Head chef of The Drunken Monkey returns from his travels

18th May 2010, 4:31pm

Head chef Wai Lan of The Drunken Monkey in East London has created a dim sum menu that is perfect to go with drinks in the evening.

The menu is small enough to keep the food served constantly fresh but big enough to make sure that both Western and Asian customers can pick out their favourite dishes.

Treats include beef ho fun noodles, roast duck noodle soup, roast pork and rice and Mongolitan beef hotpot & rice.

Head chef Wai Lan (Cid) started at the East London dim sum eatery and bar when it opened in 2002. He came directly from Hong Kong where he had been working at some of the notable Tea Houses around Central.

Originally from the Fujian province in mainland China, Wai Lan specialises mostly in Fujian cuisine which is considered to be one of the eight great traditions of Chinese cooking.

Chef Wai Lan returned to China early last year to rediscover the country's time-honoured cuisine as well as to learn new food trends. Since his recent return, The Drunken Monkey has already added a traditional Chinese roasting oven to the kitchen, so Wai Lan can now produce daily roasted duck and pork cooked in the traditional way, something that is difficult to experience outside of Chinatown.