Song He Lou Chinatown 松鹤楼伦敦中国城店

This is a great place with authentic, extremely good, Chinese food. It is a but above everything else in Chinatown and the noodles were incredible together with everything else we had ! The crab and crab roe we sided to the noodles was delicious, so were the greens and the prawns. We booked but this place is more used to people coming from the street. Upstairs is a completely different space, more refined and less busy, quite classy and quiet, as the people coming from the street tend to stay in the ground floor restaurant. The prices are very low and the quality is fantastic. I will definitely go back to sample the rest of the. menu.

We came for dinner and the dishes were a bit of a hit and miss. Between the three of us, we shared the crab meat and roe noodle set (this was the clear favourite and it was delicious), the sweet and sour seabass noodle set (I felt the seabass overpowered the noodles and the flavour didn't quite work for me) and the white broth noodles with fried pork loin (felt the pork wasn't anything special). For dessert, we shared the mango coconut golden and the soybean curd (not to my taste but my friends liked it). The service was very attentive and friendly.

I was lucky enough to visit the canal town of Suzhou located close to Shanghai in China. I missed eating at Song He Lou while I was there. Happily, Song Le Hou have just opened their first overseas restaurant in London I love noodles, so this was right up my street. I chose the red soup base and added braised pork belly. The noodles were springy and delicious. The soup base was smooth and clarified. It came with 3 sides - green veg, mini tomatoes and sweet preserved fruit. To my Malaysian palate, they didn’t really complement the noodles and soup. The braised pork was lovely and soft if lacking in definite character The service was attentive and friendly but they slightly dropped the ball with my dessert order. A wrong dish arrived before my soya pudding was served. Again, it didn’t match my Malaysian palate but can’t really blame them I will return to try other things on the menu which sound interesting

Came for their crab roe and was a little bit disappointed to be honest as it did not taste as flavorful as expected especially after mixing into the noodles. The Fired Boneless Roasted Duck was not bad though, very crispy and the dipping sauce was delightful. The Flavoured Crayfish tasted ok for the first few bites but nothing too exciting.

I lived in Suzhou for 4 years in the past. So when I heard song he Lou is opening a brunch in London I was quite excited. Today I tried the famous crab sauce noodle, a signature dish in Suzhou. Flavour-wise it is good but not outstanding. I asked the waiter where did the get the crab - imported from Suzhou ( which is a fresh water crab) or use the local crab (seawater crab). The waiter told me it was imported from china. So I imagined the crab sauce is pre-made in china and then frozen for shipping abroad. So, flavour cannot be compared to the authentically Suzhou crab sauce noodle, which use fresh crabs. On the other side, the waiters are polite enough but they are not customer oriented. I have been sitting on my table waiting to order but the waiters are talking to each other and not checking customers.

Living in Shanghai for years, I’m really picky for my favourite Su Zhou Style noodle, came with sister, I was excited when I saw this restaurant is going to open soon. So I took my sister to try, we ordered Crab Roe noodle set & Eel slices noodle set. While we waiting, I quite enjoy they play the Su Zhou Ping Tan music, it’s tourism yes, but at least it matches the food and the environment. Decoration is extravagant, can tell by details, try hard to bring the Su Zhou fine dining to the restaurant. Very different from other restaurants around China Town. Here comes the food, our table was a bit small for putting two sets :p , they needed to take away the tray from one of the set, looks less fancy but ok. The crab roe taste authentic, very close to Shanghai’s, but the best in China Town ( could be London you can taste, better than Ting Tai Fung ) , the soup noodle is good, the Lo Mian is a bit dry, can put more oil and scallions, smell better too. Eel is not bad too, a bit too soft, make it more crunchy will be the best in town. This cuisine dish is hard to find in UK. There was a pair of young waiter and waitress serving us, extremely good service but not annoying. She offered me free extra plain noodle and plum candy, quite unexpected in London. Maybe I speak perfect mandarin haha. I certainly will come back and try the Stir Fried Crab Meat Roe, just £13.8, this dish in Shanghai or Hong Kong can cost you £20 ( of cos a bit bigger plate ) still, good price for that extravagant ingredients.

The service was really amazing with a big smile when u walk in, did not feel very touristy which was really amazing. The portion size was on the small side but really amazing flavors especially chili beef. The bathroom was spacious and clean with is a ++ in London. Really loved it and no complaints at all about it.

Suzhou noodles at Song He Lou. Tried this new restaurant that specializes in Suzhou cuisine. You can't escape from the signature noodles in a clear broth which look like a ball of yarn immersed in liquid. From there on its either the signature fried fish or the side dishes which are like sharing tapas on a raised plate. Most commonly, the noodles are paired with brown crab [crab roe and meat]. Anyway, we just had the noodles. The menu isn't very helpful as it only tells you the colour of the soup and not the ingredients but obviously the red soup is stronger in taste like a weak buk kut teh soup while the clear one is much lighter but not chickeny. Both and everything was on the sweet side. The noodles without soup was my favourite as they don't go soft. Again sweet and savoury. All noodles come with a tray of cherry tomatoes, dried black eye beans and pak choy to make it look fancy. I wasn't fond of the pak choi because they taste weird in general. Very earthy and sulphur like. The beans were surprisingly nice with a firm chew similar to those soy sauce beans in packets. Overall, this would be nice once in a while when I have a noodle craving.