Poon's London

Our family culinary history runs deep. My father comes from a long line of chefs. Somewhere in the long distant past is a many times great grandfather who was chef to an emperor. Another many times great grandfather effectively invented the stock cube. My grandparents had a famous restaurant in Macau where my granny was famed for her knife skills.

There is an old family recipe for Chinese Wind Dried Meats, which we still produce today. My father started in the kitchen young. In Hong Kong, he trained with a Swiss pâtissier and in the mid-Sixties he came to England in pursuit of my mother. Disappointed by the quality of Chinese food in England at the time, my parents opened the first Poon’s Restaurant in 1973 in Lisle Street, Chinatown.

Three years later they opened the iconic Poon’s of Covent Garden at 41 King Street (now a Burberry store.) The great and the good dined there – from Mick Jagger to Barbara Streisand. In 1980 my father was awarded a Michelin Star. Restaurants in Geneva and The City followed. My parents retired in 2006.

I have worked in all my parents’ restaurants and swore I would never go into the business, but what chance does one stand against kismet? So, I bring you my Chinese kitchen from the depths of my heart & my family’s hearth.

Buy Poon's London at Ratton Pantry.