Chinatown is one of our favourite areas of London. There are so many wonderful and interesting food options especially desserts. Last year we did a list of 10 desserts to try in the area (see post) and it proved to be quite successful. So, we decided to head back and do a brand new list for this year. And this time we’ve gone and included completely new desserts! There’s so many options there, it really isn’t hard to do. Let’s goooo!
1. Brick Toast from Candy Cafe
Candy Cafe is a hidden gem in Chinatown and that is no understatement. It’s a small door opposite the Golden Gate Cake Shop. Blink and you’ll miss it. You have to walk up a flight of stairs and then you’ll be welcomed by nice spacious cafe. They do savoury options, but they’re more known for their desserts. Traditional Chinese desserts. I will definitely be back to try out some of their traditional offerings, but what caught our eye this time was the Brick Toast. It is basically their take on the French toast. Pile of thick toasted cube brioche pieces, whipped cream and vanilla ice cream with Oreo pieces. So sooo good! Light, the right amount of sweet and you can’t go wrong with vanilla and chocolate flavours can you. No one flavour was overpowering. This was the best thing we had on this food tour! So good! A must try when in Chinatown!
2. Wheelcake from Dragon Cat Cafe
Wheelcakes are Taiwanese filled pancakes and Dragon Cat Cafe is another blink and you’ll miss it kind of spot. It’s basically a door, just like the first one, but it’s a hole in the wall. You order your wheelcake(s) and eat it on the street. They actually do savoury options too, but essentially they’re sweet. The fillings include vanilla, matcha and red bean, but the more interesting one is the one we wanted to try: bubble tea. It’s filled with tea flavour and tapioca pearls. The tea flavour is a bit strong, so if you’re not a tea fan, I’d go for one of the other flavours.
3. Hong Kong French Toast from Bun House
The famous dessert from Bun House is the custard bun and rightfully so – it is delicious! However, that was included in last year’s list. So, we’re back here for something else and boy it’s a banger! It’s actually one of their new additions to the menu. Very popular since its addition. It is a Hong Kong French toast, but not any old French toast. It has got kaya butter smothered on it and it is accompanied with jasmine clotted cream. Tell me you ain’t licking your lips? It was certainly as good as it sounds! Very very indulgent, sweet and all the elements of the dish complement each other superbly. It is quite filling, unlike the above two, so if you aren’t hungry this might be better shared.
4. Ube Brownie from Mamasons
Mamasons is a London favourite. They’ve got some iconic desserts like the ube bilog. Fillipino flavours with their own twists. We decided to get one of their other famous desserts this time: the ube brownie, and we got it with ube ice cream. Quite different from the usual chocolate brownie, definitely interesting and worth trying.
5. Cheese Tea from Machi Machi
Cheese tea is the trend right now in China and Taiwan. It’s basically like drinking cheesecake. We’ve got a separate post on this, so I won’t expand on that here. In my opinion, Machi Machi does one of the best ones in London! A nice bubble tea alternative. A must try when in the area.
Getting there
Nearest station: Leicester Square
Nearest mosque: Muslim World League Goodge Street (10 minute walk)
Parking: Ossulston Street – free evenings and weekends – plenty of parking spaces on Sundays – about 20-30 min walk from Soho/Chinatown, but it is just outside congestion zone
