It’s the unforgettable Chinese restaurant on Swansea’s waterfront that’s loved by thousands of locals. Now, Gigi Gao’s Favourite Authentic Chinese has landed a place in the brand new book from one of the UK’s leading food critics.
A multi‐award‐winning Chinese restaurant Gigi Gao’s appears across three‐and‐a‐half pages of Jay Rayner’s new book, Nights Out In The Kitchen.
This new feature comes four years after Rayner first wrote about the restaurant at Swansea’s Marina in his Observer column when he said where he said he entered a “candy-coloured, garlanded, ribboned, sequined and tasselled world” of as he describes it “all round bloody good things”.
A spokesperson for the restaurant said that Rayner “offers a vivid and memorable portrayal of the restaurant, its owner, and the unique environment that has made it one of Swansea’s most recognisable dining destinations.” For the latest restaurant news and reviews, sign up to our food and drink newsletter here
The appearance in recognition adds to the restaurant’s growing list of achievements, including winning Best Oriental Restaurant in Wales three times out of five, Best Asian Restaurant in Wales (Chinese category), and national TV coverage on the BBC’s Chris Cooks Cymru.
They added; “Jay’s latest book is a marvellous accolade. His writing captures the personality, the character, and the authenticity of our food. It’s an honour to see Swansea’s Chinese cuisine again represented at national level.”
Nights Out in the Kitchen is a follow up to bestselling cookbook Nights Out At Home and sees Jay in his kitchen, with another 40 cleverly reverse-engineered recipes, taking inspiration from restaurants and chefs across the UK, alongside 20 of his very own recipes, including meatballs with braised spaghetti, shaved fennel and lemon zest salad, tartiflette tart and slow cooked tandoori lamb shoulder.
Outside the restaurant is just as colourful as inside -Credit:Mark Lewis
WalesOnline has featured Gigi Gao’s in the past and amidst all the panda cuddly toys, lucky cats and more vivid decorations, the restaurant is run by someone who wants to give her customers as authentic an experience as possible, both in terms of the food and the cultural references, artwork, decor and more.
Originally from the Shanxi Province in northern China, Gigi came to Swansea in 2014 to study international, commercial and maritime law. She’d qualified as a lawyer at home in China back in 1998 and was a partner in a law firm there, but due to a shortage of lawyer experts in the field of international commerce, she upped sticks to study in Swansea where she discovered a passion for the restaurant business – and bringing authentic homestyle cuisine to Wales.
Starting in 2014 in the small venue that was The Favourite Cafe, on Brynmor Road as a favour to a friend, Gigi eventually renamed it The Favourite Chinese, did traditional food and she asked if she could take over. The small venue, with just 32 covers, became popular, so much so she’d manage around 110 people per night. In 2017 the restaurant sized up to where it is now, at Swansea Marina, where Jay visited and where Gigi and the team won the Golden Chopsticks Awards in 2018/21/24/25.
Fish in spicy soup with vegetables at Gigi’s -Credit:Mark Lewis
When Rayner visited in 2022 he, and the group he was with – including TV chef Jeremy Pang who regularly appears on Sunday Brunch and has his own Asian Kitchen show on ITV – “rampaged through the menu like toddlers let loose on a no-limits sweetie pick’n’mix” ordering dishes that turned out to be so delicious they reordered them. You can read Jay Rayner’s full review of Gigi Gao’s Favourite Authentic Chinese, from 2022 here.
At the time Gigi herself also made an impression as well as the food, so it’s no surprise he’s bookmarked the venue for his new cookbook, he described the owner: “Gigi Gao is her own special creation, and what a fabulous creation she is. She serves us wearing a full-length, silvery, sequined fitted dress, and a veil of gold tassels. It becomes clear, when the house wine arrives, that this is a fashion, rather than cultural choice; on the bespoke wine bottle label she is pictured, unveiled, raising a glass. Another waiter is in a rainbow sequined dress, and a third has a black sequined dress with a dashing opera cape. Rightly, they pair these outfits with sensible-looking trainers. The brilliant thing about all of this dress up is that it suits the décor. It’s the best kind of nuts.”
You can buy Jay Rayner’s Nights Out In The Kitchen now.
Dining and Cooking