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Disco balls and royal daggers
Dear readers,
There are more of you here than there used to be, aren’t there?! We’re so excited to have this influx of new subscribers, so thank you for supporting us. We hope you like it here.
For some of you, this will be your first LOWDOWN. This Monday newsletter comes out every 2 weeks and is a selection of cultural happenings and curated pro-tips for surviving London life. This week it’s all about food: a luxurious Thai dinner and the surprising joys of museum cafés, as well as a guide to some of my favourite Chinatown eateries.
That’s not all.
At the end of each week we send out a newsletter with our latest feature article. These are our little gems of slow journalism and storytelling. We hope this whets your appetite for the one coming in a few days time…
Lastly, you may as well know that we run a pop-up film club called SECRET CEREMONY. Our final screening of 2025 is next week: it’s Dario Argento’s bloodthirsty thriller Deep Red, which features black-gloved murderers and a deadly puppet. We’ll be screening it at Maida Vale’s Puppet Theatre Barge, for maximum atmosphere. You can get your tickets now!
Yours faithfully,
Wang Sum Luk
Deputy Editor
THE LOWDOWN by LOST ART
Pro Tips: Eating like a local in Chinatown
If you don’t speak Cantonese or Mandarin, Chinatown can be a puzzle to wander through and distinguish the worthwhile restaurants from the tourist traps. Being from Hong Kong, I’ve chosen five restaurants that serve the food I crave: unpretentious Chinese classics with sturdy portions and sensible prices. (Do save this list for future use.)
Gold Mine Restaurant (45 Wardour St): when my family visits and we head out for a big indulgent meal, this is where we go. Order specialties like stewed lamb brisket, a rich autumnal braise that arrives in a sizzling hot pot, steamed fish and seafood dishes, and roast meats.
Cafe TPT (21 Wardour St): this spot is the opposite of glamorous, but that’s true to the spirit of dai pai dong (big-license stall), Hong Kong’s cheap-and-cheerful food stalls. Go for their hot stone sizzling pots, which arrive literally steaming hot: savoury dishes like braised chicken and pork liver, or crispy roast pork with tofu, are the perfect accompaniments to hot rice and cold beer.
Joy King Lau (3 Leicester St): one of London’s best dim sum restaurants. Dishes like chewy fried octopus cakes, crisp bean-curd rolls stuffed with prawn, and steamed buns loaded with sizzling-hot liquid custard make Joy King Lau the perfect brunch destination for a group of friends.
Chinatown Bakery (multiple branches)- make sure you grab a treat here. Their coconut buns, egg tarts, and pineapple buns are excellent, and you can even get specialties like the ox tongue pastry, a sweet, crispy, vaguely tongue-shaped dough fritter, perfect to dip into warm soy milk (pay cash if you can).
Imperial China (25a White Bear Yard, Lisle St): Chinese cuisine’s use of peanut products means Chinatown can be a tricky place if you’ve got nut allergies, but I’ve been assured by a friend that Imperial China caters sensitively to them. So if you’re looking for elegant banquet-style cuisine, you’ll be in safe hands here.
Gothic glamour: Henry VIII’s Lost Dagger at Strawberry Hill House
Beyond Strawberry Hill House’s fruity name and an exterior with the white-on-white elegance of a wedding cake, the museum’s excellent café is worth a visit in its own right.
But despite this tasty exterior, the house has a more ominous reputation: designed by author Horace Walpole, its elaborate decor is thought to have inspired the gloomy, haunted spaces of his classic Gothic novel The Castle of Otranto.
The House’s latest exhibition has a suitably Gothic tone too, featuring lost daggers, royal artefacts, and an international investigation. It chronicles the strange story behind an Ottoman dagger Walpole owned, which he believed had once been Henry VIII’s. Passing through numerous illustrious hands after Walpole’s death, the dagger then vanished for decades.
You’ll have to visit Strawberry Hill to discover how this tale of royal intrigue ends, but once you’re there, you’ll have plenty to see. Wander amidst the lushly decorated hallways , or head back to the café… and see if any ghosts join you for tea.
WHERE: 268 Waldegrave Rd, Twickenham TW1 4ST
WHEN: Until February 15, 2026
WEBSITE: click here
Disco inferno: Bun House Disco
By Ryen Snowden
The mood to visit: it’s a late night and you need a snack to perk yourself up
I practically live on Chinese food: I cook and eat so much that I could probably throw out my cutlery and swap it for a few chopsticks. Always on the hunt for a new Chinese spot, I head out with a chef pal to Bun House Disco, the latest outlet by the team behind Bun House Chinatown.
It’s an odd place, a corner unit just off Brick Lane with disco balls and loud music – not my usual vibe, but I guess it does what it says on the tin. The welcome is lacklustre, and with no explanation of the menu, we are left to our own devices.
We start with the eponymous Buns – we go for the options marked Pig and Lamb. The buns are pillowy-soft, and while the tender pork could’ve used less sweetness and more umami, the lamb is a hit – we can smell the fragrant braised meat as soon as we tear open the bun. The Saucy Prawn Wontons with soy vinegar are a triumph – soft, fat prawns and light dumpling wrappers which even my prawn-avoidant pal loves.
The Smacked Cucumbers are tasty, but the dish needs cucumber pieces that are practically obliterated by a firm blow, creating irregular surfaces that carry its spicy dressing. Having been more caressed than smacked, the cucumber is too crunchy and not flavoursome enough. Next up, Beef Satay Ragù Noodle – rich and fatty and full of flavour, it’s served with a welcome addition of pickled cucumber and roasted peanut for crunch.
Unfortunately, we finish with an anticlimactic dish of Namyu Crispy Pork, which lacks harmony of flavour and comes paired with iceberg lettuce, as opposed to a softer salad leaf that would’ve complemented it better.
We wash all this down with a punchy Pandan Negroni and a refreshingly tangy Cucumber Apple Sour. I’m not sure I’d rush back (and the staff didn’t seem to mind either way), but it’s a good spot for some late-night cocktails and snacks during a Shoreditch bar hopping session. I’ll take the buns, but leave the disco.
Image credit: Bun House Disco
WHERE: 118 Bethnal Grn Rd, London E2 6DG
WEBSITE: click here
‘Thailand in one bite’: Supawan
By Wang Sum Luk
The mood to visit: You want cozy luxury… but with a kick
Watermelons carved into red-and-white flowers are heaped amongst mangoes and chilies, filling London’s evening gloom with tropical brilliance.
In walking distance of King’s Cross station, the restaurant Supawan has gained a prized accolade: the Thai SELECT certification, issued by Thailand’s government for serving authentic Thai cuisine.
It’s why I’ve been invited to this stunning celebratory dinner, where we’re feted with drinks (highlights include a tart hibiscus margarita and a fresh fig martini) and appetisers, all drawing from the cuisine of southern Thailand.
Many guests agree that their favourite starter was meiang phuket, grilled prawns wrapped in betel leaves and an incandescently flavoursome mix of coconut, chilli, ginger, lime, and so much else! Someone calls it “Thailand in one bite”.
Some Supawan dishes are familiar to British palates (chicken skewers, braised pork), while others are pleasant surprises—where else can you eat braised banana stalks? I particularly loved khanom kork, bite-sized rice-and-coconut pancakes, the curry enveloping sweet crabmeat in kha-nom jeen namya poo, which was as spicy as it was aromatic, and pla ta sam rod, deep-fried sea bass in a mild chilli sauce that’s plated up with its crispy head and tail.
Before the desserts arrive (fresh rambutan fruit and kaffir lime sorbet, and sticky rice with durian), we’re already stuffed and slightly hammered, but owner and chef Khun Wichet sends us home with gift bags of Thai ingredients. That’s what makes Supawan such a wonderful restaurant: its dishes are luxurious, but there’s a homey friendliness that justifies its literally-certifiable authenticity.