The cooking is refreshingly light, delicate and, you might even say, wholesome
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f you find yourself ice-skating at Somerset House in central London over the next week or so (and hurry: you’ve got only until 11 January before it closes), then first please accept my commiserations. Second, please also note that the Chinese restaurant Poon’s, by Amy Poon, scion of the Poon’s restaurant dynasty, recently rooted itself in the New Wing.
Ice-skating itself I have nothing against, but we can all agree that these slippery yuletide stampedes on temporary rinks are the polar opposite of festive, so surely it would be far better to be hiding indoors in the warmth with a round of prawn wontons, a bowl of nourishing “magic soup”, or some wind-dried meat claypot rice. Plus, when the weather outside is frightful, the decor in Poon’s is utterly delightful. So gorgeous, in fact, that within two minutes of entering this dusky, muted salmon-pink, twinkly peach, womb-like space, I found myself asking for the name and brand of the paint shade, because it felt instinctively one that, if applied to my own walls at home, would solve many existential problems.
Unsurprisingly, I later learned that Amy Poon had hired a feng shui master to advise on the whole delightful shebang. Does feng shui really work? Who knows. But do wild rose tones, tasteful, stencilled murals, embroidered benches and heroically pretty crockery make my heart soar? Hell, yes. On one mantelpiece at the end of the room stands a large, framed photograph of Amy’s father Bill, keeping a watchful eye over proceedings. Back in the 1980s, Bill Poon, a Hong Kong migrant, was the UK’s first Chinese chef/restaurateur to nab himself a Michelin star. Somehow, his daughter managed to escape the greasy clutches of hospitality for decades – working in, among other professions, marketing, PR and the arts – until she set up first a short-term pop-up in Clerkenwell in 2018, followed by a wontoneria at Carousel in central London. There’s also a thriving shop and mail-order business that sells Poon’s signature sauces, oils and wind-dried meats. Casa Dent always has Poon’s Extraordinary Chilli Oil and its chilli vinegar in the fridge, because it enlivens any old leftover.
