Before venturing to Qi – House of Sichuan, you’ll want to read this first. There will be things that draw you to the restaurant: a Michelin star, an easy reservation system (a simple email), and their Wan Chai location that’s close to other night life.
You may even be drawn by their website’s description:
The authentic Sichuan
dishes here reflect the “seven flavours of Sichuan” – spicy, aromatic, sweet,
bitter, sour, peppery, and salty. Not for the faint-hearted, be prepared to
experience a wide spectrum of spiciness as the house serves up explosive
flavours from the Sichuan canon.
Just heed their warning – the menu is not for the
faint-hearted. Unless you have a high tolerance for spice, dishes from the Sichuan
region really differs from the sweet, sour, and salty preparations of other
Chinese regions. Even if you’ve been to a Sichuan restaurant outside of China,
you may not be prepared. I was no match for Qi.
Learn from my mistake. Here are three words of advice:
1. Skip the hot and sour soup
While the hot and sour soup ($60 a bowl) was tasty,
incorporating plenty of thinly julienned ingredients so that each bite was a
mix of flavours and textures, the soup was so hot (in terms of spice and
temperature) that your tongue will be scorched by the time you’re even a third
of the way through. Good luck handling anything else.
A better starter is the mouthwatering chicken ($85). One of
Qi’s signature dishes, the slightly chilled boneless white meat is tender and
flavourful all on its own. Plenty of warm chili paste is placed over top, but
you can add as little or as much as you like to ensure it’s not overwhelming.
Aside from spice there’s a bit of mala heat that has a numb inducing quality –
semi-protecting rather than scorching the tongue.
Or you could just go straight to the mains and nibble on the
forced upon snack plate ($30) while waiting – a non-spicy sesame oil laced
winter melon, lightly spiced cucumber, and lotus root tossed with a mala sauce.
2. Balance out the meal with non-spicy dishes
A good ratio to aim for is about 50/50. Thinking the sugar
glazed ginger and scallion beef ($160) would be a dish with respite, in the
dark dining room we didn’t notice the chili beside the name on the menu.
Indeed, with the first bite you’re greeted with a crispy crust and aromatic
syrupy sauce… but then the chili dust mixed into the batter erupts into the
mouth. Nonetheless, it’s mellower than all the other dishes we tried, except
for the mouthwatering chicken where the diner controls the spice level.
Even the vegetarian eggplant ($115) was too much. It’s a
shame there wasn’t a plain eggplant dish as the vegetable was done perfectly –
cut into thicker sticks and cooked until creamy. But then the sauce was so
thick that it’s hard to get away from the chili. Unfortunately, for vegetables,
there’s only one choice for something without heat – a plain seasonal vegetable
($90) with or without garlic.
Surprisingly, the dish I could handle better was the spicy
prawns ($240) – a dish that actually has ‘spicy’ in the title! While it looks
scary and filled with red tongue torturers, the chilies are left in large
pieces so you can easily avoid them. While the deep fried prawns are stir-fried
with chili oil, each are fairly large in size, so the seafood to batter ratio
makes the heat more balanced.
3. Arm yourself with plenty of water and a
cold milk tea
The restaurant is smart to include a bottle of water at
every table. In the heat of the moment, you’ll find yourself reaching for it
($70) – although I did see some tables ask them to switch the bottles for a
regular pitcher.
Yet, it was the cold milk tea ($45) that offered the most
respite. The sweet cooling dairy temporarily quenching the flames. It was the
only thing that allowed me to try everything twice, although my husband and I
eventually had to tap out and leave most dishes half done.
If all else fails, you can always ask them to tone down the
spice – as I overheard from the neighbouring table when they ordered the chili
crab. It may feel like you’re wimping out, but at least you’ll be able to
finish the meal.
For a Michelin starred restaurant the service could have
been better. Being under staffed, it was difficult to flag someone down to
order the milk tea and the paying process was painfully long. Still, while we
left the dinner defeated and tongues a flamed, I’ll still give Qi a decent mark
since it lived up to what was promised and the food was done well. Just listen
to my advice and perhaps you’ll leave victorious.
How To Find Them
Location: Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Address: 60 Johnston Rd (J Senses, 2nd floor)
Address: 60 Johnston Rd (J Senses, 2nd floor)
Website: http://qi-sichuan.hk/
Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
