Restaurants

Dramatic Chinese opera masks, big lanterns and ornate wooden screens help create excitement in this corner restaurant in the bustling heart of Soho. So too does the menu. Bar Shu is one of the few London restaurants dedicated to Sichuanese food: a cuisine characterised by fiery chilli and numbing sichuan pepper. The menu provides clear descriptions and photographs of most dishes, but (thankfully) all our food looked better than portrayed. We began with a cold dish of cucumber, wood-ear fungus, bean-jelly ribbon (like a chewy noodle) and beancurd skin. This came with spicy pork, which the waitress told us about when we ordered, and a delicious sauce of chinkiang vinegar, soy sauce and sugar to toss through the salad. Hot and sour soup was thick but more peppery than sour, while fiery dan dan noodles were delightfully tangy. Next, chengdu dry-braised sea bass combined meltingly tender fish with a complex spicy sauce. Flavoursome gong bao chicken had crunch provided by peanuts and thick, dried sichuan chillies.There was a great choice of Chinese greens, and service was extremely helpful. Bar Shu isnt for the faint-hearted, but its a joy to taste such wonderfully authentic flavours.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008