Edit "Sichuan Restaurant, W3 6BY"
Cancel edit
About your edit
Your username (
set it
):
Comment about your changes:
Type of edit:
Normal edit
Minor tidying
Main information
Content: (see also
text formatting help
)
Previously a Sichuan restaurant in [[Locale Acton|Acton]], now closed. As of June 2013, [http://tamarindandthyme.wordpress.com/ Su-Lin] reports: "Saw some activity in the now closed restaurant a couple nights ago but they may just be cleaning it out. No idea what the site will become — probably yet another bloody estate agents." The information below is retained for historical purposes. <div class="old_info"> Sichuan restaurant in [[Locale Acton|Acton]], also known as Chuan. Interestingly, its Chinese name is 思川, which is pronounced exactly the same as 四川 (Sìchuān) but has a different meaning — perhaps something like "river of memory" (or, to borrow a pun from [http://eatlovenoodles.blogspot.com/ Mr Noodles], "stream of consciousness"). They also do takeaway, and you can order online [http://hungryhouse.co.uk/chuan via Hungry House]. Unlike many other places that do online ordering, the online menu actually includes the more interesting dishes such as stewed pig trotters, and pork tripe in chilli oil. [[bob]] and Jack visited on a Friday lunchtime in January 2009. We arrived just as they were opening at 12:30pm, and we were still the only customers by the time we left at 1:10pm or so. Spicy beef in a pot with chillies (水煮牛肉/shuǐ zhǔ niú ròu/water-cooked beef; £8.80) <small>[http://flickr.com/photos/rjw1/3219451687/ photo]</small> had good-quality beef in a subtle blend of chillies and Szechuan pepper. The portion really was quite large. [[bob]] would have preferred it with more chillies, but when we talked to our waitress afterwards she told us they're happy to add more if you ask. Double-cooked pork Sichuan style (家鄉回鍋肉/jiā xiāng huí guō ròu; £6.80) <small>[http://flickr.com/photos/rjw1/3220321628/ photo]</small> was very good; the pork was very bacony and the sauce it was in was quite good as well. Plain noodles with bean sprouts were fine. Chinese tea was £1 per person. [[Kake]] and [[Ewan]] visited a year later, on a Wednesday evening in March 2010, as part of a group of seven. We'd pre-booked, and were seated around a large table in the basement dining room (the rest of the place remained empty during our visit). We left most of the ordering to [http://tamarindandthyme.wordpress.com/ Su-Lin], who's been here several times before; she chose us a range of dishes from the "chef's specials" <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/55935853@N00/4467264550/sizes/l/ photo]</small> and "Sichuan-style dishes" <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/55935853@N00/4467266590/sizes/l/ photo]</small> sections of the menu . Sauteed sweetcorn with salted egg yolk (金沙玉米粉/jīn shā yù mǐ fěn; £6.80) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/55935853@N00/4466357423/ photo]</small> was beautifully crunchy and flavourful, and the starch coating (cornflour? rice flour?) stayed nicely crispy. Chicken with chillies (辣子雞/là zi jī; £8.80) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/55935853@N00/4466362683/ photo]</small> was really very good, with the chicken left on the bone for extra flavour, while Dongpo pork (東坡肉/dōng pō ròu; £9.80) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/55935853@N00/4466364819/ photo]</small> was tender and tasty. Dan dan noodles (擔擔麵/dàn dà miàn; £5.80) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/55935853@N00/4466372503/ photo]</small> were also good, made with hand-pulled noodles (拉麵/lā miàn). Sour and spicy shredded potato (£6.80) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/55935853@N00/4466381027/ photo]</small> was rather nice, with well-judged cooking of the potato shreds (which should be slightly undercooked to Western tastes). Sweet and sour eggplant dragon (£9.80) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/55935853@N00/4466383851/ photo]</small> showcased a spectacular presentation, and although the flavour was a little sweet for some of our tastes, this is not to be unexpected in a sweet and sour dish. Dry-fried green beans (乾煸四季豆/gān biān sì jì dòu; £6.50) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/55935853@N00/4466367167/ photo]</small> were liked by most of our party, though Kake felt they would have been better made with younger beans. As on our previous visit, the spicy beef in a pot with chillies (水煮牛肉/shuǐ zhǔ niú ròu; £8.80) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/55935853@N00/4466369853/ photo]</small> was decent enough, with nicely tender beef. Baby cuttlefish in a spicy sauce (泡椒墨魚仔/pào jiāo mò yú zi; £12.80) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/55935853@N00/4466360135/ photo]</small> were OK, though nothing special. Fried minced pork with vermicelli (螞蟻上樹/mǎ yǐ shàng shàu/ants climbing a tree; £6.50) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/55935853@N00/4467152850/ photo]</small> was disappointing, with the flavour heavily dominated by soy sauce. Service was friendly and sweet, if a little confused at times (they didn't have one of the wines we ordered, but instead of telling us this just brought us something completely different). A 10% service charge was added to the bill. [[Kake]]'s verdict: I'd probably come back if I was planning to be in the area, though I don't know if I'd make a special journey since there are quite a few Sichuan restaurants in London now. [[bob]]'s verdict: The menu has some interesting things like stewed pig's trotters, pork tripe, and tongue. I shall have to go back and investigate. It was certainly worth the 15 minute bus ride from Chiswick. See also: * [http://web.archive.org/web/20120202081910/http://www.dimsum.co.uk/food/sichuan-invasion.html dimsum.co.uk article] * [http://londonist.com/2008/12/shoot_and_eat_sichuan_restaurant.php Londonist review] * [http://tamarindandthyme.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/a-sichuan-dinner-in-acton/ Tamarind and Thyme review] * [http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/577970 Chowhound thread] * [http://tofufa.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/sichuan-restaurant/ Delightful Eggtarts review] * [http://eatlovenoodles.blogspot.com/2010/04/dinner-sichuan-restaurant-sichuan.html Eat Noodles Love Noodles review] (same occasion as one of our visits) * [http://www.flickr.com/photos/55935853@N00/4467257850/ Photos of the menu as of March 2010] <div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Kake]], [[Ewan]], [http://eatlovenoodles.blogspot.com/ Mr Noodles], [http://bellaphon.blogspot.com/ Bellaphon], [http://tamarindandthyme.wordpress.com/ Su-Lin], James, and Marna, March 2010.</div> </div>
Locales (one per line) (
view all locales in a new window)
:
Categories (one per line) (
view all categories in a new window)
:
Featured Article Now Closed
One-line summary of this page (for search results):
Additional information
Phone:
Website:
Twitter name (e.g. rglondon):
Opening hours:
Address:
Postcode:
OS X coordinate (e.g. 528113):
OS Y coordinate (e.g. 179347):
Map link:
Image to illustrate this page
URL of image:
Photos should be no larger than 240x240
Name of image copyright holder:
URL of image licence:
URL of image's info page:
Cancel edit