Soho is like a culinary equivalent of a cabinet of curiosities. Down every winding road you'll find speak easy bars and concept restaurants, each with a new surprised behind the door. Take Leong's Legends, for example, this Taiwanese restaurant on Gerrard Street gives nothing away up front, and asks its guests to dock on the apparently locked door to gain entry.
It's got a great location; nestled in Chinatown, it's surrounded by the area's buzzing bars and nightlife, with atmospheric lanterns decorating the streets. Like this whole neighbourhood, Leong's Legends has a deeper story to tell with its name referring to Mount Liang from the ‘Water Margin’ story, which is one of Chinese literature’s most loved stories.
Once inside, there's a mix of modern and traditional decor with artistic wall murals, a rich colour palette and atmospheric lighting as detailed lamps cast shadows across the walls. While, the staff add to the concept and experience with traditional outfits, too.
The menu here is extensive and offers a breadth of variety across Taiwanese dishes you know and love, and perhaps some you haven't discovered yet. There are also set menu options and specials to help you decide, for those who are too spoilt for choice. For example, the Hot Pot option allows you to choose a soup base such as classic pork bone broth or Sichuan spicy broth, followed by a selection of meat-based toppings or vegetables.
While, set menus make things easy - we like the sound of the crispy seaweed, with vegetable roll, followed by a dim sum platter and finished with stir fried beef noodles with Taiwanese shacha sauce. There's also plenty of choice across bao buns stuffed with succulent pork, dim sum like crystal prawn dumplings and shrimp puffs, as well as sweet desserts like custard buns - yum!