Yming

This is a great Chinese restaurant… great service, great food, good ambience. If you are craving for good Chinese food in London, I’d recommend this place.
Imagine being really tired after a long walk as tourists and your 11 year old daughter really craving Chinese food. I looked up Unilocal and this place had good reviews. It looked very small and crowded, but they took us downstairs and it was nice and quiet.
The spring rools and the cauliflower appetizer, the vegetarian chow mein, the green beans and chicken were all great.
There’s was a lady at the next table that apparently either owned the place or was very well regarded at this restaurant. She was very kind and went upstairs and brought my daughter some skittles.
Overall a great experience.

It was a good restaurant with a unique menu, some of the dishes just did not live up to the description.
Started with double boiled beef and red date soup. This was one of the dishes that was not as good as it sounded. It was bland, even the dates were not particularly sweet, and the broth had little flavor. It was not bad but not worth ordering again.
For starters, the cumin spare ribs were great. The cumin added a unique flavor and the ribs were meaty and well prepared. I also liked aubergine delight, which was deep fried aubergine in a pillowy crust. Very good. I would order both these starters again.
For a main, had chicken with red chillis (a special of the day), which was surprisingly not spicy if you did not eat the chillis. My favorite entrée was the Ta T’sai Mi, a lamb dish. The lamb was very tender and tasty.
Overall, a good restaurant that I would go back to.

what you are looking for when you think of clean and delicious chinese fare. family business with the comforts of home. beautiful cozy décor and scrumptious selections. the crispy duck is a must.

So we tried this place because it had rave reviews. I was impressed with most of the food and the fast service. This is definitely a 5 star when compared to the crappy Chinese food that we get in South Florida; however, not a 5 start when in china town in the UK. Having said that, the everything was amazing and spicy. The only dish that wasn’t that good was the spicy chicken — specifically the cubed chicken did not taste fresh at all, but the sauce it was in was amazing. Now on to value — i agree with some of the other comments, that he portions were not as large for the price we paid. All in all, a 3 – 4 star place.

The food is excellent. The portions are slightly smaller than what I expected from the price, but what the dishes lack in size is made up in quality. The menu offers a somewhat westernized variety of Chinese foods, but it’s still very good.
The service is amazingly quick. I was seated as soon as I entered the restaurant and after I ordered, it only took about 15 minutes for the food to arrive.
I would definitely recommend the restaurant.

The food was excellent, I had the B menu with crispy pork, spicey beef and a pork dish which I couldn’t make out. The service was a bit so-​so, tho the food came on time. Recommended!

The best Chinese food I’ve tasted in London so far.

The best Chinese food I’ve ever had. Definitely an upscale experience, but thoroughly satisfying. Highly recommended.

Good quality, tasty traditional Chinese food.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to go here but would tell others it is «good» if they are looking for Chinese food in London. Everything was good that we ate, service was good… no complaints at all. Not great, but good, solid, high-​quality authentic food.

Dont know why some patrons are saying this restaurant is pricey. Far from it when you consider the quality.
Far better than most in the area and very good service. I have been here on a few occassions and you are best keeping to upstairs. The basement is like a store room with 0 atmosphere.

Good not great and I know this is an expensive town, but hugely expensive for the what and for how much. Had the Crispy beef and Cumin pork appetizer with special fried rice, two beers about US$ 100 for one for lunch.

Its Godzirral Robster!!! Nooooo!!!
But seriously, the lobster we had here was enormous, like over 5 lbs probably. Granted I didn’t pay for this meal, it was a top notch experience. Some dishes were better than others, but overall it was very solid food and excellent service. So overall I’d say 4-​star food and 5-​star service. Plus, it is a cute bright blue space that has its own old-​time charm.
Considering how large the lobster was, it was extremely tender and flavourful. The preparation and with lots of ginger was perfect, although the noodles that lay underneath were forgettable.
The spare ribs appetizer with pickles (japanese-​style daikon pickles) was also really yummy. I’d definitely get this again. I also really liked the Szechuan peppercorn jumbo prawns. Super nom.
Hot and Sour soup was solid, but nothing special, but I’d order it again. Fried tofu northern-​style was light in flavour, but really brought out the fresh taste of the tofu. We also had some mushroom dish, but I forget what it was called.
The maitre’d, William, is a really nice man and obviously a career professional. He makes this place special. I don’t think you can go wrong if you choose Yming to be your London Chinatown dining choice.

London has lots of large tourist Chinese restaurants. Fast service, bland average food. Yming is one of the few exceptions. Small intimate restaurant serving quality food. Best was the green beans slightly spiced with nice amounts of garlic. Chicken rice and prawn toast were all great.

This is my go to Chinese restaurant whenever I visit London. Great food and attentive staff make YMing a must for me. William, who I believe is the owner, always remembers me with a friendly greeting. (What a memory!)
The vegetarian items on the menu are delicious and creative. The grilled tofu, sauteed greens, vegetarian roast «pork», and ginger fried rice are among my favorites. As a vegetarian, I’m always happy to find a restaurant that has delicious vegetarian selections.
YMing’s location on Greek Street make this a great place to eat when going to the theater. It’s popular, so I suggest you make a reservation especially on a Friday or Saturday night.
Maybe it’s time for another visit to London and YMing. One can dream can’t one?

This review is 7 years late. But their food and service somehow left a good impression for me to come around to write this.
Anyways, we were American college students back in the summer 2005 wondering around London from Trafalgar Square to Soho and around Chinatown. And we thought, lets just check out some British Chinese Food.
Who woulda thought that lunch that day would be a day to remember. this place stuck in my mind for 7 years as for the life of me I couldnt remember the name of the place. But at last, the power of the web, google maps, trip advisor and Unilocal helped me rediscover the place.
For some reason, this place brought back fond memories as this was the first time for me to try some quality Chinese on accident. Our experience there was an odd one. Confused American Asian students stumbling into a random Chinese restaurant around the outside of Chinatown/​Soho. We didnt know what to expect. What was more interesting was the waiter, he was very interested in talking to US. I guess he was in awe too to find random American Asian college students eating there in the middle of the day. His interest in us made a lasting impression of a sociable and attentive waiter.
Long story short, something about the place really made this place memorable. Maybe it was the green yet classy décor? The staircase down stairs? The glasses in the bar? or maybe it was the fact that I still remembered what I ordered as my starter «ribs». Food was quality as i remembered. Well flavored but not covered in sauces. Prestation also impressed. Service was top notch. I still even remember the menu saying no GMOs.
I guess the combination of the food, the lasting impression of the staff and the uniqueness of the décor wowed us.
Hey, i gone out of my way 7 years later to write this. They musta done something right.

My family is very much the kind that will frequent the same restaurant for years until it’s no longer as good as it used to be. For Chinese, it used to be The Mayflower until it got tied up with the Triads a little too much; then it was the now-​defunct Fung Shing until the chef died, at which point it slowly declined to very average. We stumbled on Y Ming after reading some very positive reviews — it’s slightly out the way, off the North side of Shaftesbury Avenue and, whilst you can’t miss the duck-​egg blue exterior, it’s the sort of place you could not know about for years as it’s not in the main bit of Chinatown.
Y Ming claims to be the oldest Chinese restaurant in Soho (I didn’t know that factoid until I looked it up just now. Hmm.) and specialises in Northern Chinese cuisine, whilst also offering more standard fare, albeit with its own twist. The specials section features a particularly good set of dishes which I recommend you try. I really enjoy my meals here — being more Northern-​influenced, there’s a fair amount of chilli around, and the food contains more interesting flavours than a lot of places; their ginger spring onion lobster is also really good if you feel like splashing out a bit.
As far as the food goes, I’d be inclined to give this a 4 – 4.5 star rating. However, the service is really great here, which is in direct contrast with a lot of Chinatown. The maitre d’, William, is a really great, friendly guy (originally from Penang), and most helpful and attentive is service. He’s also great at recommendations, so if you’re struggling with the menu, just ask him for some tips — they’re almost always spot on.
As for the price, it’s not cheap compared to the rest of Chinatown, but I think it’s really worth it, at it’s certainly not ridiculous (I’m looking at you, Bar Shu). Highly recommended!

Food critic Jay Rayner is right Y Ming is one of the best Chinese restaurants in London. Enough said.

Spotlessly clean and more upmarket, this is a better option than most of the joints down the road in Chinatown. Helpful and attentive service, a varied and intriguing menu (mint fried rice?) and great drinks selection. Everything tasted freshly made and delicious, particularly the hot and spicy tofu.
One star knocked off because it is a bit pricey (£60 for two people; two courses and two glasses of wine) and 10% service charge automatically added. But in the middle of Soho, that’s no great surprise. Y Ming is recommended.

YMing has a great location in the heart of Soho on a brightly lit corner of Greek St and Romilly St. The menu claims to consist of ‘traditional Chinese cuisine from the Northern provinces of China’ but in reality the offerings are a mix of dishes from all over China, some Anglo-​Chinese dishes and a few of their own creations.
The first starter to arrive was phoenix tail (£6.50) king prawns wrapped in bacon. This was a bit of a surprise as we had ordered prawn rolls with almond flakes (£7.00). It was a cock-​up but we were too hungry and a bit ‘too-​British’ to care. There’s not a lot I can say about prawns and bacon so let’s move swiftly on.
The other starter was spare ribs with cumin Beijing style (£7.00); fried ribs tossed in a mix of pepper, garlic, chilli and cumin seeds. Ribs can be boring but these were incredibly moreish with the cumin lifting it to another level.
The mains included sautéed flavoured chicken supreme (£9.80), Gansu duck (£9.50), and dry cooked beans (£7.00). Of these, our favourite was the chicken as it was deeply infused with the taste of the dry tangerine peel (guo pei), a common ingredient in Cantonese home cooking.
The beans were a faithful rendition of the Sichuan classic. The food was above average — in particular the ribs and the chicken — but there was no outstanding dish. The portions were also a bit on the small size but with the help of steamed rice we were full. Service was excellent and I think this is the only Chinese restaurant where I’ve seen tablecloth scrapers deployed.
The bill clocked in at £70 for two including service and a decent bottle of Alsatian Pinot Blanc (£20)

After my recent reviews of a theme park/​Chinese supermarket and pizza restaurant/​jazz club combo businesses, I offer you today a Chinese/​Scottish restaurant!
Yming is a Chinese restaurant located just outside Chinatown, on Greek Street slightly north of Shaftesbury Avenue. The prices are surprisingly a little more expensive despite being off the tourist trail but I think the food is aiming at a slightly higher level than tourist fare.
Yming is quite eclectic in some ways. The menu boasts dishes from Hunan to Tibet to what must be my favourite dish description on a Chinese restaurant menu — ‘Mr. Edward’s Pork’, for their gourmet client Mr. Edward, that is described as soft and melts in your mouth! However, along with this playful streak, the kitchen also shows a serious touch by offering special dishes such as beggar’s chicken and whole braised duck that requires 48 hours notice for preparation.
The menu will be unfamiliar — even I struggled to identify many dishes but be bold and experiment. The food here is characterised by a deftness with spicing and a lack of grease, sometimes characteristic of Chinese food.
But what of the Scottish element, I hear you cry! Ah, look at the dessert menu and you will see that they offer a choice of deep fried chocolate bars! Never again will I be able to tease my Scottish friends about their deep fried Mars bars!
Yming is well worth a detour out of Chinatown.