Three Uncles

Three Uncles, London: The Verdict

The common assumption is that a ranked casual Chinese spot in the City is a lunchtime conveyor-belt operation — fast, functional, forgettable. Three Uncles corrects that quickly. Ranked #299 in Opinionated About Dining's Casual Europe list for 2025 (up from #295 in 2024), this Devonshire Row spot has built a reputation serious enough to draw food-focused diners who would otherwise head to Mayfair. If you want Cantonese cooking at a fraction of the price of Hakkasan Mayfair, Three Uncles is the practical answer — and the OAD ranking gives you the confidence to trust it.

What Three Uncles Actually Is

Run by three founders, Cheong Yew, Pui Sing Tsang, Mo Kwok, Three Uncles is a focused Cantonese operation in the heart of the City. The room is not designed for long, lingering evenings. What you see when you walk in is a counter-forward space built around efficiency and output: the visual cues are roast meats, clean presentation, the kind of tight kitchen discipline that characterises good Cantonese roasting. This is not the place for a sprawling banquet format. It is the place for sharp, well-executed Chinese cooking that holds its own against the more celebrated addresses in London's Chinese dining scene.

For context on where Three Uncles sits in the broader London Chinese picture: Hunan offers a longer, more exploratory set-menu format; Barshu goes deep on Sichuan; Imperial Treasure and Four Seasons lean into Cantonese dining rooms with more ceremony. Three Uncles strips ceremony out entirely and focuses the effort on the food. For a food enthusiast who wants Cantonese quality without the full-service overhead, that trade-off is worth making.

On the Drinks and Pairing Question

The OAD Casual category does not reward wine programs, it rewards cooking quality in an accessible format. Three Uncles operates in that register. If wine pairing depth is central to your evening, this is not the venue to prioritise: the drinks program at a City casual operation of this type is functional rather than curated. For a Cantonese meal with genuine wine program ambition, Hakkasan Mayfair is the more appropriate choice. What Three Uncles does offer is the freedom to keep your bill lean, bring your attention to what's in the bowl, not what's in the glass.

For those travelling from further afield or building a London dining itinerary, it is worth knowing that the city's highest-calibre wine-and-food experiences are concentrated in a different tier entirely, venues like Restaurant Gordon Ramsay or CORE by Clare Smyth. Three Uncles serves a different purpose: reliable, ranked casual Chinese in the City, open every day of the week.

Practical Details

Hours: Monday to Sunday, 11:45 am–9 pm. Reservations: Walk-in friendly given the format; no booking difficulty reported. Dress: Casual, this is a City lunchtime and early-evening operation. Budget: Price range is not published, but the OAD Casual classification and the format strongly indicate a mid-range spend well below London's formal Chinese dining options. Location: 12 Devonshire Row, EC2M 4RH, a short walk from Liverpool Street station.

Ratings and Trust Signals

• Opinionated About Dining Casual in Europe: #299 (2025), #295 (2024), two consecutive years of recognition in a list that prioritises cooking quality over atmosphere or service ceremony.
• 4.4 from 1,243 ratings, high volume, high consistency.
• Founded by: Cheong Yew, Pui Sing Tsang, Mo Kwok.

How It Compares

Explore More in London

Planning a broader London trip? Browse our full London restaurants guide, our full London hotels guide, our full London bars guide, our full London wineries guide, and our full London experiences guide. If you are building a UK dining itinerary beyond London, consider Waterside Inn in Bray, L'Enclume in Cartmel, Moor Hall in Aughton, Gidleigh Park in Chagford, Hand and Flowers in Marlow, and hide and fox in Saltwood. For international context on serious Chinese cooking, see Restaurant Tim Raue in Berlin and Mister Jiu's in San Francisco.