Chinatown is getting a new tea room and soup shop

Two new restaurants are coming to Chinatown later this summer.

The Eight, a Hong Kong-style tea room, and Zhang Liang Malatang, the popular Sichuan hot soup shop, will open on Shaftesbury Avenue, marking the UK debut of both brands.

Inspired by Hong Kong tea rooms in the 1950s, The Eight will be a café and restaurant serving hot milk tea and the brand’s homemade ‘Ginseng drink’ alongside traditional Hong Kong dishes. 

Rice wrapped in omelette with wagyu beef and rickshaw noodles will be on the menu, and snacks will include Hong Kong curry fish balls and red bean pudding cake (Put Chai Ko).

If The Eight hearkens back to a classier, more leisurely time, Zhang Liang Malatang positions itself as very contemporary — a fast casual solution for an in-and-out meal. 

The concept is simple: you take a bowl, fill it with the fresh ingredients they have on offer (crab legs, fish balls, and seafood sausages, etc.), weigh your selection, then pour a hot broth of your choosing over it. Finish your plate with some fresh toppings (maybe a little coriander or mushroom sauce), slurp it up, and you’re done, with plenty of time to head back to the office. 

The company has exploded over the years, boasting more than 5,500 sites worldwide. This could be the first of its many UK locations, so it’s something to keep an eye on.

‘Chinatown London is the place to be for new experiences,’ said Julia Wilkinson, Restaurant Director at Shaftesbury. 

‘Both The Eight and Zhang Liang Malatang are brilliant examples of concepts launching their UK debut offering within the Chinatown London community, providing our visitors with yet more unique regional Chinese and Pan-Asian foodie adventures.’

Read more industry news here

Image credit: @zhangliang_malatang