Wonderful place to have a vast array of food items that are freshly made and served in a nice ambience and atmosphere with the help of a really nice and friendly staff too.
This is my favorite chinese restaurant in London. Taste of food and overal quality and service is excellent. Spicy chicken dishes are my favorite here.
On tour in London I wasn’t sure I would find a decent Chinese restaurant over here, but am glad to have found this authentic, food quality Szechuan outlet. Not insanely spicy, but I’m sure that can be adjusted according to one’s taste
Darren Goulston (Darren)
+5
My favorite place in the area to go for a real Chinese meal, the food is always good and you must try the green beans with pork and the lamb skewers. very good
So there is good Chinese food in Aldgate! For the longest while I lost all hope there was anything authentic in this corner of London, but My Old Place surprised – and proved me wrong. It’s a hotspot for Szechuan cuisine and you’ll see that reflected in the clientele. It’s a local’s secret, so listen up!
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Good hole in the wall Szechuan. I used to live in Shoreditch and frequent Gourmet San in Bethnal Green. My Old Place near Aldgate have the same owners and I was happy to have this replacement near the new flat.
If you live local, it is better for takeaway that eating in at the restaurant. Though the atmosphere is convivial, the decor is basic with fluorescent tubes on the ceiling. There are a lot of hard surfaces, so acoustics are poor when the restaurant is crowded. It was crowded on a Saturday night. It's always a good sign when a Chinese restaurant is packed with Chinese people.
One of my go-to Szechuan dishes is braised potato, green pepper and aubergine. As usual this dish was delicious, pungent and garlicky. It's a little hotter than usual here. Some of the green peppers were sweet paprikas but there were also smaller, thinner fleshed, hot peppers in the mix. If you can't handle heat, be careful to pick over the peppers.
Yu-Shiang Beef was very good. Beef was extremely tender. I liked the fact that the julienned bamboo had been soaked in water which removed that distinctive woody taste I dislike. However, they did add a lovely crunch. Made with a nice black vinegar (the Chinese equivalent of balsamic) and ever so slightly sweet and a subtle hint of dried chilli. I'd order this again.
Smashed cucumber was flavorful with lots of garlic and fresh coriander. One order is a lot of cucumber salad for two people. In the future I will order this when we are a larger table.
We had a single serving of plain rice which was actully enough for two people. A copious takeout order with leftovers for tomorrow's lunch was £27. That said, the portions although generous, were not out control huge like I remember at Gourmet San.
No frills authentic Chinese- I expected the dishes to be a lot more spicy (as Szechuan cuisine is reputed to be) but it was all pleasantly manageable. Favourite of the night was the beans with mince; the kung pao chicken, beef in Chili oil and Dan dan noodles were also very tasty (though they all could have had more heat). Perfect washed down with some cold Tsingdao beer!
EDIT: after visiting a few more times, I've realized that their northern Chinese dishes are better than their Szechuan dishes- the stewed potato, aubergine and eggplant dish is a delight, as are the cold flat noodles in chili oil. Homestyle pork and chive dumplings also a treat.
Very authentic Chinese cuisine. Felt like I was transported back to northern China! Service could be better (or existent) but the tasty food makes up for it. I will go back.
I love a good Chinese place. Not the fake tourist ones fitted around but a good authentic one. I can always tell the food is going to be great when the staff are blunt. Just what I'm used to i guess. Everything was seasoned perfectly I especially loved the Sichaun dan dan noodles. That's always a personal favourite and this place made a great version. Unfortunately they didn't have any of their handmade dumplings in so I will have to return!
Me and Fen disagree on many things. Music, politics, whether are not you can get head cancer if you don’t dry your hair before going to sleep (a Chinese myth apparently), but the one thing we can agree is an undying fondest for pungent, tongue blisteringly spicy Szechuan food. I’m told My Old Place (or 老地方, also named Gourmet San) has a bit of a reputation among local Chinese as being one of the best Szechuan restaurants East London has to offer. Heck, its even got glowing reviews on English food sites, as shown here, here and here. Honestly, having recently eaten at the fabulous Bar Shu – a trendy, Michelin star winning eatery in the middle of Soho – I was somewhat doubtful whether I could be won over. Thankfully I was wrong.
We really love the food here. Everything is garlicky, spicy, and tasty. Our favourites are grilled lamb skewers (with loads of cumin seeds), Hunan style spicy beef (with loads of delicious green peppers), and stew fried egg plant (pillowy, perfectly soft and delicious). The place isn't very clean and the service isn't much, but who cares when the food is this good.
I have been to My Old Place twice now. Having lived in South East Asia all my life, this restaurant is everything I expected it to be: rude waitresses, dishes coming out when they are ready and in no order, packed & noisy, staff barely understand English. Despite all these quirks, this restaurant dishes out excellent dishes packed with spice & flavour. Huge portions too! Every dish is amazing & you'll leave having spent very little compared to what u get.
My work friend raved about this place, he said it Chinese, most probably closer to Sichuan-style Chinese food. If you like hot & spicy food this is the place to be. The service is ok and is seating/interior was basic though did not hinder the quality of the food. I have fond memories of their Ma Po tofu with minced pork which came with lots of Sichaun chilli which was so hot I needed lots of fluid to calm down!!
Yummy chinese food in the east!. One of the best chinese places that I have had food for.
Portions are generous- as I ALWAYS end up having to pack food in takeaway boxes.
highly recommend the chili oil fish,pigs trotters and the stir-fried chinese beans. I believe there is a dish which isn't also found on the menu but I frequently request that contains a chinese starch flat noodle which is springy in texture called fen pie. My friend (who is from Northern China) loves the lamb skewers and the fried chicken.
they do delivery too, which still provides the same generous portions (one example: one order gives you two takeaway boxes (at least))
Authentic northern Chinese style food. Great value.
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Best Chinese Food I've Had in a Long Time!. After a hot yoga session in Shoreditch, I was craving Sushi but as we walked to Tsuru in Bishopsgate it was closed cause it was a saturday. But Strange and fortunate for me, because we stumbled around Aldgate and found My Old Place. It was packed with people and a line outside the door.
I'm asian so I know its a great sign when i see a chinese restaurant packed with asians. And boy was I right. If you're looking for western chinese food, this is not the place. This is the real deal! Like all great chinese restaurants they pack in the people, so we shared a table with a couple on a date. lol.
Although the service is slow and their english isn't that great, i only expect this at an authentic chinese restaurant. Its the kind of restaurant my dad would take us when we were young, going into the back of a chinese grocery store in chinatown in Canada to find a hidden unknown restaurant packed with asians.
If I knew this place existed, in my neighbourhood of all places, I would have brought a Crew of people. Like many authentic chinese restaurant they have two menus. One is in english and although good food still on it, the Chinese menu is bigger and more authentic. Needless to say try to get the chinese one and have someone to translate or better yet bring a chinese friend. lol.
Since we were only two, we had to be selective. We started off with the Hot and Sour Soup which was boiling hot and very spicy and delicious. So we left it to cool. our food came right away. We ordered this Deep fried beef dish with peanuts and peppers, Garlic Green beans with minced pork and white rice. From the first bite it was amazing. Some of the Best Schezwan Chinese food I've ever had. Beef was tender and crispy and the sauce was rich and savoury. The green beans were amazing as well with the garlic and minced pork over an oyster sauce I believe. We devoured the dishes and only could eat half of our soup we were so stuffed.
I would like to come back again with a good 4-6 people and really get into the different kinds of authentic dishes. Service was a little slow but It was worth the Food and the prices were very reasonable. Highly recommend this hidden gem.
Well i'm not a chinese food expert but I have been to this place and I love their food.
we have ordered from seafood to pork, lamb, chicken everything and so far have not been disappointed.
Sadly I don't remember most of the dishes name.
Service is fast but less customer friendly.
You don't get the usual warmth but you will get your food in time and might be asked to eat fast if you turn their near to closing time :)
I don't mind such issues if the food is good
I lived in China for a year and have struggled to find good Chinese food in the style I got used to since leaving. My Old Place is pretty close to it - the service has a bit to be desired but the food is great, budget friendly and a good location. I highly recommend the aubergine, potato & green pepper, grilled lamb on a stick and pretty much everything on their menu. A very good find and miles better than most things you'll find for a similar price in China Town.
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Sometimes all you need is a little bit of adventure and a whole lot of unhealthy eating. My Old Place is definitely one of the least talked about hidden gems in the Spitalfields area. We managed to reach only because Zomato has it listed and we could navigate our way by using the postcode, you won’t find people recommending this place on most other platforms or extensive blogposts being written about it. In all fairness, when you think of gorging on some Chinese food in London, the first thought in mind is to make a trip to Chinatown. However, if this doesn’t look feasible please drop by here. What I loved about this place instantly is how the entire experience was an adventure in a very unlikely neighborhood.
Firstly, the place was packed and we had to sit downstairs in their basement area, secondly our waiter barely spoke any English. Given the fact that the menu is full of things like Pig’s feet, intestines, jellyfish and duck’s tongue you will definitely want your waiter to get the order right. However, we managed to place a humungous order for the six of us and we ultimately couldn’t finish all our food. The portion sizes are huge, plus every bite we took out of each other’s’ plates was filling us up in a way that a thick-stuffed-crust-deep-dish pizza never does.
My favourite picks off the menu were the Sweet & Sour Pork, Salt & Pepper Squid and Bamboo Shoots with Scallops. The Sweet & Sour Pork for instance was crunchy, lathered in a mildly sweet honey syrup and each piece tasted of fried perfection. I would also take the liberty to admit that this will perhaps be the perfect hangover cure on a confused Sunday afternoon. If you have a look at the menu now you will know why it was such a dilemma for us to come to a concrete conclusion on what to order. I will admit though that I’m going to be back here very soon so that I can try out the million other things to choose from.
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The thing I love about Chinese food is that it's tasty, plentiful and pretty filling. I came to My Old Place after rejecting half a number of places because I'd already eaten there (a girl can only eat so much pizza). We were seated in the downstairs, away from much of the hustle and bustle that was going on upstairs. Their menu is pretty extensive, which made me indecisive but in the end I choose chicken with peanuts in chili sauce and the special fried rice. While I enjoyed both dishes, I enjoyed the sweet and sour pork my friend ordered more so than my own order (partially due to an abundance of onions with my chicken and eggs in my rice).
I don't understand why they brought out all of our dishes the way they did, some people were served before others while starters, mains and rice were served a different intervals that didn't exactly make sense. The service was okay, considering we were expecting worse due to other reviews we'd read. Sadly they no longer do lamb skewers which I had really liked to try. Definitely a place worth going for a lot of tasty food at a decent price.
I love it when my friends take me to hidden discoveries, My Old Place, is hidden behind Liverpool Street, unless you knew of the place you wouldn’t wonder around that area.
Upon entering the restaurant, the place is packed with diners, as we booked a table for 8-9 people we were seated downstairs. It may resemble a dungeon downstairs, but this is where large parties are seated with big round tables. Reminding me of days I eat at home with the whole family, very cosy and intimate.
The service of the place can be very bad, we was given menus and no waiters/waitress came back to our table even after 20 mins of sitting around. The menu is extensive with a lot on offer, most dishes cost around £7-8 mark and the amount you get for the portion is incredible enough to feed the 8 of us. Lamb skewers are a must for only £1 each and our bellies was very satisfied from the feast.
You will love this place, amazing food for amazing prices . Just to know, usually around 7 it's full of people and u might have to wait a bit for a table but it's worth it !! I suggest the fried aubergine accompanied by pork with soybean sauce. The place might not be 5 star hotel but it will not let you down.
Finding a Chinese restaurant that is both cheap and good, moreover away from Chinatown, is an unexpected surprise. I went following the suggestion of Chinese friends and was not disappointed. Although not all the items on the menu are equally good or palatable, a careful choice from the list brings to your table ridiculously cheap huge portions of good food. You'll not find the meal of a lifetime year, but the large portions and the food quality will certainly satisfy you, especially in this area of town.
Tasty authentic chinese food.
Lots of flavour, spice and pungency which isn’t every westerners cup of tea.
Service is what you’d expect at an authentic place, pretty no frills & efficient without much of a smile which is fine.
A great establishment in Shoreditch, a place to get some authentic food that is served quick and delicious. Good for big and small tables. The service is welcoming and attentive. We ordered quite a bit but came to decent price.
Big portions and fast serving (5 minutes). There was a wide selection of authentic Chinese (mainly Sichuan) dish and it tastes great. Prices are £18/person with the 10% cash discount.
I loved it. This is a bustling place which serve really tasty food. We ordered noodles and fried rice and tried a lot of different things. Sautéed pork with chili and pepper was nice. KunPao chicken was yummy. It’s very busy in the evening and would be good to reserve a table. The staff was very friendly and helpful though extremely busy. Going back again to try the next set of items
Nice spot for a casual Chinese feed with friends after work or on a weekend. Favourite dishes were prawn toast and the eggplant (pictured). Thanks for looking after us!
Really Chinese restaurant in London, you can find here quality food and plenty of dishes. I put 4 stars because it is a bit expensive compared to the other restaurants.
I would highly recommend this place. It is more of a northern Chinese resturant. So the non spicy food are more authentic than the spicy one. But they all very tasty. The portion is big also. I would high recommend this place.
One of my favourites in London for a tasty meal with an amazing selection of dishes. If you’re used to Chinese food that is heavily catered for the wester pallet this place is not for you. The lamb skewers are a must have. The pork tendon was lovely. My general advice is be willing to explore.
Jorge Alejandro Cerrato Pacheco
+5
One of the best Sichuan restaurants in London 👌🏻 Quality food, authentic flavour and portions are huge!!! The service is fast and the staff friendly and attentive, but make sure you get here early to avoid the queues. If you are a fan of spicy food, this is a must try 😋
Fairly happy with my quick lunch here. The jiajang noodle is excellent for £12 and the portion is generous. It’s not too salty. The Sichuan beef is decent too although the default is not very spicy. The decor is authentic. Service is quick.
a restaurant that is always crammed is a true sign of how amazing the food is.
local and authentic; my team and I loved it.
it worth the wait even with a queue
Authentic, tasty, fresh food.
Efficient, no frills service.
This is the sort of authentic Chinese dining experience I like. Not much catering to British preferences (although they do have duck pancakes) and service is not perfect. Our waitress spoke poor English but tried to be helpful.
Food was very good. Out of three dishes the beef and prawns were superb - 10/10. Let down by the disappointing pork dish (can't remember what it was).
At lunchtime it was full of Chinese City workers which tells us something. I'll be back
Large portions. Very tasty spicy food. Very busy with Chinese students and locals. Need to hire more staff. Recommend if you don't mind waiting. Authentic
Highly recommend this place. One of the most authentic Sichuan restaurants in London. Portion sizes are good and the service was attentive. Really good value. I Will definitely be returning here.
Food was tasty. Not so many staff so was a hassle getting their attention.
They only take reservations for groups of six and above so it’s probably best getting there early or off-peak, or risk queuing.
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