There seems to be an explosion of Northern Chinese cuisine popping up all over London. One of the newest replaces Shaftsbury Avenue’s Chinese Experience with a new one called Golden Day. Like many of the new northern Chinese restaurants, their menu is a comprehensive photographic journey through the feasts on offer. It’s a good thing too because many of them are unusual sounding and strange dishes. Like any good restaurant, based on the sampling of dishes that we ordered, they also did a great job keeping them as close to the pictures.

The picture above contains Chicken with Chillis and Wood ear mushrooms. Unlike one of my most favourite Northern Chinese dish, the chicken with sichuan peppers, this one was cooked in a spicy, saucy broth, slowly reducing over the a live flame at the table. The wood ear mushrooms, one of the least spicy dishes on the menu provided a nice cool complement to the meal.

The other star of the meal was the Aubergine dish. Surrounded by bok choi, this well presented dish covered a salty, slightly spiced aubergine that was unimaginably delicious. We weren’t even rushed out of the restaurant like many other Chinese restaurants and tea promptly filled at regular intervals.

Name: Golden Day
Found at: 118-120 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 5EP
Website: (none found)