Gung Ho

It’s my local favorite Chinese. Been here at least 5 times. Always spot-​on food and service.
I really wanted to give them 4-​star but just had to balance out the 1-​star unjustified review in my opinion so gave them 5!
Food is classic well executed Chinese with warm, friendly and authentic atmosphere
Recommended both for non fancy family occasions and a nice romantic (casual) dinner

This is by far my favourite chinese restaurant of all time. Its peaceful, relaxed and the food is superb very fresh and flavour-​some. A bit of a treat.
We get take out and dine in and are never disappointed.
Good luck!

Having passed by this restaurant on West End Lane many times on my way back home, I decided to give it a try.
Sadly, it has been my WORST meal ever in a Chinese restaurant, and I might even add that no self-​respecting Chinese person will dine here, but this might seem a little harsh. So I’ll say. if you wish for truly authentic Chinese cuisine, AVOID Gung Ho at all cost. The restaurant does however do an excellent job of bastardizing Chinese food to suit western audiences, so
The place was reasonably empty (only 2 other tables were taken) when I first arrived, although more patrons arrived during later on.
The restaurant claims to be Sichuan, but try as you might. you will find very limited Sichuan cuisine on the menu. Most of the dishes are Cantonese, with the ever popular sweet+sour/black bean sauce selection. My guess is, they are trying to differentiate themselves from other Chinese restaurants by calling themselves Sichuan, but sadly, this is misleading because you can only find a handful (and I truly mean only 4 – 5) of dishes under that name. Worse, they are not even authentically prepared.
The bang bang chicken was very bland, and portions were horrifyingly small (think saucer). The fish with rice wine was horribly fishy (I’m serious about it being the worst fish dish I’ve ever tried), and even the seasoning of wine and MSG could not disguise the foulness of it.
The coffee beef was a bit of a joke, as there was nary a hint of coffee aroma or taste to be found. This was part of the Chef’s Speciality too!
Portions were very small for every dish, but since the food wasn’t particularly good, I was rather grateful!
In the end, despite knowing I would not be full from the meal, I was determined not to order more dishes, as prices were a rip off (approx £9−12) and I simply refuse to pay for bad food.
What utterly disgusted me was the service. While the waiters were not exactly rude, their attitudes were hardly warm towards us. They took a long time to come to our table (which, considering only 2 other tables were filled besides ours, the restaurant is overstaffed at that point!), although the staff hovered and lingered around the tables of other patrons. I was not surprised to see this pandering behavior directed towards the other diners who were Caucasians.
Gung Ho is obviously a restaurant that aims its clientele towards serving Caucasian locals living around the area (West Hampstead, Finchley Road, etc). Most diners do not appear to have travel far, and as the evening progressed, more and more families turned up. None were Chinese though.
If you wish for good Chinese food, you’re better off dining at Royal China, which gives you better cuisine at similar prices. You also get better service, and will be exposed to a variety of authentic Cantonese cuisine. I hate to admit it, but my local Chinese takeaway gives me better food than Gung Ho.
As I pointed out earlier, I left the restaurant still feeling a little hungry, and definitely unhappy with the very poor meal. In the end, we drove down West End Lane, and ended up grabbing a burger at GBK for comfort food. The ultimate insult — my burger made a far more satisfying meal!