How Gung-Ho were we about long-standing local Chinese?

For the first #whampreview of 2011 we decided to check out West Hampstead’s Gung-Ho. Despite having been in the area as long as most locals can remember, a surprising number of people had never heard of it.

Tucked up the forgotten bit of West End Lane, just before it joins the Finchley Road, Gung-Ho claims to serve Szechuan food although to the untrained eye, it’s a reasonably standard menu. There is also a “fusion” section, which mercifully means other south-east Asian dishes and not some awful attempt to marry completely different cuisines.

We were shown through to a table at the back replete with the obligatory lazy Susan. I rather like Gung-Ho’s decor. It’s nicely lit, clean and although quite a large place, there are enough partitions that you never feel like you’re in a large place.

The challenge of reviewing places with extensive menus is that you can only ever review a small selection of what’s on offer. We ordered a wide range of starters having not done much damage to the two small bowls of pickled cabbage that we got as soon as we arrived. Har gau and beef dumplings were hits, Nicky said the tempura was light, while Chris surprised himself, “I consider myself a carnivore, but that tofu was good”. We also had squid two ways and pretty quickly demolished the lot .

Main courses came promptly – portions are not overwhelming but the manager recommended we only needed four portions of rice between the eight of us. The Malaysian rendang (from the fusion menu) was tasty but Hazel and I agreed it lacked the depth of flavour of the best rendangs. Mark and Debbie said they were “big fans” of the prawn curry, while Nicky heaped praise on the seabass. SJ liked her sea-salt chicken. There was consistent support for the lamb in honey, which never seemed to move far from Simon‘s reach. Perhaps the only disappointing dish was the “uninspiring” mixed vegetables.

Amid some scepticism, we ordered three of the sweet bean paste pancakes, which I really like (but have had before there, so it wasn’t quite such a shot in the dark). Together with three bottles of white wine, the bill came to £25 each including service. Talking of service, I rather like the waiters at Gung-Ho. They are very friendly and not too pushy. We were a bit tucked out of the way, so if we actually wanted something we were reliant on them coming to check, but I think our service mark is on the low side compared to other reviews.

So, overall, Gung-Ho probably won’t blow your mind or your palate, but for reliable friendly Chinese food in a nice setting it’s the best local offering. It also does take-out.

Ratings
Food 6.9
Service 7.1
Value 8.1
Overall 7.6
Good for: tofu sceptics
Bad for: i’ve got nothing
328-332 West End Lane
West Hampstead
NW6 1LN
T: 020 7794 1444
W: www.stir-fry.co.uk

Gung-Ho on Urbanspoon

0 replies
  1. William 'D-Fens' Foster
    William 'D-Fens' Foster says:

    Glad your review isn't as glowing as it should be. Might keep some of the masses away from this already packed restaurant. If you know a better chinese/szechuan place in the area please let me know. I am luckily enough to have Gung Ho on my doorstep and its one of favourite restaurants in London. Would say you didn't order the best selection of stuff from the menu though

    Reply
  2. William 'D-Fens' Foster
    William 'D-Fens' Foster says:

    Green cottage has been there for about 25 years (Not sure how long you have lived in the area) so it must have something going for it. I haven't been since I was a kid so maybe it is worth a revisit. Recently discovered the excellent korean barbecue called Seoul on the finchley road as well

    Reply
  3. Marciamac
    Marciamac says:

    Haven't been to Gung Ho for a couple of years, because I thought the last meal I had there was okay food at way too high prices. Maybe it was the chef's off day.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.