Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 25 and Version 9 of Red And Hot, NW1 1JD

Version 25 Version 9
== Line 0 == == Line 0 ==
Sichuan restaurant just off Euston Road, between [[Euston Station]] and [[King's Cross St Pancras Station]]. Previously known as Snazz Sichuan <small>[http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/577935924/ photo]</small>, it joined the Red &amp; Hot group in early 2010.
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.
== Line 2 == == Line 2 ==
[[Kake]], [[bob]], [[Sarah]], Mr Noodles, and Bellaphon first visited on a Wednesday evening in June 2010. We hadn't booked, but there was no problem finding us a table when we arrived a little after 7pm, as we were the first customers of the evening. Service was very friendly and helpful, with staff happy to take the time to place our dishes in the optimal positions for photography.
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.
== Line 4 == == Line 4 ==
Hot and numbing beef (&#27700;&#29038;&#29275;&#32905;/shu&#464; zh&#468; ni&uacute; r&ograve;u; &pound;8.80) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/4666795315/ photo]</small> was good, with tender and well-spiced beef. Fire-exploded kidney flowers (&#28779;&#29190;&#33136;&#33457;/hu&#466; b&agrave;o y&#257;o hu&#257;; &pound;7.80) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/4667544276/ photo]</small> managed to avoid the unpleasant smell/taste that kidney can often have. Sichuan-style pig's blood mix (&#23500;&#36020;&#27611;&#34880;&#26106;; &pound;12.80) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/4666868045/ photo]</small> was interesting and quite tasty, incorporating luncheon meat (which worked quite well &#8212; don't be put off by this) along with the congealed blood. However, the pieces of squid also included in the dish were overcooked and rubbery.
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.
== Line 6 == == Line 6 ==
Special fried chicken with dry chilli and cumin (&#39108;&#39321;&#36771;&#23376;&#38622;; &pound;12) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/4667505002/ photo]</small> was very good &#8212; tender but not mushy chicken in a crispy coating, not overcooked or greasy at all, and with a good flavour imparted by the dried chillies. Fish soup with pickled vegetables (&#39080;&#21619;&#37240;&#28271;&#39770;/f&#275;ng w&egrave;i su&#257;n t&#257;ng y&uacute;; &pound;12.80) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/4666826381/ photo]</small> was also good, with tender fish fillets bathed in a rich and fairly spicy broth. Pea shoots in rich broth (&#19978;&#28271;&#35910;&#33495;/sh&agrave;ng t&#257;ng d&ograve;u mi&aacute;o; &pound;8.80) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/4667361450/ photo]</small> came garnished with century egg and a couple of peeled prawns. Opinions among our party were divided on this one; some felt the pea shoots were a little undercooked, while others liked them like this.
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?)
== Line 8 == == Line 8 ==
Dan dan noodles (&#25812;&#25812;&#40629;/d&#257;n d&#257;n mi&agrave;n; &pound;5.60) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/4667385268/ photo]</small> were OK, but nowhere near as good as the ones we've had from [[No. 10 Restaurant, SW5 0QT|No. 10]] in Earl's Court ([[bob]] also tried these on a previous visit before the change of management, and noted that the noodles were <i>really</i> soft, and there was less meat than at No. 10). Zhong's crescent dumplings (&#37912;&#39171;&#23376;/Zh&#333;ng ji&#462;o zi; &pound;4.80 for eight) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/4667373676/ photo]</small> were very good; smooth, silky-skinned dumplings enhanced with a coating of a deeply savoury chilli oil.
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.
== Line 10 == == Line 11 ==
On another visit by [[Kake]] and [[Sarah]] in October 2010, the chicken with chilli sauce starter (&#25104;&#37117;&#21475;&#27700;&#38622;/Ch&eacute;ngd&#363; k&#466;u shu&#464; j&#299;; &pound;7.80) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/5159037535/in/set-72157624077781991/ photo]</small> and the preserved eggs with tender bean curd (p&iacute; d&agrave;n d&ograve;u fu hu&#257;; &pound;7) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/5159963984/in/set-72157624077781991/ photo]</small> were both very good. The chicken was served off the bone, but the flavour didn't suffer from this.
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.
== Line 12 == == Line 13 ==
In February 2015, [[Kake]], [[Sarah]], [[bob]], Mr Noodles, and Pete visited for a hotpot session. It was Chinese New Year, and we hadn't been able to book as they were keeping half of the tables for walk-ins; we didn't have to wait for a table as we arrived quite early (6:30pm), but they did ask us to give the table back by 8pm. We weren't asked to choose our hotpot ingredients &#8212; it's all-you-can-eat, and they'll bring a selection of things to start and more if you request them (we found the initial selection was plenty).
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]
== Line 14 ==
[[Kake]]'s verdict: I've been here three times and would happily come back. The obvious comparison to this place would be [[Chilli Cool, WC1H 9EW|Chilli Cool]], another Sichuan restaurant in the same area &#8212; however, despite the similarities in style and competence of cuisine, the ambience in the two places is utterly different, so my mood would dictate which of the two I'd prefer on any given day.

Accessibility: Two steps up to get in. Two steps down to get to the rearmost dining area and to the toilets. The ladies' toilet doubles as an accessible toilet, but in addition to the barrier of the steps, as of June 2010 the toilet chain is high up in a corner and would be hard to reach from a wheelchair.

== Line 19 == == Line 20 ==
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/rjw1/sets/72157650719286608/ bob's photos of our 2015 hotpot visit]
* [http://bellaphon.blogspot.com/2010/06/red-n-hot-euston.html Bellaphon's review of our 2010 visit
]
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/mobyp/sets/72157600291124605/ MobyP's photoset on Flickr]
== Line 22 == == Line 22 ==
<div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Kake]], [[Sarah]], [[bob]], et al., February 2015. Opening hours taken from a takeaway menu collected in June 2010.</div>
address='37 Chalton Street'
category='Chinese Food,Featured Article,Hotpot,Restaurants,Sichuan Food'
edit_type='Normal edit'
<div class="last_verified">Last visited 20 June 2007 by [[Kake]], [[claud]], [[Juliette]], and [[Sam]].</div>
address='New China Club, 37 Chalton Street'
category='Chinese Food,Restaurants,Sichuan Food,Take Kake Here'
edit_type='Minor tidying'
== Line 27 == == Line 27 ==
formatted_website_text='rednhotgroup.com/">rednhotgroup.com'
host='81.187.166.218'
hours_text='noon-11pm Mon-Thu; noon-midnight Fri-Sat; noon-11pm Sun'
formatted_website_text='newchinaclub.co.uk/">http://www.newchinaclub.co.uk/ '
host='217.147.80.147'
hours_text=''
== Line 33 == == Line 34 ==
major_change='1'
major_change='0'
== Line 35 == == Line 36 ==
node_image='https://farm2.static.flickr.com/1285/4666358332_89bfcf8574_m_d.jpg'
node_image='https://farm2.static.flickr.com/1072/577935924_c58bc86086_m_d.jpg'
== Line 38 == == Line 39 ==
node_image_url='https://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/4666358332/'
opening_hours_text='noon-11pm Mon-Thu; noon-midnight Fri-Sat; noon-11pm Sun'
node_image_url='https://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/577935924/'
opening_hours_text=''
== Line 44 == == Line 45 ==
summary='Sichuan restaurant just off Euston Road.'
website='http://www.newchinaclub.co.uk/' website='http://www.rednhotgroup.com/'
summary='Sichuan restaurant aiming for authenticity of atmosphere as well as cuisine.'
website='http://www.newchinaclub.co.uk/' website='http://www.rednhotgroup.com/'

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:

See also:

Last visited 20 June 2007 by Kake, claud, Juliette, and Sam.

List all versions