The latest restaurant from the team behind steamed bun sensation BAO, XU will include two private spaces in the form of the Mahjong Rooms from 2 October.
The twist to the dining experience comes with the fact that the table tops can be converted into a board to play the traditional Chinese tile game Mahjong. The bound manual comes in handy, but it’s helpful to know the game is actually pretty similar to rummy.
One of the three founders, Wai Ting Chung, says that she always wanted to have the game in the restaurant ‘because our parents would play in their own restaurant or downstairs in the kitchen and the idea of bringing the game into this setting brings back memories.’
Found at the back of the ground floor behind velvet curtains, each room seats four or they can be combined for one larger party of eight. Inside, the mahogany panelling, hand painted murals, and marble chandeliers all add to the atmosphere of a 1930s Taiwanese teahouse.
Chung also shares that ‘the Mahjong set menu has items on it that are not available to the rest of the restaurant, including Cornish lobster with aged white soy sauce and a curated Kavalan whisky selection.’
Prices start from £75pp for a special feasting menu of the restaurant’s most popular dishes and three hours hire of the room with ample time to play the game.