Cloud Land

The spicy chicken is braised on the bone with Yunnanese black cardamom, which is the seasoning that separates this province's cooking from the Sichuan food London already knows.

Why go

Cloud Land is one of two Yunnanese restaurants in London, both of them in the Chinatown that has grown up between Spitalfields and Aldgate rather than in the West End. Jonathan Nunn wrote it up for Vittles in December 2023, and Fuchsia Dunlop names it in her own essay on regional Chinese cooking in Britain, where she ties the eastward drift to "the continued eastward march of the City of London and also by the large population of Chinese expats and students hungry for the cuisine of their own region." ref The kitchen's other set piece is cross-bridge rice noodles, where hot chicken broth goes over raw ingredients at the table and cooks them in front of you, a Yunnan format that almost nobody in London attempts. The Independent's Maya Oppenheim picked out the smoky pork ribs and wrote that everything is "prepared and presented meticulously." ref

Order this / avoid

• Order: the Yunnan spicy chicken, which Vittles calls the statement dish, then the cross-bridge rice noodles. Dunlop's list adds the crisp cucumber salad. ref
• Avoid: ordering off the familiar end of the menu. The Yunnan section is the point of the restaurant.

What locals & experts say

• Vittles (Jonathan Nunn, 8 Dec 2023): "Cloud Land's statement dish is written on the menu as Yunnan spicy chicken, a fierce braise of on-the-bone chicken shrapnel whose heat is tempered by Yunnanese black cardamom, which infuses a frankincense smokiness throughout the dish." ref
• Fuchsia Dunlop (The Long March of Chinese regional cooking in Britain): names Cloud Land for "spicy chicken, Over the Bridge noodles, and crisp cucumber salad" among the restaurants of the new eastern Chinatown. ref
• The Independent (Maya Oppenheim): picks it for clean, fresh flavors and smoky, tender pork ribs, with the food "prepared and presented meticulously." ref
• Local rec: Jeff's note reads "Dunlop rec, see fb.post." Her published essay names the restaurant, which stands behind the tip.

Good to know

• Where: 145 Minories EC3N 1LS, five minutes from Aldgate station. Jeff's row said Walworth; that has been corrected to Aldgate.
• Timing: no source publishes opening hours, including the delivery platforms' own listings. Call ahead.
• Booking: walk-in, as far as any source shows.
• Hygiene: FSA rating 3, generally satisfactory, City of London, inspected 19 February 2026.
• Nearby: the second Yunnanese kitchen Vittles reviewed alongside it, and the Brick Lane cross-bridge noodle shop, are both within a short walk.

Jeff's take (his words)

• Note: "Dunlop rec, see fb.post." REAL. The Facebook post was not found, but Dunlop names the restaurant in her own published essay.

Verdict (Chef Jeff ladder)

should-visit — One of only two Yunnanese kitchens in London, in the Chinatown that has grown up between Spitalfields and Aldgate rather than the one in the West End. The statement dish is a spicy chicken braised on the bone, where Yunnanese black cardamom does the work that Sichuan pepper would do a province east, and Jonathan Nunn described the smokiness it leaves as frankincense. Cross-bridge rice noodles come with the broth poured over raw ingredients at the table, which is Yunnan's own piece of theater and rare to find cooked properly outside China. Fuchsia Dunlop lists it among the restaurants of the new eastern Chinatown, and the ticket is modest.