William Poon

William Poon, is one of the top master chefs in the UK, and launched the Poons restaurant chain in London.

The restaurant chain, first opened in the 60's, consisted of 5 branches at its peak, each branch with its own speciality and run by different family members. It was acclaimed for its authentic Cantonese Menu and was famous for the Chinese wind-dry sausages (臘腸) and wind-dry ducks. It was also one of the first Chinese restaurant in London Chinatown to introduce Clay Pot Rice (煲仔飯).

Chef William Poon personally ran the kitchen in Covent Garden (one Michelin star 1979-80) before it moved to Poons in the City in 1992. The restaurant in the city was modelled on the design of Hong Kong's Luk Yew Tree House and had an 80-seat fast food section. Poons have been patronised by celebrities such as Frank Sinatra and many theatre stars among the Covent Garden theatres.

Poon is now officially retired and all the chain restaurants are closed, but his wind-dry products are still widely available in UK supermarkets.

Poon continues to work in support of community projects and is currently the Chair of Euro-Chinese Literature Association (歐華文聯)., and the Permanent President of Shunde UK Association. Poon also helps with promoting Chinese cooking standard in the UK and has been on the judging panels for the Chinese MasterChef competition organised by Westminster City Council. Poon was one of the finalist for the Promotion of Excellence in Chinese Cuisine at the Pearl Award in 2006.