Shu La La in Islington

Reseña del restaurante: Mancha china local Recientemente visité un restaurante chino local y decidí probar su pollo a base de chile, que venía recomendado con un maridaje de cervezas. Si bien realmente aprecié el nivel de especias —que llenó el calor que esperaba— sentí que el equilibrio entre el pollo y la especia se quedó un poco corto. Puede haber sido debido a mi propia falta de familiaridad con este plato específico, pero los sabores no se unieron tan armoniosamente como había anticipado. Por el lado bueno, el maridaje de cervezas fue excelente y definitivamente elevó la experiencia. El personal era amable y experto en recomendarlo, lo que realmente aprecio. En términos de precios, el pollo con chile era de £ 14. 90, que me pareció un poco caro para el tamaño de la porción. Además, el restaurante aplica un 12. Cargo por servicio del 5% — algo con lo que normalmente estoy bien, pero en este caso, no se sentía del todo justificado basado en el plato que pedí. Dicho esto, no desalentaría a nadie a probar este lugar. El menú es extenso, y estoy seguro de que hay muchas joyas por descubrir. Definitivamente volveré para probar un plato diferente, ¡está claro que este restaurante tiene mucho que ofrecer! Pensamientos finales: un lugar prometedor con espacio para la exploración. Voy a tizar esto para elegir el plato equivocado. ❤️

I popped in for a takeaway. Very tasty dish but I was served cold food. I am sure they would have put this right, I was busy.

Amazing food great flavours and friendly service. Menus was a little tricky to fathom out but once we did we had an amazing feast. Ordered too much but left nothing

Delicious and authentic !! We love love Shu La La. It is not always easy to find authentic Chinese food at a very reasonable price nowadays. We had a selection of barbequed meats, including lamb skewers, octopus skewers, pig trotters (believe me they are amazing), mushroom 🍄 as well as scallops, Korean style cold noodle 🍜, and cumin lamb ribs. They were packed with flavour. Amazing quality. Polished all of them off under an hour and loved every single bite. Will definitely come back again without a doubt.

Avoid this place .... got take away at the end of the night and when I got home I had been charged £9 for just plain noodles no veg no meat nothing.... OUTRAGEOUS AND SHOCKING

Really incredible authentic Sichuan food. Great variety and some really delicious and thoroughly spicy dishes. The chicken feet were a highlight, and the skewers (we got beef and tofu skin) were also surprisingly excellent. Really looking forward to trying the rest of the menu!

Five of us enjoyed an outstanding lunch at Shu La La today. The size of the group allowed us to order a large range of dishes and I can recommend them all. The menu is slightly smaller than pre-lockdown but still offers a lot of variety. One side is very recognisable, the opposite side might be more familiar to Chinese people. The salt and pepper squid was outstanding, the chicken dumplings and vegetable spring rolls were great and the lamb skewers from the other side of the menu offered a different level of spiciness. One of the group ordered chicken and sweetcorn soup which arrived in a large bowl, a thick and tasty version which we could share. The mains included kung po chicken and tasty lamb and pork dishes, each with distinctive flavours. The aubergine and bean dish is exceptional. Our charming waitress recommended a spicy noodle dish with vegetables which we will definitely order again. We added tofu, pak choi and rice rice dishes. Of course we over-ordered but the food was so spicy and delicious that in the end we finished it all. With drinks including jasmine tea, beers and iced tea from China the bill, with service, came to £149. Good value for such an enjoyable feast.

Super spicy food - perfect if you like Sichuan food. Try the kung pow hot chicken and aubergines. Lots to choose from and some very unique dishes for sure.

Myself and hubby first visited in end of August as we saw this restaurant on our route to visit family in North London (we came from South). We’d recently been watching a lot of YouTube videos on Chinese food (we’re chinese ourselves but from the UK), in particularly Sichuan and Xian cuisines. So was intrigued to try Shu La La. Thank goodness we went in that day because the food is amazing. Some dishes really took me back to our visits to my grandparents village in China and it was so comforting. The skewers (particularly lamb and pork) was so flavourful, well charred and juicy. Absolutely loved the Sour and Hot red potato noodle soup (warning: very spicy/peppery, which I love). Another fave of ours is the salted egg ribs, coated with the perfect amount of salted egg and cooked so well that it’s not tough and chewy at all. So many dishes we’ve tried since going back (3 times in one month) and I cannot wait to try more. We’ve since brought my immediate family there as well as our three children (aged 3, 7 & 8) as there are non spicy dishes too. The staff are all very helpful and friendly. The price is more than some Chinese restaurants but I believe you get what you pay for and I am more than happy to pay for such delicious food. Have already booked our next visit with our children again.

After visiting Shu La La on Saturday, I found this a very pleasant experience. It was our first visit. I found the staff very friendly with good service. The food was excellent, with plenty of room to move about, so will visit again.

Great little local Chinese restaurant. Friendly staff, good menu and funky decor throughout. Recommended

The food was very well presented and full of flavour, is the second time we go as me and my partner we just discover the place. Is a great place and nice decorated but the staff is untrained and they made as feel in both occasions unwelcome.

An authentic menu, but tasteless and far too expensive for a non-Chinatown joint. Really not worth visiting. Trust me, I'm Chinese.

Visited here tonight on a whim and it is so pretty inside. The food was even better. Great place, needs more business!

I don’t want to spend a long time on this review as this place isn’t worth it. The spring rolls were totally tasteless other than a vague taste of dish water, their solution was that you had to dip it in the sauce, an overly sweet from-the-bottle chilli sauce, nothing to write home about and definitely didn’t improve them much. We then had the “Mouthwatering Sichuan Chicken” which was full of tiny bones in all the slices of meat, don’t expect to enjoy eating it as you will be too busy picking small sharp bones out of your mouth the whole time, unpleasant! The worst meal I’ve had in a while. They’ve obviously copied some of the items from Yipin China’s menu but aren’t as good at executing them. Go elsewhere!

I saw this restaurant had just opened and was intrigued to try it. I went in a week after it opened. One big problem is that the tables are all set for 4 people, so if there are loads of couples in - the restaurant can be full when only half of the tables are fully utilised (which seems like quite a bad design flaw). In any case, the restaurant was decorated in bright, vibrant style - felt a bit Japanese anime meets China. I liked the fact that a lot of the signage is in Chinese - it felt almost like you were somewhere exotic rather than on the Holloway Road. The menu was huge, quite difficult to choose - as so many dishes. The food was good - portions were a little bit too big - probably designed more for sharing plates. I think I had about 12 spring rolls in my starter for one. Pricing is a little on the high side but again I think this is reflected by the size of the portion. A few teething issues but I think this restaurant will do quite well if they can sort out the table format to maximise footfall. I would eat there again for sure.