Le Wei Xiang

Time Out says

Thu May 27 2010

The name is perhaps a clever little phonetic pun on ‘Lewisham’, where this northern Chinese restaurant has opened. But the three characters literally mean ‘joy, flavour, fragrant’ – hilariously translated into English as ‘Happy Smell’.

The decor is utterly basic, with a TV at the far end set to a Chinese channel, and at first glance the menu (with its 200-plus dishes) offers the same takeaway Chinese crowdpleasers.

But from #137 onwards, there are Sichuan classics (‘water-boiled’ meat with hot chillies, kung po chicken) and even more interestingly, dishes from Dong Bei (north eastern China), featuring plenty of offal.

From the ‘Genuine Chinese Tastes’ section, we sampled refreshing, ginger-tinged shredded potatoes (£3), shredded pigs’ ears in chilli oil (£5) and best of all, a generous, wobbling plateful of silky chilled tofu in a vinegared soy sauce base and chopped, creamy preserved duck eggs (£5).

In close second was a large claypot of sliced sea bass stew (£10) in a milky, intensely flavoured broth; large chunks of suan cai (pickled Chinese cabbage) lent the stew a refreshing sour note, as well as a curiously smoky undertone.

It was large enough to feed 3-4 hungry mouths. The staff are happy to recommend the more esoteric dishes, provided you show an interest in something other than special fried rice.