Mao Chow in Hackney

Mao Chow has now moved around the corner & is called Facing Heaven - located at 1a Bayford St, London E8 3SE. The tiny restaurant is always busy because word has got around that this is THE best vegan Chinese food in town and a great option for meat eaters like me, because you don't miss the meat AT ALL. The staff are incredibly friendly, they have orange wine, and the food is absolutely wow. Don't miss the Hong Kong french toast for dessert because it is to die for. The style of the place is 80's decor and loud 80's styled music - a definite buzzy party atmosphere and a lot of beautiful people. This definitely feels special.

We visited on a Saturday night as 2 couples after seeing their Instagram posts and were sold on the vegan menu. The place was so popular that we had to wait a while for a table, sat on little plastic stools in the street and it reminded us of when we visited Vietnam. The waitress Lo was so attentive and kept us updated on when we likely to get a table. My god, it was worth the wait! We ordered one of everything (and an extra DanDan noodles) to share and every dish was delicious. My personal favourites were the green beens and sprouts. Yes, the restaurant was small (they are moving location shortly to a bigger restaurant) but it made the experience feel authentic. We enjoyed every part of our visit, the food, the atmosphere and the staff and have already recommended it to friends. This will be a meal that we’re still talking about in years!

We went for dinner as fancied some Chinese vegan vibes. We order pretty much everything but as soon as we sat down they started blaring death metal. Luckily that changed and the music was better but the dinning room is cold and light is terrible. The food was nice enough but cauliflower was great but all is WAY too oily. As a chef myself it would be good to add pickles, simple Chinese spinach salad and something clean to cut through the litres of oil you cover everything In. The highlight was the brilliant waitress.

Mao Chow is hot! East London based tiny tiny restaurant, serving Asian style dished (all vegan!) is a must go, must try, must return. The whole atmosphere of the place is full-filling with being blocked by the number of people, at the same time the freshness and food preparation with love. The moment I entered I knew it is going to be an extraordinary experience! I was welcomed by a huge smile form a chef, asked if I want a beer and waited for a few seconds (I was lucky!) for a spot for a and a friend. The kitchen is open, tables are shared and literally it seems like having a dinner with a huge family. We ordered everything from the menu, as we could not make our minds and price-wise it is very tempting — and it is this kind of a place that you just want to spend all our money. Being vegan or not this place is like a heaven. The preparation of dishes was on a very high level, every single thing we ordered not only looked beautiful, but the taste was very layered. The service (literally two people running the whole place) was super nice and full of passion. It is a place to go back, for sure!

Everything was really really good, received extra dumplings on the house as they were left over. The strange flavour cucumber and dan dan noodles were highlights.

Brilliant food. We literally ordered the whole menu (plus the special). Loved everything. The best dishes were the broccoli and the noodles. The place is tiny and very popular so be ready to queue for a while. Absolutely worth the wait.

A warning... this place is tiny and so is the menu! I think it would be hard pressed to fit more than 12 people in there, and there are only about 6 items on the menu... But having said that, the service is friendly and food was tasty. The broccoli, and the dumplings were my favourite, but my girlfriend loved the dan dan noodles. If you can squeeze in, it's worth a visit, whether you're vegan or not (I'm not).

The good things: Limited menu but the food was mostly good. Some was too spicy for me but my friend enjoyed it. The dumplings were excellent and the sprouts and tofu were tasty, as was the mushroom Bao. Bad things: - The noodles appeared to be spaghetti. - The place was absolutely tiny, no space so people were crammed against each other on the one table they have. - The place appeared dirty. - It was utterly freezing and everyone wore their coats as they left the door open and wouldn’t close it. - The toilet was out of order and they told me to use the pub toilet. - I had to wash my hands in their sink which they were using to wash up the plates and pans. - They only had one sink in their kitchen which is against food safety standards. There must be two sinks - one for hand washing and the other for food prep or washing up. - They didn’t accept card. Clearly avoiding tax. The nearest ATM charges a £1.85 fee so we had to go to a supermarket to get cashback. On principal due to their tax evasion and horrible food standards I would not recommend this place. Their food safety standard rating online is 2 out of 5 which is appalling.

We visited late on a Friday night. We were squeezed in on a small amount of table space. You have to be prepared to sidle up closely to a stranger. Was fine for us. A few items on the menu had run out by 8:30pm or so, disappointing to not try the dumplings but the brussel sprouts (which we wouldn't otherwise have ordered) were a great surprise. Felt a little shambolic - a victim of it's popularity - but I expect that the running of the restaurant will get more polished. FWIW, my friend thought the brussel sprouts tasted "meaty" and didn't even realise it was a vegan restaurant; thought the mushroom bao was chicken.

I went there with my fiancé. There were only two big tables so we waited half an hour to sit. It was cold, we ate with our coats on. We asked for water but they didn't bring it to us. The kitchen was dirty. Half of the small manu was not available for us but it was for the people that came later. A very disappointing experience overall.

After looking at Mao Chows instragram - I was excited to taste some fresh, spicy, adventurous vegan Chinese food. I was left bitterly disappointed. I ordered the sprouts, green beans, potato, mushroom bao and a special noodle dish. The sprout dish was pretty good - and the only deserving factor of this single star review. My green beans were grey and stewed. Cut so finely I could barely tell they were green beans at all. Not the fresh cuisine I was expecting - but synonymous with the stewed slow cooked Asian food you might get down brick lane of a weekend. The potato spiced slaw was overwhelmingly underwhelming. It was a wet flavourless pile of soggy veg. My bao wasn’t steamed very well - the centre of the bun was cold and damp Not the warm fluffy clouds you might expect of restaurants with the dish in their name. My noodle dish - of £9.50 was so tragic. A portion of overcooked noodles, 2 pak Choi leaves and around 7 chickpeas..... drowned in a bright orange Szechuan chilli oil. It was greasy and unappetising. I won’t even pass comment on the seating arrangements. Small, cosy intimate restaurants are absolutely fine - but if your restaurant has 2 tables I’d suggest maybe not asking your customers to order at the counter? There was literally 10 people! Plus lay out some napkins and chopsticks. Little details would go a long way. I hate to give these guys their first bad review - but this evenings dinner really was a terrible let down. I had high expectations based on the imagery I’d saw across their social channels - what a flop! I saw a genuine lack of care and passion this evening across service and kitchen which prompts me to write this review.

Servings seem small but are perfectly filling, delicious flavour too! Already look forward to my next visit!

Very excited when we saw this little place offering Vegan Chinese Food and it did not disappoint!! Great flavours and the Bao Buns and Noodles were stand out dishes. Can highly recommend and would return next time I’m in the area. Keep up the great work!

The food here is more than delicious I live in Kent and was in Central London for the day but decided to Trek all the way to Hackney and it's well worth the trip up here to eat the food I had tofu noodles and after I had the dumplings and they were absolutely delicious the place is small and you may have to wait but it's well worth it

The sign still says "Frank's Coffe" but that elusive, seldom-open cafe has forever gone. This is now Mao Chow, a dumpling and noodle bar. The people are charming, the food fresh and made in front of you. The prices are reasonable and make it a perfect stop off for a spicy snack - they are open late. A few tiny tables in the back, but if you opt to takeaway they use the cutest cardboard food boxes that look like little dumplings. I'm a rabid carnivore but didn't miss the meat with these vegan treats 🍜