A month in London, and that too on a shoestring budget, had not exactly endeared us to burgers, fish-and-chips, or even steak-and-kidney pie (believe me, we tried all of them - not bad at all, but not something you can survive on endlessly). So, one dismal evening, sick of what we’d been living on all this while, we decided on something different, and our footsteps (aided by two gourmet friends who are chefs in London) led us to the New Mayflower restaurant on Shaftesbury Avenue.
Chinese, and Cantonese, is the name of the game in this busy, smart restaurant in Chinatown. It’s a large place (they’ve got rooms downstairs, too) and very busy; so busy, in fact, that should you land up here without reservations, you’ll probably find yourself waiting for quite a few minutes before getting a table, and when you do, you’ll find yourself whisked along through a narrow corridor, making your way between bustling waiters, to your table.
We found ourselves seated at a large, round table wedged in next to the wall, but once the food started arriving, that minor inconvenience was swiftly forgotten! The meal was nothing short of a banquet, complete with warm sake to wash it all down. There were five of us, which allowed us a greater range of dishes to choose from, and we ended up sampling some splendid stuff: deliciously crisp lamb spare ribs; scallops with salt, pepper and chillies; egg fried rice; Malayan-style flat noodles; pork cooked with water chestnuts and cashewnuts; fried vegetables; sweet and sour king prawns; chicken with ginger and spring onions; and pineapple fritters to top it all off. And that wasn’t all; just when we thought we’d finished, a plate with huge wedges of sweet orange was placed on the table on the house, a wonderfully refreshing way to end the meal.
Final analysis: smart, good restaurant worth every pound we spent on it!
These guys stay open from 5pm to 4am, and they’re actually crowded till about 2am, so you can imagine how popular they are. Approximate cost for a meal, depending upon what you order, should range between £10 and £30 (between about $16 and $48).