea with our meals.