Siu mei is the Cantonese roast meat counter, the one with the lacquered ducks hanging in the window. A duck takes three days before it is chopped to order, and the three uncles who took it out of Chinatown built a business on the bet that nobody else would.
Siu mei, and the three-day duck.
how it is eaten · Chinatown, and the counters that left it
What it is
Siu mei is the roast meat counter: duck, crisp pork belly and char siu, hung in a window and chopped to order over rice. The sequence is fixed and both the trade press and the operator give it the same way: "marinate on the inside, rub on the outside, hang and fan dry overnight, roast, rest, and serve". 2 What the overnight drying is for is the skin, which has to be dry enough to blister when the heat hits it. 1
Why it matters here
Andrew Wong explains why almost every old Chinese restaurant in Britain cooks this way: "only those in Hong Kong could emigrate to the UK until relatively recently". 6 Hong Kong cooking, the New York Times notes, "has recently been overshadowed in London by Shaanxi and Sichuan fare". 5 Wong's own roasting restaurant, Kym's, made the art its whole subject and shut in 2020 without reopening. 6
How it is done
The three days are mostly waiting. The meat is marinated inside, rubbed outside, then hung in front of fans overnight. 1 Three Uncles (Camden) does the prep in one central kitchen and then roasts in each shop, in ovens shipped from Hong Kong, resting the bird before it is chopped. 1 Nothing is thrown away either: the carcasses become the broth for a roast duck and char siu noodle soup. 1 At Dim Sum Duck the roast duck goes into a bun instead, with chestnuts in a sweet, tangy sauce, off Silver Hill duck from Ireland, steamed and then pan-fried with shredded scallions. 5
Who does it
Mo Kwok trained as a roast meat master, as his father had before him. 1 What the three uncles were rebuilding was a specific memory: "the roast meat cafes near Wan Chai market in Hong Kong". 1 The cook at Dim Sum Duck goes by Mr Chow and was born in Hong Kong. 5 Jimi Famurewa's line on Three Uncles is that "It is ancient artistry, sharpened by its placement in a slick new frame." 4
On the list
best version at
Three UnclesThree days of marinating, drying and roasting stand behind a ten-pound plate of rice and greens.
“A portion of roast meat with rice and greens costs the customer around £10, and has taken three days to prepare.”
Restaurant, James McAllister, 5 April 2022 [1]
best version at
Three Uncles (Camden)The roasting happens on site in ovens shipped from Hong Kong, and the prep is done centrally.
“All of the prep is overseen in a central kitchen, with the meat then transported to the restaurants and roasted on site using specialist ovens the uncles had shipped from Hong Kong. It is then rested, before being chopped to order.”
Restaurant, James McAllister, 5 April 2022 [1]
best version at
Dim Sum DuckRoast duck and chestnuts go inside a bun that is steamed first and then pan-fried, off Irish Silver Hill duck.
“Yet for many, the stars are the light, bouncy baozi (buns) filled with roast duck and chestnuts in a sweet, tangy sauce. Made with Silver Hill duck from Ireland, they’re steamed before being pan-fried with shredded scallions.”
The New York Times T Magazine, 16 September 2025 [5]
Where to get it
Rather than open where "the sight of sui mei hanging in the windows is
commonplace", the uncles took the counter to Liverpool Street, Camden and
Brixton Market.
1
Harden's reporters give Three Uncles full marks for
fantastic roast duck
and possibly the best chicken rice in London
.
3 Jake
Missing is less sure about Dim Sum Duck's duck, which can be "a little
chewy, a little dry, and not quite as good as what's on offer in Chinatown",
and sends you to the char siu pork instead.
7 Roasting
is not the only Cantonese preservation on a London menu: at Poon's in Somerset
House the MICHELIN inspector starts you on "one of the signature wind-dried
meats".
8
Sources & mentions
- [1]Restaurant, James McAllister, 5 April 2022, on the method
“All roast recipes follow the classic Cantonese technique of marinating the meat on the inside; rubbing on the outside; before hanging and fan drying it. In total, the process takes three days.”
“Mo, notably, went on to train as a roast meat master, as his father had done before him.”
“The idea for Three Uncles was born out of the treasured memories the three have of visiting the roast meat cafes near Wan Chai market in Hong Kong while growing up.”
“Crucial to the uncles’ strategy was not basing the business in London’s Chinatown, where the sight of sui mei hanging in the windows is commonplace, but instead choosing to target different neighbourhoods.”
“Also new is a roast duck and char siu noodle soup, made with a broth from the duck carcasses.”
- [2]Three Uncles, own site, the same sequence in the family's words
“All our roast meat recipes use the classic Cantonese technique; marinate on the inside, rub on the outside, hang and fan dry overnight, roast, rest, and serve.”
“Siu Mei remains one of the most popular types of food for everyday Hong Kongers, but in London we found you can only really find it in restaurants in Chinatown.”
- [3]Harden's, editor and reporters on Three Uncles
““No frills, but tasty, fast and cheap”, the specialities are Cantonese Roast Duck, Crispy Pork Belly (Siu Yuk), and Char Siu Pork. Top Menu Tip – Auntie Jun’s Char Siu Sou.”
““Fantastic roast duck” and quite possibly “the best chicken rice in London” earn full marks for this Cantonese roast meat specialist with outlets near Liverpool Street, in Hawley Wharf, Camden, and Brixton Market.”
- [4]Jimi Famurewa, Evening Standard, quoted on the Three Uncles site
““…cooking of immense focus, skill and real endorphin-spiking intensity. It is ancient artistry, sharpened by its placement in a slick new frame” - Jimi Famurewa, Evening Standard”
- [5]The New York Times T Magazine, 16 September 2025, on the cook and the context
“The chef, a mysterious figure who goes by Mr. Chow, was born in Hong Kong, and the dish puts his own twist on cuisine from the former colony, which has recently been overshadowed in London by Shaanxi and Sichuan fare.”
- [6]Great British Chefs, on Andrew Wong, why London's Chinese food is Cantonese
“The majority of Chinese restaurants in the UK are Cantonese because only those in Hong Kong could emigrate to the UK until relatively recently, and the recent influx of Sichuanese restaurants shows how different the food can be.”
“Whilst A Wong is a more general odyssey around China, Kym's focused on the ancient Chinese art of meat roasting, offering dishes like Cantonese crispy pork belly with honey mustard, slow-poached soy chicken with ginger relish and Iberico pork char sui. Having closed due to Covid, it was confirmed in September 2020 that Kym's would not reopen.”
- [7]The Infatuation London, Jake Missing, 21 January 2022, dissenting on the duck
“DSD’s other namesake can be a mixed bag. Sometimes the fat on the duck is perfectly gelatinous, the skin crisp, and the meat as tender as a maternal embrace. But other times it isn’t quite that: a little chewy, a little dry, and not quite as good as what’s on offer in Chinatown.”
“The char siu pork and prawn are both exemplary and at just over £5, an absolute steal.”
- [8]MICHELIN Guide inspector, Poon's, 25 March 2026
“Start with one of the signature wind-dried meats or perhaps the wontons with chilli vinegar dressing, then follow up with the likes of claypot rice or roast duck salad.”