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Gastronomic adventurers prick up your ears: ‘fragrant and spicy pig tail with shank’, ‘hot and numbing boiled fish’, ‘strange-flavour rabbit’. These are just three of many delights found at this yearling restaurant devoted to western Chinese cuisine. The premises, once the Victoria pub, are split into an attractive dining room at the front, bar to the side and a more functional eating area to the rear (with striking Cultural Revolution posters). The basement houses an art gallery. Staff are sweet, yet ill-versed in English. This, coupled with the esoteric menu, can lead to problems. Dishes tend to be oily and fiercely hot – and the menu’s chilli-rating system isn’t accurate. Boiled rice is an essential antidote, yet ours was overcooked and arrived late. Everything else was a treat: ‘fire-exploded kidney flowers’ (rubbery offal matched with resilient cloud-ear fungus); ‘drifting fragrant king prawns’ (dry-fried with copious peanuts, chillies and numbing Sichuan peppercorns); ‘white braised pork in hot and garlicky sauce’ (bacon-like strips in an intensely savoury sauce); and, above all, ‘fish-fragrant fried aubergine’ (the trademark Sichuan dish, perfectly prepared giving smoky, sweet and vinegary flavours and a luscious oily texture). We’ll be back.
Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009
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I went to Snazz Sichuan on my birthday last week and had the most amazing experience. We've been there several times before and each time has been fun but this was extraordinary! The food was absolutely delectable, the service was fantastic and because it was my birthday, I even got a very special complimentary drink! The very knowledgeable headwaiter advised us on the dishes while giving us a brief background on the various eating customs prevalent in China. We followed his advice and thorougly enjoyed the food. My favourites were the king prawns on a bed of vegetables, the fish-fragrant aubergines, the cold beef jerky with sesame seeds and the pork in a hot and numbing sauce. The food is spicy, no doubt and not for the faint-hearted, but you are made aware of it on the menu with their 'chilli-grading' scale. All 18 of us will now go back again with our friends!!!
I went to Snazz Sichuan for Chinese New Year this year and I had a great time! I lived in China for 3 year and I have been looking for an 'authentic' Chinese restaurant in London for a very long time, until I found Snazz. We had the Hotpot and everything was as in China: the preparation beforehand (an electric hot plate is put on your table), the waiter who didn't know how to work it out, and then the fragrant and spicy food. The meat was not great, but again, that was often the case in China as well! The staff is extremely friendly and we had a great time.
Highly recommended if you are looking for real Chinese food (not really the case in Chinatown).
Sichuan food is a lot about chilli oil oil oil. So when you come out from the meal, you might feel bit overwhelmed by the amount of red stuff you see on the table (and the thought of them in your stomach). Rice is always too overcooked and the hotpot menu is overpriced. Expect to pay about £90 for a meal of 3 if you are having the hotpot. I would suggest simply ordering the main dishes to go with rice because the hotpot isn't worth it. Staff are friendly.