Song He Lou is a Suzhou restaurant at 22 Wardour Street in Soho, bringing one of China’s longstanding culinary names to London. Its history reaches back to 1757 during the Qing dynasty, and the Wardour Street dining room translates that heritage into a contemporary Chinatown setting spread across three floors.
The cooking represents the Jiangnan region and places particular importance on seasonal ingredients, precise preparation and careful control of time and heat. Suzhou cuisine is known for delicate textures and a gentle balance of savoury and sweet flavours, giving the restaurant an identity that is distinct from the Cantonese and Sichuan cooking also found nearby.
Suzhou style noodles are central to the menu, served in soup or tossed with toppings such as braised pork, stir fried shrimp, eel, crab meat and crab roe. The sweet and sour squirrel shaped bass is another signature, while sides including pickled cucumber, seasonal vegetables and five spice tofu allow diners to build a broader shared meal around the noodle sets.
Traditional sweets and teas complete the experience, with options such as sticky rice cakes, sweet fermented rice, jasmine silver needle, peach oolong and osmanthus Longjing. The multi level restaurant also includes private dining rooms, making it suitable for a focused bowl of noodles as well as a longer group meal exploring Suzhou food and tea.
Address: 22 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1D 6QQ, England