Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 11 and Version 10 of Red And Hot, NW1 1JD
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The menu is divided into cold dishes and hot dishes; a page at the front of the menu suggests that the best way to order is to have all your dishes arrive at once, rather than starters followed by main courses. It also explains that the usual custom is to have your meat/fish/veg dishes first and then plain rice at the end, "to make sure that you're full", but you can have your rice earlier if you prefer. On both [[Kake]]'s visits so far, we did in fact ask for our rice to come with the other dishes, and I do think this is the best way to do it, since it lets you cleanse your palate between dishes. There's no rice section on the menu; I don't know if there's any choice other than plain rice, but I don't think anything other than plain rice is really necessary. |
We visited on a Tuesday evening in June. When we arrived at 8pm, it was reasonably quiet, but got busier and noisier (though not unpleasantly noisy) later on. We'd booked, but probably didn't really need to. |
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[[Kake]], [[claud]], [[Juliette]], and [[Sam]] visited on a Tuesday evening in June 2007. When we arrived at 8pm, it was reasonably quiet, but got busier and noisier (though not unpleasantly noisy) later on. We'd booked, but probably didn't really need to. |
The menu is divided into cold dishes and hot dishes; a page at the front of the menu suggests that the best way to order is to have all your dishes arrive at once, rather than starters followed by main courses. It also explains that the usual custom is to have your meat/fish/veg dishes first and then plain rice at the end, "to make sure that you're full", but you can have your rice earlier if you prefer. We did in fact ask for our rice to come with the other dishes (there's no rice section on the menu; I don't know if there's any choice other than plain rice, but I didn't miss it). It would certainly be worth trying it the traditional way, though. |
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The first dish we decided on was a cold one, "strange-flavoured rabbit"; it wasn't particularly strange but was certainly good (mind out for the bits of bone, though). Two of our three hot dishes were ones I'd had before, but these renditions were among the best I've tried: fish-fragrant aubergine, and ma po tofu (a replacement for the preserved egg dish we'd wanted, which was off the menu that day). We also ordered fire-exploded beef tripe, which turned out to be a good contrast to the other dishes. Some reviewers have complained that the dishes here seem to lack variety, all involving "a slick of fierce-looking red oil"; I do see their point, but I recommend they try the beef tripe. Our fifth dish was chicken in Chong Qing special sauce; rather soupy, and not hugely interesting. Five dishes, a £20 bottle of Rioja, and plain rice for four came to £78 including service. |
The first dish we decided on was a cold one, "strange-flavoured rabbit"; it wasn't particularly strange but was certainly good (mind out for the bits of bone, though). Two of our three hot dishes were ones I'd had before, but these renditions were among the best I've tried: fish-fragrant aubergine, and ma po tofu (a replacement for the preserved egg dish we'd wanted, which was off the menu that day). We also ordered fire-exploded beef tripe, which turned out to be a good contrast to the other dishes. Some reviewers have complained that the dishes here seem to lack variety, all involving "a slick of fierce-looking red oil"; I do see their point, but I recommend they try the beef tripe. Our fifth dish was chicken in Chong Qing special sauce; rather soupy, and not hugely interesting (at least to [[Kake]]; maybe someone else has a different opinion?) |
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[[Kake]]'s next visit was on a Saturday lunchtime in April 2008; again, we'd booked for our party of three, but really hadn't needed to as the place was empty when we arrived at 12:30pm and stayed almost entirely empty throughout our meal. Strange-flavoured rabbit and fish-fragrant aubergine were again good; we also tried the dry-fried green beans (very good), the drifting-fragrant prawns with cumin (excellent flavour but slightly overcooked), the stuffed wonton dumplings (perfectly fine), and the hot and sour soup (disappointingly lacking in complexity; the only note that came through sufficiently was the sourness). These five dishes, plain rice for three, soup for three, tea for three, and two large bottles of water came to £66 including service. |
The "interesting" names of dishes were direct translations from the Chinese, according to the Sinophone in our party. We should perhaps have taken advantage of her presence to investigate the hotpot menu, which only comes in Chinese. |
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Service on this second visit was a mix of amusingly incompetent (when spoken to in English) and acceptable (when spoken to in Mandarin). They refused to give us tap water, and they only had one kind of tea. |
Five dishes, a £20 bottle of Rioja, and plain rice for four came to £78 including service, certainly a reasonable price. This place definitely deserves another visit. |
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The "interesting" names of dishes are direct translations from the Chinese, according to [[claud]]. The hotpot menu used to come only in Chinese, but as of April 2008 it's available in English. |
Other reviews: * [http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/reviews/10620.html Time Out] * [http://www.independent.co.uk/living/food_and_drink/reviews/article2579282.ece The Independent] * [http://www.chowhound.com/topics/405836 Chowhound] * [http://majbros.blogspot.com/2007/06/snazz-sichuan.html Dos Hermanos] |
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* [http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/reviews/10620.html Time Out review] * [http://www.independent.co.uk/living/food_and_drink/reviews/article2579282.ece The Independent review] * [http://www.chowhound.com/topics/405836 Chowhound thread] * [http://majbros.blogspot.com/2007/06/snazz-sichuan.html Dos Hermanos review] |
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<div class="last_verified">Last visited 19 April 2008 by [[Kake]] et al.</div> |
<div class="last_verified">Last visited 20 June 2007 by [[Kake]], [[claud]], [[Juliette]], and [[Sam]].</div> |
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category='Chinese Food,Featured Article,Restaurants,Sichuan Food' edit_type='Normal edit' |
category='Chinese Food,Featured Article,Restaurants,Sichuan Food,Take Kake Here' edit_type='Minor tidying' |
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major_change='0' |
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summary='Sichuan restaurant just off Euston Road.' |
summary='Sichuan restaurant aiming for authenticity of atmosphere as well as cuisine.' |
Sichuan restaurant just off Euston Road, between Euston Station and King's Cross St Pancras Station. They aim for authenticity of atmosphere as well as cuisine; laughing and talking loudly is encouraged.
We visited on a Tuesday evening in June. When we arrived at 8pm, it was reasonably quiet, but got busier and noisier (though not unpleasantly noisy) later on. We'd booked, but probably didn't really need to.
The menu is divided into cold dishes and hot dishes; a page at the front of the menu suggests that the best way to order is to have all your dishes arrive at once, rather than starters followed by main courses. It also explains that the usual custom is to have your meat/fish/veg dishes first and then plain rice at the end, "to make sure that you're full", but you can have your rice earlier if you prefer. We did in fact ask for our rice to come with the other dishes (there's no rice section on the menu; I don't know if there's any choice other than plain rice, but I didn't miss it). It would certainly be worth trying it the traditional way, though.
The first dish we decided on was a cold one, "strange-flavoured rabbit"; it wasn't particularly strange but was certainly good (mind out for the bits of bone, though). Two of our three hot dishes were ones I'd had before, but these renditions were among the best I've tried: fish-fragrant aubergine, and ma po tofu (a replacement for the preserved egg dish we'd wanted, which was off the menu that day). We also ordered fire-exploded beef tripe, which turned out to be a good contrast to the other dishes. Some reviewers have complained that the dishes here seem to lack variety, all involving "a slick of fierce-looking red oil"; I do see their point, but I recommend they try the beef tripe. Our fifth dish was chicken in Chong Qing special sauce; rather soupy, and not hugely interesting (at least to Kake; maybe someone else has a different opinion?)
The "interesting" names of dishes were direct translations from the Chinese, according to the Sinophone in our party. We should perhaps have taken advantage of her presence to investigate the hotpot menu, which only comes in Chinese.
Five dishes, a £20 bottle of Rioja, and plain rice for four came to £78 including service, certainly a reasonable price. This place definitely deserves another visit.
Other reviews:
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