Red ‘n’ Hot, 59 Charing Cross Road, London
This is the second (or third) time I write about Red ‘n’ Hot on this blog. It is one of the Sichuanese restaurants in London that I visit on a regular basis. They consistently serve good quality Sichuanese food and they keep it authentic, if it says spicy it is spicy and no bell peppers or other random vegetables here. It’s always packed with (young) Chinese people, not perhaps the most cosiest and romantic of restaurants – then again, who needs romance when you can have Sichuan pepper?
Here’s pictures of some of the food I have had there this autumn.
Hot and sour vermicelli soup. This is an interesting and very tasty dish, I love the dried soy beans (I think it’s soy beans) that they top this soup with.
Dan Dan Noodles. This is very different from the other Dan Dan Noodles you get in London,the noodles are thinner and it’s more mild.
Here we have the same noodles, this time cold served in a hot and sour cold broth (under the noodles). This is topped with cucumbers and sugar! Mix it together and enjoy. Love the vinegar on this one!
Pork Dumpling with Chili Oil, very nice and tender.
Wonton noodles in chicken broth, these are so soft and velvety, lovely!
Water cooked pork, a favourite of mine. This comes in a very spicy and flavourful broth (not a broth really). Generous amount of Sichuan peppers and chillies. I really love this!
Mapo Tofu. There is something with this dish that makes me go crazy. The tofu, the leek and the minced pork in the very spicy sauce. I LOVE MAPO TOFU! I’d have children with mapo tofu, I’m not sure it’s possible though.
I’d love to be in a Chinese kitchen to see how they prepare their fish because it is so different from what you would get in any fish restaurant. Extremely soft, delicate but yet firm. The fish is always expensive (£15+), you do get a decent amount though. This was a white fish served with some green leaves and tomato skins. Wonderful!
Chilli Cool, 15 Leigh St, London
I’m back, sorry for the wait! Last night we had a fabulous hot pot at Chilli Cool, the restaurant I reviewed earlier on this summer. They provided us with unlimited ingredients for the hot pot. Look at this picture, ridiculous amounts of food!
Under the pile of meat (beef, pork and lamb) we had fresh white fish, prawns, crab, Chinese sausage, bean curd sticks, frozen spongy tofu, crab sticks, straw mushrooms, cloud mushrooms, sea kelp, vermicelli noodles, Chinese leaves, cabbage, potatoes. The actual hot pot (forgot to take one as I got carried away with eating) was a half spicy / half white soup, great flavours and a seasoned to perfection with Sichuan spices.
When we had finished the stuff above we asked for some more meat and fish, the waitress brought us a new plate with everything! We were struggling to manage to eat everything, so much food! I must say that this was the best hot pot I’ve had so far – definitely coming back! I love Chilli Cool – now on my top pick list!
Bar Shu, 28 Frith Street, London
God bless Bar Shu! I have always wanted to go to this restaurant, the original (and most expensive) of the trio of restaurants that Fuchsia Dunlop consults for. Once again, God bless this place! I’m getting religious…
So, the place itself is very nice. Spacious, nice decoration and attentive staff. The menu is extensive and has anything a Sichuan food junkie like me could wish for. One of the dishes, in addition to Mapo Tofu, that I always order to compare restaurants is Shui Zhu Niu Rou (boiled beef slices in extremely hot sauce). This is also one of my favourite Sichuan dishes as it really demonstrates the great flavours of Sichuan food.
Here is Bar Shu’s take on Shui Zhu Niu Rou.
The camera and the light does not really do the dish justice because this was the best thing I have had for a very long time. Perfectly seasoned, great tender meat and very spicy. I loved it!
We also ordered a steamed sea bass with ginger and spring onions. The waitress removed the head and bones before I took the picture but here you have it.
This fish was amazing. So tender, perfectly cooked and the seasoning was light and delicate. I really enjoyed it, probably the best fish I have had in a very long time.
Bar Shu is officially my favourite restaurant in London and I will be going back very soon!
Ba Shan, 24 Romilly Street, London
OMG OMG OMG!
This was the best food ever, God bless Ba Shan! Let all of his angels protect this place from all things bad that is known to happen to mankind.
Look at the insane amount of Sichuan chili on this first cold starter. Awesome! OMG, this was so good that I am turning into an American shouting awesome at stuff. Seriously, look at it. There’s about 203234 chillies in this dish. In addition, there was a generous amount of gorgeous Sichuan peppers in the mix.
Voila! Here you have the dish itself. Cold, thinly sliced pork kidney and cucumber. Outrageously tasty. This was my first time having cold kidney and I have to say that it was just great.
Pork dumplings, definitely made from scratch. The dough was supreme, the Sichuanese dip sauce was amazing.
Mapo tofu, what a joy. This had the perfect balance of flavours and is officially on my top 3 list (I’m making one as we speak).
Ba Shan, very good value for the money you pay. Not cheap, but not as expensive as Bar Shu across the street. I loved Ba Shan! I want to throw money at them and hope that they will be successful forever and ever. Please use the link below to get some more information about the restaurant, read reviews and see the menu in more detail. Urbanspoon rocks!
Sohojapan, 52 Wells Street, London
When heading back home from town, we passed by this place and decided to give it a try. Little did we know that this restaurant is actually one of the better Japanese restaurants in these parts of London. We had some seriously gorgeous and tasty bento lunches at Sohojapan on Wells Street in London.
Apparently this place is quite popular since they asked if we had booked tables for lunch, which in my opinion is unusual. The restaurant itself is not your typical Japanese restaurant, the interior resembles that of a traditional pub.
Sohojapan offered a lunch menu with some basic alternatives, although quite expensive. We chose the two bento boxes with a selection of small, extremely well-prepared dishes.
I must say that this was THE best Japanese meal I have ever had. The fish was absolutely wonderful and the tempura perfect. The seasonings were on the spot and the composition sublime.
We ended the meal with a cold black sesame pudding with cream and strawberries. What a great meal!
However, the coffee was a pure disaster. I hope they seriously reconsider using the cheap machine that they used or that they stop serving coffee as such. Otherwise, a fantastic experience!
Ramen Ki-Mama, Birger Jarlsgatan 93, Stockholm
Ramen Ki-Mama in Stockholm is the one and only place for ramen in Sweden. The food is great! They really make a nice broth, the noodles are perfect and the toppings are wonderful. I love this place, I have never been disappointed when eating here. The food is also very affordable…
Kimchi!!! I love kimchi, I am a real kimchi slut. I could eat kimchi until I explode. The kimchi at Ramen Ki-Mama was great, I ordered two bowls!
Ramen in a miso soup base. Delicious pork and bean sprouts, what a great mix!
Wonton ramen! As you can see, their soup also contained some sugar peas and some cloud mushrooms. This was wonderful, very very nice flavours.
Please go to Ramen Ki-Mama and throw your money up on them.
China! (Dragon House), Hornsbruksgatan 26, Stockholm
Ok guys, this is my second review of this restaurant located in Hornstull, Stockholm. This place used to be called Dragon House, however, today it goes by the name of China! The menu is exactly the same (they even have the old ones from Dragon House).
In my honest opinion this is one of the best, if not the best, Chinese restaurant in Stockholm. The place itself is not that welcoming, it looks like a regular Chinese joint without character. They have a buffet from which everyone eats, I guess it brings them a lot of cash and they are not able to close it down. However, they have a great “authentic” menu with pictures and descriptions of the food. We tried the following.
La Zi Ji (Sichuan Chili Chicken). Ridiculous amounts of red hot peppers with great chicken bits, not the regular cuts but a lot of delicious bone cuts. A dry dish with lots of hotness to it, perhaps a bit too salty but still great. Actually I tried to make this at home later on, please read my other post.
This dish was called General’s Beef. It was cold cuts of beef boiled in an aromatic broth, extremely nice flavours and textured meat. I loved it, a great cold starter.
Jiaozi, i.e. steamed pork dumplings. These were home made, filled with juicy pork meat and soft spices. They came with a nice dip sauce, very very nice! Actually they were quite large and could easily be shared by two people. Loved it!
Finally we had some Soy-braised Lion’s Head. This is a soft pork meatball made from fatty meat and water chestnuts. The texture is very soft and the flavours are quite strong. I really liked the dish and would definitely try it once again.
Bar Ristorante Wen Zhou, Via Bramante 20, Milano
Ladies and gentlemen, I have found a true jewel in the chaos that is Milano’s China Town!
It rained in town and we were in desperate need of a nice place to eat dinner at. We entered Ristorante Wen Zhou and were instantly impressed with the punters; about 30 very noisy Chinese men and women literally shouting their lungs off at each other over their food. Actually, we learned later on that they were celebrating Ching Ming (Remembrance of Ancestors Day). The noise was overwhelming, it did not help that they started dancing and singing karaoke later on.
However, the place was just great. Ingredients on display and a very extensive menu with all sorts of nice stuff. They also offered my dinner companion to pick the fish that she wanted to eat, they invited her to the kitchen and she pointed out the fish that they later on prepared for her.
For starters we had steamed pork dumplings with spring onions. Sweet, salty and juicy!
We also had some Chinese spring rolls, very basic cabbage filling but really nice!
The main courses included braised pork belly with bamboo shoots. This was a great choice, really nice flavours and the meat was so tender and perfectly cooked.
The fish (a white variety) grilled to perfection.
I had some Mapo Tofu, this was the real deal. An excellent spicy, oily sauce with incredible taste, small beef bits and wonderful tofu. This was made from scratch, what a master chef!
The meal ended with a nice piece of melon.
We were the last diners this evening and as we finished our meals the 5 chefs joined the partying gang. They brought huge pots with food with them, sat down at a table and started eating in the typical, very determined Chinese manner.
I really loved this place, please visit them and try the food. A top pick!
Sushi-Ya, Skånegatan 82, Stockholm
When I lived on Skånegatan in Stockholm, Sushi-Ya was my number one choice for Sushi. We were in Stockholm this weekend and decided to walk a trip down memory lane and ended up in Sushi-Ya. What a great place this is! They deliver delicious food, the service is great and I feel that I can relax in the restaurant.
As you might know, I love kimchi and ordered two portions for starters! It was just great, a nice mix of different flavours. I asked the waitress how they prepare it and she revealed that they make it a bit sweeter than normal and add some sake and pears! It was a bit sweet actually, but not too sweet. I recommend that you try it out yourself!
For main course we had a big plate of sashimi and a selection of sushi. I must say that the fish was extremely fresh and the presentation was very nice.
Once again, Sushi-ya did not let us down. In my honest opinion, this is the best place for sushi in Stockholm – please pay them a visit!
Restaurante Chino Si-Chuan, Carrer Benet Mateu 48-50, Barcelona
Before we get to the story, let us all join hands in prayer and ask God that he sees to it that this Chinese restaurant never goes out of business because this place offers incredible food. I have had some great Chinese meals in New York, London and Paris but this was just marvellous.
First of all, the location is a bit strange. The restaurant is in the middle of a high-rise residential block in the outer parts of Barcelona. It looks like a normal Chinese restaurant from the outside and you will not find notice anything out of the ordinary when you step inside.
When we sat down at our table we were greeted by a waiter who introduced their menu. What a disaster it was. Old faded pictures of really not that appealing food, a lot of stuff with chips and spaghetti – oh my God… I asked if there was a separate Szechuan menu and the waiter just did not understand the English and a second waitress turned up. She understood the question but not really the request… Why would we want to eat from another menu?
She did however return with a menu in Chinese, which I do not understand in writing at all. So then a third waiter (perhaps the owner) turned up. He spoke perfect English and asked us what we wanted to eat and from that point on I was truly in heaven.
We ordered three main courses. First we have steamed fish, it came with Chinese mushrooms and fresh ginger and a light sauce. It was a true masterpiece, velvety and very gentle. This was by far the best fish I have had in a Chinese restaurant anywhere, I am not kidding.
For our second course we had Mapo Tofu, I have found that this is a dish that really sets the standard for a Chinese restaurant. This was such a masterpiece, very soft and nice tofu, a good amount of Szechuan spice and a lot of different layers of flavours. I was in heaven eating this.
The third dish was Szechuan Spicy Beef. I had asked for something ridiculously spicy and this was not a disappointment. Very tender beef in red bean paste with loads of chilli, it was just beyond amazing! Sweet and hot at the same time, great!
We ended our meal with Eight-treasures Rice Pudding. It was sticky rice with different preserved fruits, sweet bean paste, sesame seeds and some sort of sweet sauce. This was so great and not at all as heavy as one would think.
When leaving the restaurant we were offered some Chinese rice wine with cinnamon, it tasted a bit like sherry – great! I also chatted a bit with the staff and talked about Chinese food and eating out.
There were so many nice options to choose from the menu, I wish I would have had more time to spend in Barcelona so I could have eaten it all. I will most definitely come back when I am in Spain, please visit the restaurant while I am gone. Enjoy!
Dragon House, Hornsbruksgatan 26, Stockholm
I have had Chinese food in many, many, many restaurants around the world and in my honest opinion Dragon House in Stockholm is one of the better restaurants north of London. They actually offer and cook food that is more authentic. The restaurant itself is not that sexy and they have a crappy buffet with Chinese/Thai/Japanese and whatever food which is a total disaster.
Stay away from that shit and focus on the Chinese menu. They have a lot of good stuff on offer, Szechuan water boiled meat, deep-fried fish, pork belly, intestines and feet. Oh, glorious food! I have eaten at this restaurant several times and I have noticed that the quality differs a bit depending on if you go there for lunch or dinner. I guess they have many different chefs at well. However, I can recommend the stuff that we had on our last visit.
Tofu with sesame oil, great!
Water-boiled beef, wonderful!
Pig’s feet with sea cucumber, delicious!
The waiter laughed at us when we ordered the pig’s feet! He grinned and shook his head several times! What a funny guy… I think it was cooked with sweet black vinegar and ginger, it was soft and fragrant. Great! The sea cucumber was a bit chewy, it is some sort of weird animal/plant thing that really is as disgusting as pig’s feet if you google it.
Happy dining bitches!
Red N Hot, 59 Charing Cross Road, London
Eating hot pot was a dream come true for me, it was just great! The experience was so nice, the white soup base was wonderful and the hot soup base was a-m-a-z-i-n-g! Look at the amount of red chillies, ridiculous! Basically, you get a lot of nice fresh ingredients that you can prepare for yourself. This was just great! The restaurant itself had so many nice meals to offer, unfortunately we run out of time on our trip to London and did not have time to try the other Szechuan stuff. OMG, I loved the food!
Hot Pot (White Soup Base / Hot Chicken Soup Base)
Hot Pot Ingredients: King Prawns, Sliced Fish, Squid, Fish Bolls, Sliced Beef, Sliced Lamb, Tofu, Seaweed, Needle Mushrooms, Chinese Leaves, Potato Slices, Dry Beancurd Sticks, Sweet Potato Noodles, Chinese Cabbage, Baby Squid, Chinese Sausages.
Asian Food Adventures 
