Shan Shui Jian 山水间

This restaurant serves very authentic and delicious Northeastern Chinese food. However, the service was disappointing and among the worst I’ve ever experienced. The staff seemed discriminatory. Although the waiter was also Asian, he was very kind and gentle with local customers but became impatient and rude when dealing with other Asians. There were two dishes with very similar names in translation, and we ended up ordering the wrong one. When we raised this issue and asked for a reasonable solution, the waiter became extremely rude and refused to help. At the end of our meal, we asked to pack the remaining food. The server just tossed us a box, implying we should pack it ourselves. I'm not sure if this is appropriate, especially considering he charged us extra service fee. No matter what, we did not deserve to be treated like this.

Lovely North eastern Chinese food place - if you are into spicy food it is a must try. I usually go for Cantonese cuisine (which is readily available in most Chinese restaurants) so this is nice treat. I do notice they use Sichuan chill peppers so although they are spicy the intensity is less extreme and more of an slow burn after taste.

The dishes are excellent, and waitress is very kind. We were near Limehouse for some days and looking for a place to eat and we have entered here without knowing but it was just a very good surprise. If you are nearby don’t hesitate to stop there

A hidden jem. Proper traditional cuisine and very reasonable prices. We did not try the hot pot but friends who have claim that is not the best. On the other hand the dishes we did try were excellent, very spicy but still full of flavour. You could feel the burn the next morning. Looking forward to visit again.

Not bad, extensive menu

Amazing hidden gem by the Troxy music venue. Fried peanut chicken, egg fried rice, pork and noodles, dumplings. Unbelievable food, so tasty. Nice people, highly recommended.

I never tried this place when I had the opportunity to when I was living in E14. I decided to try a few days ago with a few friends who live nearby. I must say it's good, this is Northern Chinese cuisine so don't bother ordering any other dishes one is over familiar with. We didn't try the hotpot though, maybe next time.

We had a lovely dinner here a few weeks ago, gorgeous ribs and Kung po chicken. Staff were very friendly. The restaurant was fairly quiet when we went but got busier through the night. Will definitely go back, looking forward to trying their speciality lamb hotpot.

Small gem of a place in a divey location. They serve expertly executed, authentic Sichuanese dishes. I enjoyed the cumin lamb and my family had the mushroom braised beef. All had amazing, satisfying taste. Definitely worth a visit.

Initially we had difficulties to find the restaurant. Small low key restaurant. But then we got a big reward. Best Chinese dishes since long time. Authentic Chinese cuisine. The chef definitely masters his cooking skills including Sichuan style. Highly recommended.

It was my first night alone in London and I wanted "comfort food" (i.e., Chinese), as I wasn't ready yet to explore the dining or pub scene. Google maps advised me this was a sit-down restaurant only 2 blocks from my B&B (Royal Foundation of St. Katharine's, see separate review) and that the place would be open til 11pm on a Thursday. Glad I came. First, the restaurant may be "skinny" and compact, but it is clean and well-lit facing semi-busy Commercial Street in London's East End. Second, the young female hostess and male server were very friendly and attentive. Third, even at 10pm, there were two young Chinese couples eating there (definitely a good sign), both with HotPots. Fourth, out of curiousity, I ordered the Kung Pao Chicken (as I've had this at dozens of restaurants throughout the U.S.). It's probably the best I've ever tasted - definitely on the sweeter honey-glazed side, lots of peanuts and spicy hot (lots of red chili peppers). You'll be sweating half-way through, so bring your handkerchief or a portable mini-fan! Serving size is fairly generous. Prices were a bit higher than expected: Kung Pao Chicken dish (£8.80 = USD $11.70); small bowl of steamed white rice (£2.00 = USD $2.66); the smallish-can of Coca-Cola (8 oz?) (£2.20 = $2.93), and automatic 10% service charge. Total £14.30 (USD $19.02). Everything is a la carte (i.e., no complementary rice like in the U.S.) Would I make a special trip here from other parts of London? No. But if you're in the East End (Limehouse), you could do a lot worse. I'll probably stop by again next time I'm in the neighborhood.

A real treat Came here with a Chinese friend who chose the food. He commented that it was clear that they made the sauces themselves which was why they were so good. Excellent.

Me and my girlfriend spontaneously decided to have dinner here while we were on vacation in London. It's a really small, inconspicuous neighborhood spot and we walked past it twice without even noticing, so keep your eyes peeled when looking for it at night. The place was packed with people and we were ready to wait for a while but they managed to squeeze us in regardless, which was nice. The staff was super friendly in general and we didn't have to wait for our food for too long. While I know a thing or two about Japanese cuisine I'm more or less clueless about Chinese food so I can't really give you an assessment of how authentic the food was but I suppose it was about halfway there - Either way, the stir fries we ordered were absolutely delicious and pretty cheap too. They were decently seasoned, not too oily and had loads of chilies while not being dissolve-your-tastebuds-spicy. If you're in there area, I'd recommend checking out this spot!

We got the Glass Noodles with minced pork, they were spicy and delicious! The dumplings were great as well. The service was fast and friendly. ^ - ^

hardly to find good daily restaurants for people don't cook when i first moved to here, after suffered some food nearby to survive, i found this then it becomes the canteen of me and my bf, very decent qualified cook compared with some of china town's, authentic Northeast and Sichuan style food and very friendly staff. two tables in it are quite narrow so phone them to book a comfortable one. Saves me from many british style take away 'chinese' food.

Great food but the staff do not get the tips, so make sure to ask for the service charge to be removed. Unethical business practice in my opinion.

Very impressed with the takeaway, fresh and authentic. The hotpot, chosen by some diners in there last night looked really good and the aromas were wonderful. The menu features many things that you wouldn't normally see on a menu here - I suspect a Chinese following will soon build up! Price-wise a little more than you might pay elsewhere locally but for authenticity you would expect higher prices.

Good traditional sichuan chinese food. Been here four times now and it hasn't let me down yet. If you're looking for roast duck covered in strange brown gravy you're in the wrong place. This is about authentic food especially if you like it covered in chilli and more chilli.

They don't list all ingredients, so the food made me slightly nauseous. My partner, on the other hand, enjoyed it a lot. Go figure :(.

The food we ordered there was ok. I would not say the Chinese dishes there are authentic but they are much better than most other Chinese takeaway/diners. Both waitresses are friendly and they deliver food fast. You get 10% discount if you pay by cash.