Kam Fung

Well, I found this place on Unilocal while looking for a good Chinese restaurant for lunch. I’m afraid I was disappointed though. The food, service and atmosphere was blah at best.
I ordered the Kung Pow chicken for lunch; my favorite Chinese dish. These guys deep fried the crap out of that chicken. First off, no Chinese restaurant deep fries their Kung Pow chicken; it’s a stir-​fry dish. Second, the meat was so overcooked that I only ate half of it. Separately, the Kung Pow chicken did not have any Serrano peppers, one of the four key ingredients that comprise the dish (chicken, onions and peanuts being the other three). They did include some extras though, such as bell peppers (red and greed) and water chestnuts.
The inside of the restaurant was very simple, but not very clean. The table I was at had a worn tablecloth that sadly, was sticky to the touch. The tables were quite close to each other, so much so that a couple who came in after me elected to sit in the back because the only table available near the front was crowded out by the tables around it.
The service, however, was very authentic. As in China, they didn’t really care if I enjoyed my meal or not. I ordered it, they served it. Done.
I won’t go back to this place.

The staff was very nice, but the food was so bad that my dog who eats every
Trejo hex eat raw onion turned his nose up. It looked so much better than it tasted. Could have been nice ambiance of I hadn’t gotten take away.

I have many fond memories of Kam Fung, most of which date back to my student days over a decade ago. Kam Fung, in my opinion, is one of London’s best-​kept secrets. It’s a great value no-​frills Chinese restaurant with amazingly friendly service (astounding, given the levels of service you normally expect in a Chinese restaurant). The waitresses, some of whom have been there since I was a student, can all speak decent English, and, more importantly, have a great memory for regulars and their orders.
In terms of food, the servings are huge, so my advice is to either restrict yourself from ordering too much (one main and a starter is more than enough), or go with a large group. The ‘nai tong’- the complimentary bowl of soup served to everyone as a pre-​starter is absolutely delicious.
There’s also a ‘secret’ menu one printed entirely in Mandarin for those with the ability to understand the language. Naturally, it contains dishes which aren’t on the English menu.
So, despite all of my praise, why am I only giving this four stars? It’s because my favourite dish here nasi lemak is no longer on the menu, not even on the secret menu. It’s the only thing I have ever eaten here, and, despite its lack of authenticity (it came with a side of mussels), was mouth-​wateringly delicious. It’s also the one dish that seems to be the most talked about if you find a review on this place.
(Well, the day I found out they didn’t have nasi lemak any more, I was forced to order something else. That was the Hainanese chicken rice, and that is, much like the Nasi Lemak, definitely not authentic. It didn’t come with the proper chilli or black soya sauce, both of which are the main reasons I eat chicken rice. The steamed chicken was juicy and soft though, I’ll give it that.)

Given that I am prone to strange cravings brought upon mostly by nostalgia, I didn’t think twice when my friend visited from Japan wanting «Panda Express» Chinese. Thinking to myself, «How hard could it be to find mall-​quality faux Chinese food?» I steered us to Kam Fung. She could get her kung pao chicken and I figured I’d find something. Hainanese chicken rice seemed like a good choice so I went with that.
What arrived at our table made Panda Express look like a darn delicacy! I’d take fried fluorescent orange poultry over this any day of the week. My Hainanese chicken rice was goopy and unappetising and tasted worse than it looked. My friend fared slightly better with her order but not by much. I felt majorly ripped off paying the bill and still had hunger pangs as we left.
To Kam Fung, I would not return.

A small but nice Chinese. More of the functional style than the modern chic you expect from new places these days. The staff here were very friendly. Portions were good and tasty. Prices are a little high for individual dishes, but you get lots of food and set menus are great value. I will not make an effort to go back, but glad a stopped by.

For photos, please go to

I was first taken here during a lunchtime catch up as it was between both our workplaces. My friend recommended that I try their Hainanese chicken rice as she knew how much I love my Hainanese chicken rice.
For me, my grandmother who rears her own chicken and fenced off a corner of a public field to use as her own garden (very resourceful grandma!) makes the best version. Her Hainanese chicken rice is always the first thing to be demolished at gatherings and parties. It was always requested by friends when I organise a party at my house when I was a kid.
Sadly my grandmother has passed since and like my tiramisu quest, I’m always in search for good Hainanese chicken rice.
Ordered I did and was looking forward to it. Kam Fung’s version isn’t entirely authentic but tasty all the same. The portion is really huge and I struggled to finish actually.
The rice here was made healthier here as it lacked the chicken fat and juices that you’re meant to cook the rice with. The chicken was drizzled heavily with a sweet sauce which was good but just not what is expected.
While it might not be true to its origins, I still like it and for the price, will happily return again when I’m in the area.
On other occasions, there is another dish that I highly recommend though and it is a dish that is off menu.
It’s a beef dish that comprises of beef tendons and beef flank. The beef is soft and tender, the tendons are chewy and springy and the sauce that it is tossed in is one that you want to mop up with big servings of rice. As this is off menu I can never quite remember what it is called but is usually available.
I was back there for a late dinner once which I have the photos here but my memory is a tad hazy that night, forgive me as I can’t remember what we ordered.
Kam Fung is a place to consider if you’re around the Holborn area. The prices are reasonable and portions, huge. The food itself? No complaints.

I was first taken here during a lunchtime catch up as it was between both our workplaces. My friend recommended that I try their Hainanese chicken rice as she knew how much I love my Hainanese chicken rice.
For me, my grandmother who rears her own chicken and fenced off a corner of a public field to use as her own garden (very resourceful grandma!) makes the best version. Her Hainanese chicken rice is always the first thing to be demolished at gatherings and parties. It was always requested by friends when I organise a party at my house when I was a kid.
Sadly my grandmother has passed since and like my tiramisu quest, I’m always in search for good Hainanese chicken rice.
Ordered I did and was looking forward to it. Kam Fung’s version isn’t entirely authentic but tasty all the same. The portion is really huge and I struggled to finish actually.
The rice here was made healthier here as it lacked the chicken fat and juices that you’re meant to cook the rice with. The chicken was drizzled heavily with a sweet sauce which was good but just not what is expected.
While it might not be true to its origins, I still like it and for the price, will happily return again when I’m in the area.
On other occasions, there is another dish that I highly recommend though and it is a dish that is off menu.
It’s a beef dish that comprises of beef tendons and beef flank. The beef is soft and tender, the tendons are chewy and springy and the sauce that it is tossed in is one that you want to mop up with big servings of rice. As this is off menu I can never quite remember what it is called but is usually available.
I was back there for a late dinner once which I have the photos here but my memory is a tad hazy that night, forgive me as I can’t remember what we ordered.
Kam Fung is a place to consider if you’re around the Holborn area. The prices are reasonable and portions, huge. The food itself? No complaints.

This is a neighbourhood winner. Same chef and ladies for 20 years in this white tableclothed, clean, reliable restaurant with a huge menu. If you are from the US and go here, they have dishes that you can’t get in USA without them being destroyed by over saucing. Huge portions.
Try prawn toasts with (mock) seaweed. Peking ducks is wonderful as are the sizzling schechwan prawns, deep fried crispy beef, chicken black bean, and soft shelled crab. Drink Tsing Tao. The Muscadet is super for a cold crisp wine that cuts through the food.
Boy I wish this was in Chicago (not even in NYC). I’ve been going here for 25 years and it has never let me down. First place I eat when I land and get into town.

God, I love Kam Fung. I used to live just behind it more or less, so this would be our regular spot for take-​aways. It is unarguably the best Chinese take-​away I’ve tried in London, though it loses out by a hair to some other places in the dine-​in stakes.
Their portions are HUGE which is reflected in slightly higher prices than a bog-​standard Chinese, but you very much get what you pay for. Their duck is great, thai roast pork is amazing with a beautiful vinaigrette swimming with garlic and chilli. Crispy beef are incredibly moreish and the best I’ve ever had.
Of all the years of having food at Kam Fung I didn’t once have a duff dish, though as Joanne’s friend (see review below) advised, that may be because I dodged the clichéd dishes. Stick with something other than the faux-​Chinese BS that pervades every menu in this country and you’ll do fine!
Service is friendly, prices are very reasonable, food is excellent. Fully deserving of 5 stars as it does what it sets out to do excellently. It may not be the most refined restaurant, but within its field it is unquestionably the best.

My knowledge of Kam Fung was limited to what I had heard from friends, most of whom are regulars to the small eatery tucked away just off High Holborn. What I had gathered from them was that Kam Fung is popular with those who work or study near Holborn and want to get fast, good food. While it is famous for serving individual portions large enough to comfortably feed two, Kam Fung does have a minimum one dish per person policy. Any leftovers (and there usually are) can be packed up and brought home with no fuss.
Anyway, since I was craving some Chinese food a few days ago, my flatmate decided to introduce me to the joys of Kam Fung as she had gone several times and found the food to be good (at least for London’s standards of Chinese food). We arrived at around 8pm. Although it was a weeknight, the place was already quite full.
However, it wasn’t long before we were seated and handed the menus. As my flatmate and I are both Asian, we were given both the Chinese and English menus (the table next to us were Caucasian and I noticed they were only given the English version, therefore I recommend those who can read Chinese to request for both as in line with most Chinese restaurants, there are items on the Chinese menu not printed on the English ones).
We ended up ordering Hainanese chicken rice, and lamb ribs with rice to share between the both of us, and bottomless tap water (free of charge). Our drinks and starter of soup of lotus root, peanut and pork bones (also free of charge) came as soon as the waitress who took our order left. I was impressed that the soup was still piping hot and wasn’t covered in a layer of oil. It tasted quite subtle, which was another pleasant surprise as I fully expected it to be MSG-​ridden.
It wasn’t more than 10 minutes later that our main dishes arrived simultaneously. I have to say, the rumours were true: the portions are substantially bigger than what you would find in an average Chinese restaurant around town.
The Hainanese chicken rice was delicious — the rice was fluffy, not too greasy, and had the faint chicken-​y taste good chicken rice is supposed to have; the chicken was tender; the accompanying ginger sauce was very well made, not overwhelming the dish but helping to add an extra kick of flavour. The sprinkling of soy sauce mixture on the rice and chicken helped bring together all the contrasting elements of the dish. I wasn’t over the moon with the chilli sauce that came in a side saucer as it tasted like something you could get out of a bottle and so I ignored it, but the dish was scrumptious; easily THE best chicken rice I have ever had in London so far.
The lamb ribs with rice was also a wonder on its own. Since my friend had done the ordering, I wasn’t sure of what to expect. The ribs had been roasted in a heavily spiced marinade and sat atop a bed of caramelized onions. The rice looked like it had been tossed in the drippings. The lamb tasted absolutely amazing — the top was crispy while the insides were so tender. The taste of lamb was very strong though, which is something I personally enjoy but others might not. The rice again was very well prepared, and the combination of it with the meat and onions was heaven, though in contrast to the Hainanese chicken rice, this dish had an almost Middle Eastern vibe to it, as there seemed to be some elements of cumin and garam masala in it (I may be wrong).
I have to point out that neither dish was on the menu (my friend had asked for a recommendation from the waitress on a previous visit) so it would be a good idea to ask for their specialties. Another tip from my dining mate is that the food here tends to be a hit or miss, so be careful when ordering. Generally, try and stay away from the stereotypical Chinese dishes as they can be a bit dodgy. My friend warned me to stay away from the ‘Ma Po Tofu’ and sweet and sour pork.
The bill came to £15.25, or under £8 per person, which I think is more than fair for such big helpings and good quality food. There were a few fun size chocolates (specifically Mars, Snickers, Bounty) that came with the change. Usually, Kam Fung boasts free soup and fruits (they used to give whole oranges for takeaways) but I guess business has not been so good lately.
Still, I was very happy with my first visit to Kam Fung. It may have been the growling tummies, or perhaps it was my low expectations, but I stuffed myself silly and managed to empty both dishes. One thing I always do when having Chinese food in London is make a note of how thirsty I get after my meal — a fairly reliable sign of MSG in the food. This time, there was no excessive thirst and so I infer (with no scientific evidence whatsoever) that Kam Fung uses less MSG than your typical Chinese eatery. Hence, go out and give Kam Fung a shot. It’s a place that I and would highly recommend to anyone looking for cheap, decent Chinese food, particularly when on a hungry stomach.

To me, big portions for a relatively low price is the key characteristic of Kam Fung. I’ve been here a few times for lunch, and during this period (and maybe even dinner), you can choose to order set meals of sorts, where a single dish has both the mains and rice for 5 to 10 pounds. You often get a free bowl of soup and fruits afterwards too.
There are two menus, one in English and the other in Mandarin (which contains the set meals), but even if you can’t read or don’t get the second one, you can usually just ask for the dishes on it if you have a friend who has told you about something, e.g. Nasi Lemak. The restaurant is owned by a Malaysian, so the food is both Chinese and Malaysian.
The staff are friendly and won’t mind explaining a dish to you if you have no idea what it is/​contains. Also, both during lunch and dinner, it is usually packed, though you won’t really see any queues. I suggest booking if you intend to bring a group larger than 2.

Happy memories of many a lunchtime spent here, most of our team stuffing our faces and rendered virtually unable to do a stroke of work in the afternoon caused by over-​eating and too much MSG!
Definitely a place to book, especially if your are planning on eating much later than 12.15pm (seriously!). Yes, some of the staff are notoriously rude but you do get a smile if you are a regularly customer … which is why I only rated this 3 as I don’t think that’s fair.
Huge portions of food starting at £5.50 — I’m sure that if you speak their lingo you will get a proper menu, but as I don’t, I got stuck with the English one. Kung Po chicken is definitely an acquired taste but they do make it very well (unfortunately laden with MSG it seems nowadays) and they do sell two well-​known brands of Chinese beer, of which Tiger is the least-​preferred.
If you want to bloat out any clients, this is the place to go.