Mao Tai
58 New King’s Road
Parsons Green
SW6 4LS
020 7731 2520
www.maotai.co.uk
info@maotai.co.uk

Who: Mark Barnett
“I was an investment analyst in the City – I had a good expense account and spent most of my time out at restaurants. I lived around the corner and realised there wasn’t a decent place to eat in Fulham – that was the beginning of it. I decided to take a year off and open a restaurant. We opened in 1984 – I never went back!

We serve a variety of things. We do a dish just like sashimi and we do dim sum. We cook contemporary Hong Kong style – we have dishes from Thailand, Vietnam and Japan which we mix with our traditional Chinese cooking. I’ve always loved food, but I’m not a foodie because I’ll have a Big Mac at McDonalds at the appropriate moment!

We update the menu every three months. For some of our old customers if they want a dish that’s no longer on the menu our chefs will make it for them. You can come here and sit at the bar for drinks and bar snacks – tempura and sushi type things. We get groups of girls coming in to have a chat, they especially like this cushioned area by the bar – all the girls sit there! Families come at 7-7.30pm, older people come at 8-8.30pm, young couples at 9-9.30pm.”

What: Contemporary bistro/brasserie serving a fusion of Asian, Pan Asian and Japanese dishes. The recent refurbishment has turned the restaurant into an über-swish, snazzy meeting place with a real Sex and the City vibe. Wide range of clientele and age-group, spanning from young twenties upwards. The front dining area is smoking. Bar snacks from £4.50, starters from £5.50, dim sum from £4.50, mains from £8.50. Wines from £27.50 per bottle, cocktails from £7.

Why: Sit beneath the flamboyant feathered light shades sipping on cocktails and champagne at the sleek black, marble-topped bar having a natter with friends. Then dine on signature dishes salt & pepper squid, rock shrimp tempura and prawn & chive dim sum – one of the great things about the food is there’s no MSG so you won’t be buzzing with that horrid chemically feeling all night. Nice friendly waiting staff and chefs who will cook something off the menu if needs be. The refurbished private dining room is now open – where you can book private parties.

Where: New King’s Road, just next to Parsons Green. Closest tube is Parsons Green (five minutes walk), turn right, then right again onto the New King’s Road – Mao Tai is just a few doors down from Starbucks. (10 minutes walk from Putney Bridge, 15 minutes from Fulham Broadway).

When: Bar opens at 5.00pm, bar snacks from 5.30pm, restaurant opens at 6.15pm and closes at 1am. Lunch 12pm–3pm. Last orders Sunday–Tuesday 12am, Wednesday–Saturday 1.00am.

Photograph: Richard Jones