Came here for dinner with my lovely wife on Tuesday night. As has been the case lately, I was held back at work and so Irene went and got a table first. It didn't take me long to get to Tottenham Court Road station but then I hurried to Chinatown looking for the place only find, after calling Irene, that I had walked past it (it's not actually in the Chinatown main street but two blocks away).
The interior of the restaurant was modern, relaxing, and gave an authentic Sichuan feeling. By the time I arrived, the dishes were already served (apparently they came just before I did). Irene ordered a ma po tofu (or, according to them, pock-marked old woman's beancurd), a shellfish dish (sliced whelk with green Sichuan pepper), and a dry braised ox foot tendons. The ma po tofu was very spicy, as it should be, but wasn't too exciting given I've had that dish many times before (or maybe the spiciness of the dish was too overpowering that any excitement was evaporated). The other two dishes, the whelk and the tendons, were absolutely delicious! The whelk was a relatively small dish and was probably meant to be a starter dish but having it there throughout the dinner worked well as it became a sort of side dish to nibble on when you wanted a change from the other two dishes. On the other hand, the tendons was a fantastic main dish; serving size was surprisingly large and it was cooked to perfection. Unlike the whelk, which wasn't spicy, the tendons was a little spicy, but not to the extent of the old woman's tofu!
On the whole, it was a great dinner! Irene had long wanted to try this restaurant and what better time to do it than on a cold Autumn's night in London when the temperature was only around 13 degrees Celsius.
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