The Shan State

Restaurant · Chinatown

The Shan State

Restaurant · Chinatown

1

100-102 Shaftesbury Ave, London W1D 5EF, United Kingdom

Photos

The Shan State by null
The Shan State by Infatuation - Reviews
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null
The Shan State by null

Highlights

Cozy and unassuming, this charming eatery serves up hearty Burmese dishes like mohinga and Shan noodles, perfect for a casual meal with friends.  

Featured in The Infatuation
Placeholder

100-102 Shaftesbury Ave, London W1D 5EF, United Kingdom Get directions

$$

Information

Static Map

100-102 Shaftesbury Ave, London W1D 5EF, United Kingdom Get directions

+44 7808 522825

$$

Features

Tap to pay
reservations
wifi
outdoor seating

Last updated

Mar 9, 2025

Powered By

You might also like

Terms of Use • Privacy Policy • Cookie Policy
 © 2025 Postcard Technologies, Inc.
@infatuation

"I grew up in a food-obsessed Burmese household, and the question I get asked all the time is “where can I eat Burmese food in London?”. I’m not sure my cousin Moe would be happy with strangers turning up at her front door for coconut noodle soup and Burmese pork curry, so I’m going to go ahead and say you should head down to The Shan State in Chinatown for food that even our notoriously picky parents would be happy to eat. The menu at Shan State is based around salads and light noodle dishes from the north of the country - imagine a cross between Indian and Chinese cuisine and you won’t be far off. The stuff you want is on the menu under ‘street foods’ and you’ll definitely want to order the Shan noodles (listed as ‘state noodles’) and tea leaf salad, which is crunchy and salty and sour, and kind of like Glastonbury in your mouth. There’s also the national dish, mohinga (‘monk noodles’) which you should definitely order, as well as coconut noodle soup if you’re looking for that too. Everything’s here is on a par with the kind of thing you’d eat in a Burmese family home, and like any self-respecting family home, the service can be a bit slow. Don’t complain. It’s either this or Cousin Moe’s. Food Rundown Mohinga This is the Burmese national dish, and if you like noodles with a curry broth, you’ll like this. It’s served with crunchy shallots, corianders and chilli, which you mix in to your liking. Shan Noodles The restaurant’s signature dish. Thin rice noodles in a light broth, with a choice of pork or chicken. Order it. Tea Leaf Salad Essentially, a salad of crunchy deep fried things (garlic, shallots, tiny dried shrimp) with herbs, fresh chiles, and fermented tea leaves. It probably won’t remind you of anything, but it’ll be the dish you tell all your mates about. It’s worth dropping in just for this and some tea, Burmese aunty-style." - David Paw

The Shan State Review - Chinatown - London - The Infatuation
View Postcard for The Shan State

Amy

Google
Loved the interior design of the place, staff were really friendly and welcoming. Not too sure about the actual food, the bubbles tasted a little fake but loved the ice cream. whist we were sitting the back door was opening and we were freezing. The Matcha smootie is a must!

Olivier Ottavi

Google
Really nice Burmese restaurant but be aware that on Saturday the kitchen does not open until 2pm or at least it was the case this week. Also the chef was not there so menu was not available but the restaurant has some good potentials.

Michael Gissing

Google
The menu is hard to understand. We ordered bottled water but got tap water. If you don't like London's water that's unpleasant. The mild dish we ordered was spicier than the spicy one. The chicken had a lot of gristle in it, I didn't expect that for the price. If that's how it should be served, you should tell your customers upfront. Rating is for the restaurant, I can't rate the food's taste, don't know how it's supposed to taste.

Ha Pham

Google
Great place for group hang out, they have down stairs sitting area as well. The halo hall is good. Clean and good music

Rohit Chitkara

Google
The staff member serving us was surprisingly clueless. We booked a table for 6 and when asked to be seated he looked scared and ran out saying how he didn't know what he was doing (but still proceeded to seat us without issue). the yellow curry was really not great but everything else was good. in particular the green tea salad is amazing and worth visiting this restaurant for this one dish alone. Absolutely divine... great flavours and good mix of textures. this dish alone bring this place up to 4 stars and makes a repeat visit worth while.

Kevin C.

Google
Delicious, nice interior decor, friendly staff, not too expensive.

Mariia Zharova

Google
I was invited to this restaurant by my Chinese friends. The design I really liked. It is cozy. The toilet is quite hard to find and footsteps are rather steep. Food was good but I expected more. Staff were welcoming but little bit slow. Bill for 1 person about £10.

mustapha elghawi

Google
Terrible service and unfriendly staff. My starter (I order the tempura tofu) had a LONG piece of hair in the batter. When I mentioned it to staff, they weren’t even apologetic and asked if I wanted it replaced to which I said yes. When they bought the new batch, it was obviously the old batch but they re-fried it because the tofu has completely melted and it was just the oily batter. I returned it and asked them to cancel it. For my main I ordered the tofu and chickpea noodle bowl, which had no tofu or chickpea. They seemed to have replaced it with mushroom without even telling me. I didn’t bother asking because the staff were already being rude. When I left I said thank you to the one of the staff and I was ignored but yet they acknowledged my friends. It was our first time trying this restaurant and what a disappointment it was. Definitely not going there again.

Kel P.

Yelp
Very poor service, basically no one served us at all even though we've sat down for like 10 minutes, in the end we went to take our own menus. Then no one came to take our orders, and when they eventually do, food took a good 20-30 mins to come out (note we only ordered a toast, a drink and a dessert), and unfortunately the dessert sago was flavourless and the drink was pretty bland... It is very unfortunate, maybe they had a bad day, but right now I cannot recommend the place at all.

Karishma P.

Yelp
I'd bookmarked this place as soon as I heard about it. Today we headed here after a movie for a lateish lunch. It seemed most customers were here for their desserts (a large & impressive menu) The food menu is small in comparison, but still quite varied. There's s whole section of small plates that work well as sides or starters. I've been itching to try the Burmese fe minted tea leaf salad for awhile, Shan state has it in the menu, but today was not a salad day- so I'll have to go back to try this dish. We had starters of popcorn chicken - lovely, but could be complimented with a dipping sauce. The spicy pork gyoza came with a bit of flavoured soy sauce which worked well for dipping the chicken too. Our mains included the green pork curry - loaded with crunchy veggies and the yellow chicken noodle soup - much milder and softer to eat because everything in it is so tender. We enjoyed sharing these 2 dishes and alternating the textures. The food isn't spicy as you may expect from Asian food, but does have well blended spices, so there's loads of flavour. Desserts were the buns with condensed milk which were very good & peanut coconut balls which are like the Japanese mochi. Sticky glutinous dumplings tossed in a coconut and crushed peanut mixture. I loved it, but the partner wasn't a fan. Their milk teas (lychee & wintermelon) were more like thin milkshakes but very flavourful. And they had popping boba which I love. The space is small and cosy, service was lovely and the food was very satisfying in a way that home cooked meals are. I have to return for the tea leaf salad, but it's also worth popping into for their regular menu.

Dave G.

Yelp
Customer service is amazing and you can tell that they put great attention to the detail and quality of the food. A must go if you are in Chinatown, London.

Thomas S.

Yelp
Don't bother: £13 for a bland soup dish... there are so many places in Chinatown right around the corner where you can get far better food for half the price. It's BYOB - but they will give you a judgy little spiel about how 'you can bring alcohol, if you feel you need it', so even that's not really a saving grace. My friend tried to order a soft drink and was met with a scornful look and 'we're trying to get away from the drinking culture'.... like I say, just don't even bother with this place...

Deric C.

Yelp
I had ordered the monk and fish noodles, I hardly find fish meat inside. It is a bit of pricey £12.90 with not much ingredients inside. Noodles soup taste good but lack small portion compare to the price you pay. Most young customers stop by here to have desserts rather than foods. Nice decorated but very small seating area.

Dexter M.

Yelp
I was average. The food was homemade and good but not exquisite. That's why I rate this place as average

Sophie N.

Yelp
I ordered a takeaway 'palm sugar' dessert. Paid £6.80 and got only half of the container to bring home. Super pricy comparing to old Bobajam. Will not go back.