Restaurants

A Taste of China

Unit 51, Covered Market, Market Street, Oxford, OX1 3DX, GB

Rating: 4.5 ★ (279 ratings)

Details

A Taste of China offers an authentic culinary experience nestled within Oxford’s historic Covered Market, serving as a distinctive, family-run eatery. This compact venue, often described as a street food stall, provides a few intimate two-person tables alongside its takeaway service, creating a casual and inviting atmosphere. It stands out as the sole establishment in Oxford dedicated to Chinese signature noodle dishes, focusing on the rich and distinctive flavours of Shaanxi cuisine, prepared with considerable care.

The menu celebrates genuine Chinese flavours, with a particular emphasis on hand-pulled noodles, comforting soups, and freshly made dumplings. Popular choices include the renowned Hot and Sour Beef Noodles, a famous Sichuan street food recognised for its spicy, sour, and numbing characteristics. The Hot and Dry Noodles are also highly recommended, delivering an addictive blend of sesame paste, pickled vegetables, and a firm, chewy texture, while the belt-like Biángbiáng noodles are freshly made to order. Other highlights feature the hearty Lamb Paomo, a Shaanxi speciality combining lamb broth with chopped flatbread, and a variety of Chinese burgers.

This establishment is ideally suited for those seeking a quick and very casual lunch in the city centre, particularly anyone with a craving for quality, authentic homemade noodles. It appeals to individuals looking for a genuine taste of Chinese regional cuisine in a relaxed setting, making it perfect for an informal meal or a warming takeaway after exploring the market. As a family-run business, it also provides a friendly and unpretentious dining option for locals and tourists alike.

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Location

Opening Hours

Monday: 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM; Tuesday: 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM; Wednesday: Closed; Thursday: 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM; Friday: 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM; Saturday: 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM; Sunday: 11:30 AM – 3:30 PM

Contact

+44 1865 244442

Comments

Laureline Lonneu
24 Jun 2026
5.0 ★
The food there was delicious! We ordered the cold noodles and the house special noodles, it was perfect! The owner was nice with us!
The noodle seemed to be fresh pasta and were very tasty!
marya ali
18 Jun 2026
5.0 ★
Looks unassuming from the outside but WOW! You must come to covered market in Oxford to get a true taste of China! 😜 Chicken gyozas are some of the best I’ve ever had (pro tip: ask for soy sauce and chili oil, thank me later😏) The hot and dry noodles are life changing. Staff are friendly. Limited seating but you can order to go.
Jason Locke
19 Mar 2026
5.0 ★
Delicious, honest food that appears superbly authentic. I was one of the few non-Chinese speakers to order. I watched the cooks make my noodles fresh to create my spicy stew with pork meatballs. I asked for medium spice — which was almost too much for me but still outstanding. This is an excellent place to grab a healthy lunch.
Stefani W
13 Mar 2026
3.0 ★
We had house special stewed noodle and biang biang noodle. They were nice, but the soup of stewed noodle was bit too salty. They were good portion for the price, but there were only few little slices of meat in the soup. Only a few seats available at the place, most ppl do takeaway. Service was ok.
Jack Zhang
8 Mar 2026
4.0 ★
The food actually tastes good, very original. However, the quantity is too little either by British or Chinese standards. If you expect a meal, you shall order at least two shares for one person.
Jade P
21 Feb 2026
2.0 ★
We paid £25.50 in total for two dishes. We were charged an extra £4.50 each (£9 total) to add meat to both dishes which seemed expensive, but we thought it might be a generous portion, how wrong we were because it was literally 6 small cubes of meat when it came. Also the biangbiang noodles were lacking in flavour and over cooked. Very disappointing and felt like we were ripped off
Carter Walsh
22 Jan 2026
5.0 ★
We got the medium spicy triple biang biang noodles. It wasn't very spicy. The noddles were very good and were hand made right when we ordered them!
Elias Ahmadi
4 Jan 2026
5.0 ★
Great to takeaway but not much of a place to sit, I ordered a very comforting chicken noodle soup and it definitely helped cure my freshers flu. Not too salty. Great ratio of chicken to noodles to accompaniments, no complaints from me!

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