Ba Shan

Went to Ba Shan and had an absolutely amazing meal last night. I don't think I've had Chinese food as good anywhere outside of China. It was fairly spicy, as could be predicted and the service is standard. Anyone not into good, spicy Chinese food or basic service should look elsewhere. Having said that, I don't think I've had warm cuddly service at ANY Chinese restaurant anywhere in the world, so those who complain about service are perhaps just expecting a different standard. Standout dishes were Ma Po Doufu, Yu Xiang Qie Zie, cumin spare ribs, and dry-fried green beans. Will definitely be back!

2 mins walk from the Z Hotel, I grabbed a quick main course before they closed on a Monday night. The staff were friendly and the menu exciting. I ordered a shredded beef main course and some noodles which both were the saltiest dishes I've ever eaten. I asked if that was normal and I was promised it was but I couldn't eat it. I was refunded the main course without asking which was good but 24 hours later I'm suffering which is inconvenient on a business trip. Hugely disappointed with a quality recommendation

Best Chinese food I've had in the UK. The service was fine and quick but the food is the real star here. It's hot, it's spicy and I hadn't seen many of the dishes on other Chinese menus in the UK before. Don't expect western style comfort or service, this is a whole other experience. Will definitely return.

We had dinner at Ba Shan last night and after reading all the reviews about terrible service, we were very pleasantly surprised! We were greeted in a very friendly manner and immediately seated, were able to order when we wanted to and the food all arrived in good time. We also got a very happy response when we asked to box up the food that we had over-ordered! Particular highlights were the Pock-marked old lady bean curd, the fish fragrant aubergine and the smacked cucumber. Delicious, all of them. We'll be going back and taking reinforcements so we can try some more dishes!

Just awful. Poor service with aggressive up-selling, made to feel very unwelcome with limited table time, too many offal dishes sold at premium cut prices, £9 for cabbage in vinegar was laughable - Avoid!

Ba Shan disappointment. Having looked at several review sites, this place got generally high scores. We ate here yesterday. We love spicy hot food. The interior is well, ok. The hard chairs would make your nether regions go numb after an hour. We shared chicken strips and noodles in a spicy chilli oil dressing (£7.50), and it was delightfully hot and crunchy. I ordered deep fried king prawns (£17), and my wife shredded lamd with chilli, ginger and spring onions (£11). We had 2 Chinese beers (£7.00), and rice for two (£3.60). Our bill was £50 inc service charge. The king prawns were ok - prawns in batter with a slightly spicy sauce. The lamb dish was pretty tasteless and boring. The bill was not itemised, which always gives you the feeling that they are ripping you off. Frankly, our local chinese takeaway would compete evenly on food quality for Ba Shan, and at a fraction of the price. The foodie reviewers clearly had a bad day when they rated this very average establishment.

Such a shame as most of the food was lovely when it eventually came. The manager was incredibly rude - we were a large party and a couple of people were ill. As it became apparent there were two spaces he came marching downstairs to shout at us that we had ruined his service as he could have used more tables (the place was empty). In order to stay we had to promise that we would leave in two hours. After two minutes of finally sitting down we were being pressed for our order and told to hurry. The food comes as it is cooked which is fine normally but the rice was served after a lot of the courses had already come out. Many of our orders were wrong but we were so concerned over time we took them as they were thrown at us. We had one lovely waitress who was clearly embarressed but everyone else was just plain rude. The whole time we were looking at our watches and made sure we were ready to leave after a couple of hours. At which point they were trying to encourage more drinking - we looked upstairs and it was empty so they were keen to keep us spending hence the change in tune. When the bill came they wouldn't give us an itemised bill - at which point we were exhausted with arguing over our dinner we gave up. They had clearly overcharged and neglected to take off the food that was never delivered to the table. I'm not one for fussy service - all I ask is that you are made to feel a little welcome - just a smile is fine. This was a horrible night, overpriced (a plate of steamed greens was £8.90 - and that is all they were) and we all felt pretty miserable when we left. Some of the food was lovely though, it is 'authentic' as I used to eat in China, however there are several places within spitting distance that are cheaper, and you may even get a smile. You have been warned!

Sat there for fifteen minutes. Nobody came to ask what I might like to eat or drink. I left.

a gr8 way 2 celebr8 the coming of the year of the dragon - nice & spicy ;-P xx

Possibly the best Chinese I've ever had - although if you don't like chilli, think twice! The steamed fish was absolutely delicious, and pretty good value too. Some of the staff were a little stern and without a sense of humour, but the food made up for it and I'll go again