Gigi Gao's Favourite Authentic Chinese, the multi-award-winning restaurant on Swansea's waterfront, features across three-and-a-half pages of Jay Rayner's new book, Nights Out In The Kitchen. The appearance comes four years after the food critic first wrote about the restaurant in his Observer column.
In that 2022 column, Rayner described entering a "candy-coloured, garlanded, ribboned, sequined and tasselled world" of "all round bloody good things". A spokesperson for the restaurant said 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."
A Growing List of Achievements
The new feature adds to the restaurant's list of accolades, which includes 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.
The spokesperson 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."
From Law to Restaurant Business
Gigi, originally from Shanxi Province in northern China, came to Swansea in 2014 to study international, commercial and maritime law. She had qualified as a lawyer in China in 1998 and was a partner in a law firm there, but moved to Swansea due to a shortage of lawyer experts in international commerce. There she discovered a passion for the restaurant business.
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 and took over. The venue, with just 32 covers, became so popular she would manage around 110 people per night. In 2017 the restaurant moved to its current home at Swansea Marina, where the team won the Golden Chopsticks Awards in 2018, 2021, 2024, and 2025.
Rayner's 2022 Visit
When Rayner visited in 2022, he and his group - including TV chef Jeremy Pang - "rampaged through the menu like toddlers let loose on a no-limits sweetie pick'n'mix", ordering dishes so delicious they reordered them. Rayner also described Gigi herself: "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."
Nights Out In The Kitchen is a follow-up to the bestselling cookbook Nights Out At Home and features 40 reverse-engineered recipes inspired by restaurants and chefs across the UK, alongside 20 of Rayner's own recipes, including meatballs with braised spaghetti, shaved fennel and lemon zest salad, tartiflette tart, and slow cooked tandoori lamb shoulder. The book is available now.
