Taste of Chongqing
Fuchsia Dunlop's post about dinner here starts with the word "Another," which tells you more than a rating would.
Why go
Dunlop wrote The Food of Sichuan and is the reason most English speakers can name a doubanjiang, so a repeat dinner from her is the endorsement that matters for this cuisine. Giles Coren reviewed the place for The Times on 22 September 2024 and got there by the same route: he records the restaurant as an indirect recommendation from Dunlop, and clocked a copy of her book at the front desk, signed for the owner (Harden's). The cooking is Chongqing rather than generic Sichuan: jianghu dishes, a dry pot series, Wanzhou grilled fish, Chongqing noodles. It runs all day, seven days, on Woburn Place by Russell Square. Harden's has no survey score for it yet, which means too few of its readers have filed, not that they filed badly.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the spicy beef tongue and the Chongqing chicken, which are Jeff's two picks. Coren's starter run was
spicy beef tongue; sliced whelks with chilli; grilled scallion pancakes; fried crispy pork; fried lotus root,
and by his account they all landed.2 - Avoid: the big sharing pot unless you are a crowd. Coren's cost 52 pounds and, in his words, it
would have fed ten.
2
What locals & experts say
- Fuchsia Dunlop (Instagram):
Another fab dinner at Taste of Chongqing in Woburn Place!
1 - Giles Coren, The Times (22 September 2024), as quoted by Harden's:
brilliant,
anda Chinese-for-the-Chinese place
with anexciting menu.
On the sharing pot, 52 pounds went fromthe most expensive main course of my year so far to the cheapest thing I'd ever eaten.
2 - Harden's (2026):
Not yet reviewed (insufficient survey submissions).
2 - Local rec: Jeff's row credits Dunlop and points at her Instagram. REAL.
Good to know
- Timing: 11:30 to 22:30 Sunday through Thursday, 11:30 to 23:00 Friday and Saturday. Seven days.
- Booking: worth booking at peak. Phone 020 7631 0888.
- Groups: the sharing pots are built for numbers, so this works for a table of six or more better than for two.
- Hygiene: FSA record 1206132, rating 4 under Camden, inspected 8 April 2026. Food handling and management both scored 5, cleanliness and condition of the building scored 10.
- Dietary: nothing published, and nothing inferred. Ask before ordering if it matters.
- Getting there: 40-42 Woburn Place, two minutes from Russell Square, ten from Euston.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Order: "Beef tongue, chongking chicken." REAL.
- Rec via: "Dunlop rec doe for Sichuan. See insta." REAL. The Instagram post is Dunlop's own, and Coren's Times review credits her for the same tip.
Verdict
should-visit — Fuchsia Dunlop, who wrote The Food of Sichuan, posts about dinner here and calls it another one, meaning she keeps going back. Giles Coren reviewed it for The Times in September 2024, called it brilliant and a Chinese-for-the-Chinese place, and ate spicy beef tongue, whelks with chilli and scallion pancakes before a sharing pot he says would have fed ten. That is Chongqing cooking, jianghu style, dry pots and grilled fish and chili by the handful, in Bloomsbury and open all day seven days. It is a strong recommendation from the right people, and it stops short of the top rung because no source pins a chef, a technique or an award to it.