Chinese Laundry, the critically acclaimed 1980s inspired Chinese restaurant on London's Upper Street in Islington, has introduced a selection of new dinner menu dishes for spring 2016.
Available from 12 April, the new dishes include traditional Chinese drinking snacks such as Street Style Carcass – chicken carcass marinated in spicy sauce, deep fried and coated with Sichuan rub, while additions to the main course include Stir fried aubergine with pulled hot smoked salmon and Ma Po clams and tofu – a twist on a traditional dish which includes soft tofu, clams and house made Ma Po sauce.
Highlights on the all-day breakfast/brunch menu include ‘Cong you bing’ – the duo’s take on a beloved breakfast classic in China – a crispy scallion pancake, served with a fried egg, bacon and spicy red pepper sauce, and ‘Egg hug dumplings’ – a pork dumpling omelette.
Drinks served from the cocktail bar focus on the popular Chinese spirit, Baiju; a traditional liquor which traces back 5,000 years and is distilled from fermented sorghum. The spirit is available to drink in various infused flavours, on its own or within a cocktail. A small but well-crafted wine list is also available to drink by the glass or bottle.
Owners Peiran Gong and Tongtong Ren, both also chefs at the restaurant, opened Chinese Laundry in November last year, offering London’s first all-day Chinese breakfast/brunch alongside a separate dinner menu paying homage to dishes best remembered from their childhoods.
Both were very much involved in food from an early age; Gong, having grown up in a coastal town in North East China, was taught by her father to fish and forage ingredients which gave her a firm grasp on the importance of fresh, locally sourced food.
Ren was taught traditional Chinese cooking skills by her parents, and this combined with her interest in preserving food via curing, smoking, pickling and fermenting methods has allowed the pair to create a menu using the best of British ingredients, that is both innovative and original to the London dining scene.
Peiran Gong commented, “We want to bring the hidden treasures of Chinese food and culture, and also provide a different perspective on its food and flavour. All with a 1980s soundtrack – why not!”