A. Wong
“Britain's only two star Chinese kitchen, £200 for thirty dishes. Book the Mayfair residency before the Pimlico room reopens.”
About A. Wong
Andrew Wong grew up above this restaurant when it was his parents' Cantonese house on Wilton Road, read chemistry and anthropology, then came home and turned the family site into the most decorated Chinese restaurant in British history. A. Wong launched in 2012, won a star in 2017 and took the second in 2021, a pair no other Chinese restaurant in the country holds. The 2026 guide confirms both remain in place.
The evening menu, Collections of China, runs to roughly thirty dishes over three hours at £200 a head plus service, a survey drawn from years of research trips across China's provinces and a partnership with academic food historians. Xiaolongbao arrive with vinegar suspended in a pearl; Shaanxi lamb burgers sit beside Sichuan pepper ice. Lunch is the other institution: dim sum precise enough to embarrass Hong Kong rooms twice the price.
In 2026 the story turns a page. The Wilton Road site is undergoing its first full renovation since opening, and from August 18 to September 26 the kitchen decamps to a residency at the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, serving the two star dinner exclusively each evening before the rebuilt Pimlico room reopens in the autumn. Booking runs direct through awong.co.uk for both addresses.
The Room
On Wilton Road the room was compact and unceremonious for a two star: a marble counter along the open kitchen, tight tables, Victoria commuters walking past the window. The renovation promises more comfort without the theatre transplant. For the late summer of 2026 the setting is instead the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, a hotel dining room with considerably more polish than the mothership ever attempted.
Why book it, occasion by occasion
Here is when A. Wong moves from very good dinner to the right call entirely.
For the guest who needs a fact they can repeat
Britain has exactly one Chinese restaurant with two Michelin stars and you are sitting in it: that sentence does the entertaining for you. The thirty dish format keeps the table busy without demanding commentary, and the £200 ticket reads as connoisseurship rather than extravagance. During the residency window, the Mandarin Oriental address adds hotel grade service to the argument, and few tables in London earn the follow up email faster.
For a first date with built in conversation
Thirty small dishes over three hours means there is always something arriving, always something to react to, and no silence that needs rescuing. The counter seats by the kitchen were the classic request on Wilton Road and worth asking about again once the room reopens. If £200 stretches the evening, wait for the dim sum lunch to return: the same wit at a fraction of the price.
For the birthday diner who collects experiences
A menu that tours China's provinces in one sitting is a gift disguised as dinner, and 2026 adds scarcity: the residency runs only from August 18 to September 26, and the reopened Pimlico room will be the news of the autumn. Book the residency for the story, note the birthday when reserving, and let the kitchen sequence the celebration around the tasting's natural peaks.
What to order
Dinner is the fixed Collections menu, so the real decisions are timing, address and lunch strategy.
- The Collections of China, uncut
Roughly thirty dishes at £200: the full research project on one table. Shortening it misses the point of the restaurant.
- The xiaolongbao with vinegar pearl
The single most photographed dumpling in London and still the cleanest statement of Wong's method: tradition, technique, one twist.
- The residency while it lasts
From August 18 to September 26, 2026 the two star menu is served at the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair only. A different room, the same kitchen, and a booking that will not exist again.
- Dim sum lunch when Pimlico returns
The reopened Wilton Road room will bring back the lunch service that made the restaurant's name. It remains the sharpest starred lunch value in London.
Practical
- Address
- 70 Wilton Road, Victoria, London · reopening autumn 2026
- Residency
- Mandarin Oriental Mayfair · August 18 to September 26, 2026
- Reservations
- Direct via awong.co.uk
- Dinner
- Collections of China, about 30 dishes, £200 plus 12.5 percent service
- Lunch
- Dim sum menus return with the reopened room
- Timing
- Allow 3 hours for the full menu
- Dress
- Smart casual
- Dietary
- Flag restrictions at booking; the menu is fixed and wide ranging
Questions diners ask
Is A. Wong open in 2026?
Yes, with an asterisk. The Wilton Road site in Victoria is closed for a full renovation, and from August 18 to September 26, 2026 the kitchen serves its two star dinner in residency at the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair. The rebuilt Pimlico room is expected to reopen in the autumn; bookings for both run through awong.co.uk.
Is A. Wong really the only two star Chinese restaurant in Britain?
Yes. Andrew Wong took the second star in 2021 and no other Chinese restaurant in the UK has matched it, a distinction the 2026 guide preserves. For historical context, it stands among the very few Chinese kitchens holding two stars anywhere outside Asia.
What does dinner at A. Wong cost?
The Collections of China menu is £200 a head plus 12.5 percent service, before drinks. Tea and wine pairings are tiered on top, so a full evening for two lands around £500 to £600. The dim sum lunch, when the reopened room restores it, costs a fraction of that.
How long does the Collections of China take?
About three hours for roughly thirty servings, paced in provincial chapters rather than Western courses. It is a single fixed menu for the whole table, so plan the evening around it rather than before a show. Solo diners and couples both sit comfortably within the format.