Danh Hui (famed for his work at Nobu and Roka) is the executive chef in charge of providing east London's niftiest crowd their latest offering of pan-Asian cuisine, within a hip post-industrial outpost on Commercial Street.

The Venue
Located in the heart of east London’s trendiness, Funky Asia’s a skip and a jump from Shoreditch and Spitalfields Market, so should instantly do well with the cool crowd. A separate bar area welcomes you in off the grungy street outside, but once inside to the restaurant proper you’ll find multi-coloured drop-lights hanging from the ceiling to illuminate this post-industrial shield of steel casing - giving a breeze of warmth and instant coolness. Flexible seating offers an eclectic mix of furniture - take your pick from comfy velvet covered chairs with square wooden tables, metal garden chairs and tables or even a bench style picnic table for you and your guests.

The Atmosphere
For a new restaurant the service is first class – and so it should be - to complement the experience of chef Danh Hui the team at Funky Asia also includes staff members with similarly impressive CVs. This place boasts an atmosphere every bit as funky as the moniker suggests, and lavish numbers of staff are dressed in trendy grey uniforms to serve the smorgasbord of diners (up to 300 across two levels) that includes couples, large male groups and even a couple of families. One word of advice though: be careful with your choice of footwear – it’s a regular occurrence for heels to get stuck in the wooden boards that line the floor. But don’t worry the staff are always on hand to check you’re not in a compromising position for too long.

The Food
The menu is varied and offers all the delights - plus a few extra surprises - that you’d expect to see in a Pan-Asian restaurant. It's all done well though, so don’t be fooled by the description of the beef salad starter. This is no lame salad of leaves - it's headlined by a liberal portion of feathered strips of beef tenderloin that's lean, succulent and mixed with a cucumber salad with an ample drizzle of Vietnamese honey and yuzu soy sauce.

The Chinese salt and chilli squid is similarly impressive, with some incredibly light batter. It arrives freshly pan-fried with copious fresh chillis and salt, even if it could do with an accompanying dipping sauce to add some extra zing. Seafood lovers will lap up the soft shell crab. It’s hard to miss, arriving as two large tempurered soft shell crabs, delivered with a rocket and jalapeno mayonnaise accompaniment. It's good, but not for the faint hearted. The salty edamame is spot on too - a warm generous portion of boiled soy beans with Maldon sea salt.

The baby chicken main is moist and tender and benefits from the side sauce of garlic, olive oil and chilli, which really augments the meat’s flavour. The real highlight at Funky Asia though (which really can’t be missed), is the beef with plum truffle sauce. It's delectable in its own right but with a side accompaniment of morning glory (a thinner version of bok choi) fried with fresh ginger, chilli, garlic and oyster sauce, it really hits the mark.

The dessert menu is simple yet effective, in that it’s all ice cream. That's not a negative though, as the options are typically Asian and delightful. Each ball of ice cream is encased in a rice paste which helps to lock in the flavour and adds a different, exotic texture.

The Drink
The selection of drinks is vast and impressive. A pre-dinner cocktail at the front bar is a great way to get the night started. Each cocktail takes its name from a famous region in Asia, and the tastes are distinctive with something to please everyone. The 798 District is well worth a try, masterfully combining the sweet and dry complexity of lychees, lemongrass, sake and grapefruit, as is the Block M - a mix of malt whisky, wasabi, yuzu and ginger syrup with an egg white, it's shaken to give a smooth finish.

The wine list caters for both lovers of white and red. The Albarino at £30 makes a good accompaniment and is refreshing with a solid taste and good body. It's an artistic and approachable wine list, just be careful not to accidently order the Cristal Louis Roederer at £250 - it might come described as a ‘girl's best friend’ but then again so are diamonds so ensure you’re either committed enough.

Last Word
This mystical and laid back trip through Asian cuisine is fabulous and entertaining. It’s the kind of place you expect to have fun from the moment you sip your first cocktail to the ice cream climax. A welcome addition to east London's ever growing restaurant scene.

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