Andrew Wong opened his second modern Chinese restaurant Kym’s late last year and, as expected, it became the hottest ticket in The City’s prominent Bloomberg Arcade.
A favourite among London foodies, the celebrated chef gained a Michelin star for his innovative restaurant A. Wong. In 2012 he took over the Pimlico Cantonese restaurant that belonged to his parents and established a more authentic cuisine with his signature flair, following intensive culinary training across China. In fact, the family spirit lives on at Kym’s – named after the original restaurant and his grandmother who taught him to cook.
This sister restaurant is a more casual, accessible affair with a completely different look and ambiance. Set across two floors, the interiors are slick and seductive with an open kitchen and counter, grey velvet banquettes, crescent-shaped bar and a pretty faux cherry blossom tree.
We visited on a Saturday lunchtime when the Norman Foster-designed complex, that also houses gems like Koya, Brigadiers and Ekte, is much calmer with laid-back weekend crowd.
While A Wong is famed for its exquisite dim sum, Kym’s focusses on the ancient art of roasting meats, meticulously salting, curing and air-drying them for two days before hitting the oven. You can watch observe this process from the open kitchen or sit at the counter to be in the middle of all the action.
To start, we shared the Tiger prawn skewers with sweet chilli, pineapple and cracker (£8.50), which had a rather whimsical fairground look. The tiger prawns were plump and ever so fresh and I loved the crunchy coating, even if it all fell off dramatically and was tricky to eat. The dipping sauce was fruity and luscious rather than sugary and it added lightness to the deep-fried cracker. It was a tasty small plate but the serving of only two prawns didn’t really satisfy and perhaps there are more filling dishes to try instead.
What really had us raving, however, was the Pork & shrimp ‘Bao Bao’ – fried egg, pat chun and crispy chilli (£12). It came in a sizzling skillet with five dumplings generously filled with well-seasoned ground pork and shrimp, nestled among two runny fried eggs. It had a rich, slightly sweet taste from the pat chun (black rice vinegar) and was liberally garnished with golden, piquant crispy chilli, sliced spring onion and sesame seeds.
It’s the perfect brunch dish with a nod to Andrew Wong’s famous dim sum, which doesn’t tend to feature on the menu at Kym’s.
The main event was the fabulous-sounding Three treasure – a majestic trio of slow-roasted meats each with an accompanying dipping sauce. Cantonese crispy pork belly had a layer of silky rendered fat and exemplary crackling, served with a sweet honey mustard sauce. Slow poached soy chicken was succulent with a nicely lacquered skin and a heavenly ginger relish with garlic and spring onion. Iberico pork char siu was just as delicious and moreish as I’d hoped with a caramelised, red-hued edge and a rich honey soy sauce.
It was impossible to pick a favourite as they were all so different and the portion size was more than enough to share. Steamed jasmine rice was the perfect side dish to really let the flavours of the meat and sauces shine. We didn’t stay for dessert, but you can finish with a tempting Pineapple bun or Peanut mochi with mango sorbet.
Lunch at Kym’s was an absolute delight and I’d love to go back and try more of the menu, like the Crispy duck pancakes and Wagyu beef bao. It’s also worth mentioning that Kym’s has recently launched an edited ‘click and collect’ take-out menu, so you can get a complete meal of roasted meat with steamed rice for less than a tenner. What could be better than that?
All photos by Chérie City
