Yipin China

The Sichuanese fad that hit London a few years ago opened the way for other regional styles, such as the heartier, bolder food of Hunan. Hunan dishes can now be found on the menu at Ba Shan in Soho, but also at this excellent new outpost in Islington.

Both Hunan and Sichuan rely on a serious amount of chilli to make their culinary points - though many in China would insist that Hunan produces the most unforgivingly spiky dishes. But where the food of the western province of Sichuan is a delicate duet between ma (numbing) and la (hot) spices, the earthier food of Chairman Mao's native Hunan is characterised by its unrepentant sour and fiery salted chillies.

Those who balk in the face of chilli heat can find comfort in Hunan's delicious smoked meats and fish, or in the Chairman's beloved red-braised pork, one of a variety of stews fragrant with spices that also typify the south-central province's cuisine.

Yipin China's chef Geng, a native of Hunan, makes no concessions for Western tastes, boldly opening the Hunan section of the well-illustrated menu with dry-wok-cooked duck's tongues, and continuing with all manner of fowl feet and innards. Offerings from Sichuan are similarly authentic. Chilli- and offal-averse diners would do better to stick to the clearly labelled Cantonese section, which features subtler, sweeter, seafood-heavy dishes.

Whet your appetite with some classic starters. Spiced fungus offers a whirl of activity in the mouth: chilled, springy wood ear fungus is dotted with potent red chillies and sharp raw minced garlic. Sichuan-style 'man and wife offal slices' are a textural symphony of chewy ribbons of beef tripe, firmer slices of tongue and softer pieces of tendon, served floating in aromatic chilli oil.

A perfectly prepared stir-fried dish of hand-torn cabbage with chilli and vinegar is a great example of Hunan's hearty peasant fare: the ubiquitous winter vegetable shines through dots of chilli, and the slices of pork belly offer the perfect sweet balance to the sour vinegar. It's also a contrast to the other dishes in a moderately, but pleasantly, salty meal. Judging by the sour sliced sea bass in pickled mustard soup, the Sichuan-style dishes are also excellent.

Yipin's clean pink-and-white dining room won't win any design awards, but the servers are charming and knowledgeable, and the food is a bright addition to London's Chinese repertoire. It's so convincingly authentic that it could easily pass muster in China.