Chop Chop a late night dining spot has launched a new menu. Foodepedia was invited to be one of the first ones to try the new exciting dishes.

Hidden away on the ground floor of the Hippodrome Casino in Leicester Square, Chop Chop is something of a hidden gem, serving up satisfying Chinese dishes that make it well worth seeking out.

Unlike the neighbours in China Town it stands out through quieter and more sophisticated polished décor, and was recently extended to make more room for tables.Although it was never cramped here.

After refurb there is still a choice of classic tables, high tables and booths. Surrounded by clean freshly painted walls and beautiful china on the tables.

Our dinner commences with all things in bamboo baskets from dim sums to Char Siu BBQ pork buns. Prawn and chives are particularly good, thin translucent dough with chunky juicy roughly chopped prawns.

So are pure prawn dumplings. Full of flavour and a great firm texture on the filling.

Vegetarian duck pancakes are interesting, when the plate arrived none of us at the table and it’s 6 of us would have even presumed it was vegetarian.

It looks just like an ordinary shredded duck. The trick is in the cooking, just soy wheat dough, cleverly pulled, fried and seasoned that gives it an appearance, and quite honestly the flavour, of Peking duck.

It never stops to amaze me how good vegan dishes can be nowadays.

My other favourite, but less surprising and more of a staple on the menu is salt & pepper chicken.

Crisp coating with tender juicy fillets inside. It’s generously seasoned with salt and pepper, then tossed in garlic, fresh chilli and sliced spring onions for a fresh, mild onion flavour.

I don’t think one can go wrong with any of the dishes here, especially for such great prices £10 for 6 prawn dim sums, £14 for cocktails.

And the best part every plate is prepared with care, using quality ingredients and each item is cooked with precision, the latter is kind of my pet peeve.

A great example is the sautéed scallops with asparagus, combining plump, succulent scallops with halved straw mushrooms.

The asparagus retains its bite, the carrots are tender yet firm while the straw mushrooms maintain their delicate texture — a clear sign that each ingredient was given the right amount of cooking time.

It’s a level of attention to detail that carries through every dish, complemented by a generous meat-to-vegetable ratio.

The menu offers a range of dishes from the classics to signatures including scrambled prawn eggs and Sichuan chilli chicken.

The scrambled prawn eggs are a particular hit at all the tables we hear, the silkiest eggs I have ever tried topped with jumbo prawns, simple yet satisfying day or night.

But the biggest eye opener, and sinuses too if one grabs a few too many capsicums, is Sichuan dried chilli chicken. About half a teaspoon-sized crisp chicken bites, mixed with copious amounts of aromatic dried diced chillies.

They are so fragrant I can smell it from across the table, beautiful fermented dried chilis and a bit of chicken oil. The smell alone is mouth-watering. But chillies are lethal, an alarming sign of 4 sits next to the title on the menu.

There’re two options how to approach this: carefully fish out the little bites of chicken which is exactly what all of us at the table do, only one, the bravest of us all tries the full combo and quickly turns to a bit of a regret.

On its own the chicken is incredibly flavoursome, infused in the chilli fragrance that give it a unique taste while keeping the spice level to one.

Or alternatively mix and match but at your own risk. We complete the dine with a cooling selection of Mamason ice cream, which has a stand alone desserts location in Chinatown and Camden.

They are particular famous for all things uber form milkshakes to bilog a Pilipino milk toasted but filled with ice cream.  

I can’t fault Chop Chop, it’s really a great little Leicester Square treasure, and a place I turn to after a night out, which doesn’t happen as often as I wish to be honest because the dishes, service and decor are all great here.

And as a bonus given it’s through a casino no under eighteens allowed here, bad for parents but great for those who don’t want to see random kids fiddling with noodles or screaming at the neighbouring table.  

Chop Chop, Hippodrome, Cranbourn Street, London WC2H 7JH