This place isn't bad, and I have to say it's one of the best chinese restaurants I've been to in Europe. I will have to disagree with one of the other reviewers though, and say that given the very large population of Chinese people in California (so yes you can find far better Chinese restaurants in the US than in London---maybe not in New York, but try SF and LA---remember that all the white immigrants went through NY and all the asian immigrants went through SF), the Chinese restaurants in Cali are much more impressive. I could name at least 4 Sichuan restaurants off the top of my head that are FAR better than Bar Shu and 1/2 the price in the SF bay area. I admit that I am a bit of a foodie, and it can take a lot to impress me, particularly with Chinese food. My mother is from Sichuan, and the thing about Sichuan cuisine is that it's not JUST spicy----it's the taste you get with the freshness of your chili sauce, etc. The sauces they had at Bar Shu tasted like they came out of a pre-packaged bottle. No where near the strong flavours you get in authentic Sichuan chili sauces. Particularly, the Mouth-Watering chicken was a HUGE disappointment (way better in California). Things like Ma Po tofu, dan dan noodles, and ants climbing on trees---I could (and do regularly) cook just as well at home (these are EASY family dishes, not restaurant dishes), and I find it painful to dish out 10 pounds for it in a restaurant. With that said, if I were a working girl again, I would dish out the money to come back here. Chinese food in Europe is often extremely disappointing, and since I will be living here for a while, this is the closest I can get to an authentic Sichuan restaurant. But I will definitely be hitting the Sichuan restaurants in the bay area for Christmas holiday when I visit..... edit: in response to one of the other reviewers that said SF has no good Chinese restaurants---you need to leave the city of San Francisco and go out to where the middle class Chinese people live (not all the poor ones stuck in touristy SF Chinatown, which by the way is way less awesome than Oakland Chinatown). The city of SF does not have a large Chinese population (the SF BAY AREA does) so you're not going to find much there----it's still probably predominantly white (with the exception of the Mission, which maybe has a good number of Latin americans). And stop taking chinese restaurant recommendations from white people/bananas!!! No wonder you haven't found anything good! read more

I miss out the last 2 stars on this review because it's so damn pricy. pay day only!(I went after i got paid) and a minor problem with one dish. I'm a BIG fan of spicy chinese food, especially sichuan (I have yet to try hunan which my dad tells me is SUPER-hot, if anyone knows a good hunan place in London, please let me know :)) Bar Shu is definitely one of the better sichuan places I've been to and also, I want to compliment them on the standards not dropping. I've only been twice but visits were spaced apart by a year or so. Anyways, onto the actual review, I booked for 4 at 7pm for Thursdays and was told quite abruptly that we could only stay for one and half hours. No problem, it's london, it's a famous chinese place and they want a quick turnover. Standard for Chinese places in chinatown My friends and I are pretty assertive people so no sooner as we sat down, our orders were quickly taken, what we ordered: cloud ear fungus with coriander- (definitely a dish for the brave if you're not chinese) which was incredibly moreish as an appetiser, spicy and sour in the right doses and whereas it may look like a small dish for £7.90, THEY PACK ALOT INTO THE PLATE. :D Ants climbing tree: glass noodle dish which came out less spicier than i expected but it was very well flavoured. Sliced Pork with Silk Gourd: Our vegetable dish, instead of seasonal chinese veg, this was a welcome dish because it's not spicy at all, and it definitely cools the mouth down after VERY spicy dishes. It probably tastes better because it's so cooling. Water boiled Pork: WARNING eat with rice, it's numbingly spicy! That's the thing with sichuan, it numbs your tongue with chilli until you cry. If you're crying, it's a sign of a good sichuan dish. Fragrant chicken in pile of chillis: Or what it actually is, Bits of chicken bone/skin/fat in chillies, this was the fatal achilles heel of the meal, the dish was not worth the £18 they charge, the chicken was inedible, it was just bits of bone and chicken skin- tiny tiny bits that we had to treasure hunt in the pile of chillis. AVOID AVOID AVOID. opt for the gongbao chicken instead! Bears Paw beancurd in spicy sauce: Very nice, again quite spicy but i wish they used thicker slices of beancurd and spring onions on top would have totally MADE the dish. if you hear something wailing, that would be your wallet crying. Bill inc. service charge came up to £97. Sobsobsob Anyways, I read alot of reviews here complaining about the service but actually service was really good, except that might have been because we were chinese and we ordered in cantonese. (The waiters do both cantonese and mandarin) and the people who served up were really nice and i think under legal advice, they had to warn people about how spicy the dishes are. Our waiter warned us, but it's okay, that bit of malaysian chinese heritage in me can totally take the spice! I'm apprehensive about when i'll be back. it's too expensive to be a regular haunt, but I have regular cravings of sichuan (Biiig problem there!) but I've heard Laodifang does similar dishes for a bargain price so that is my next stop. read more

I was so disappointed with this place, I had to post a review to warn off fellow yelpers expecting more from this 4* review restaurant. The service was like a well-oiled machine. Get them in, seat them, smile, recommend dishes, deliver promptly, take payment. Not the most sincere but not to be faulted. HOWEVER All three of our dishes were well-flavoured but arrived luke-warm and were cold within 10-mins of hitting the table. Cold pigs' trotters: not my idea of a nice meal out. Upon mentioning this to the waitress, she giggled, shrugged it off and asked how we would like to pay. To add insult to injury she queried why the total I insisted on was different to that on the bill (they automatically include service), and indignantly keyed in my total+10% service - evidently pissed off I did not pay their full suggested service rate. With so many good restaurants in this area, you couldn't pay me to return here again. read more

After eating at Bar Shu for the first time back in....oh let's say Oct '08....I've been back 5 times within the next 2 months. It's a GEM in London, with strong flavors and drool-worthy dishes (is it still being refurbished or is it open again??) A few dishes that make the top of my list are: ma po tofu, dan dan noodles, green beans with chilli, "ants crawling up tree", water cooked pork, and ALL the cold starters. Come here for the tasty dishes and not the humble, hole in the wall atmosphere. Fancy pants decor and slightly obnoxious pricing make me skeptical about any Chinese restaurant, but hey...I'm one of those Asian-Americans who have been gastronomically spoiled by being born and bred in California! read more

Two visits to Bar Shu have been more than enough for me to pass judgement now, I think. It's... good. That's all I can really say about Bar Shu in all honesty. This trip, ants climbing a tree were, average, and so was the dan dan mian. The noodles, here, were poor - indistinguishable from the sharwoods packs you buy at Asda. A dish of kung pao prawns was better than average, with delicate spicing (I suspect it would have benefited from more of a mala kick), with plenty of jumbo-sized king prawns. But at nearly £20 for the dish, I'd expect nothing less. It's certainly one of the few places in London that does authentic Sichuanese food. It's massively expensive for what it is, however, and sadly, Red Chilli in Manchester really blows it out of the water both in terms of price and in terms of authenticity. Still, Manchester's a long way from London... read more

The food is amazing, but the service and price really weigh this place down. I have eaten here no less than 10 times, and love the food, but it is like crack and completely breaks the bank. The Dan Dan Mien and Shui Ju Niu are unforgettable. The Dan Dan mien has such a nice peanut flavour and the consistency of the broth is perfect for sticking to the noodles. The staff often mislead about how long you will wait to be seated, even with a booking. Also, you really can't keep ordering here, like most sichuan places. The staff drops off the food and is gone before you can even ask for some more water. read more

I had a craving for Sichuan food, so went to this place with some friends just based on online research. All in all, it hit the mark for me, especially as someone who genuinely enjoys spicy food and has had Sichuan food all over the world. We ordered the classic chicken with chilis, a type of fish soup, and a plate of string beans. All three dishes were solid, with my favorite being the string beans. The fish soup was very flavorful and pleasantly spicier than expected. The chicken was great as well, though I do admit that I've had better. A great place overall for Sichuan food after some sightseeing/shopping in the area. read more

Barshu has a bit more of an 'upscale' approach to it - that is the place is nicely laid out and appears a bit more formal. I say that as kind of a bad thing - I'm there for the food and could give two bits about the quality of the chair on which I am sitting. As someone said previously, this place is just 'pretty good' and when you have been going to 'very good' level places in N California or NYC, its a pretty poor showing. The dan dan noodles came with oddly dry and over cooked ground pork. The bok choi was excellent and super fresh so points for that but it was otherwise not real strong and I thought even the spice level was too light although I realize that dish is not particularly spicy. Then I had a sliced pork dish that was supposedly 'hot' but it was 'not'. Also the meat quality was a bit low and I just generally was not impressed with the overall dish. I was coveting a spicy chicken dish being brought to another diner until I read the other review that said it was actually inclusive of bone and very hard to get at. Where is a good Sichuan place in London?!?!? I've now tried just about every place that's been recommended and I feel my three stars are charitable. read more

Excellent spicy Sichuan food! We had the cloud ear mushrooms appetizer - very unusual and delicious. The other dishes were also very spicy and yummy. I would come back to this restaurant. They serve dishes that you do not find in other Chinese restaurants in London (or in other European cities). I am now on a mission to find unusually good Chinese restaurants in San Francisco, which I am living right now and which has a large Chinese population. Alas, after 2 years of living in SF, I am sad to say that I have not yet found a truly amazingly good Chinese restaurant -- nothing like this Bar Shu. So if anyone has a recommendation, please let me know. I want a restaurant that does not serve the same-old, same-old. read more

Good Sichuan restaurant in down-town London. Make sure you reserve up front, since they're often full. This is probably the most expensive Sichuan restaurant in the area; if you're looking for something less pricey, there is Ba Shan across the street. This place is a bit of a maze, but there is actually a lot more seating that you can see from the street - including upstairs and downstairs. read more

I was very pleasantly surprised to find authentic Sichuan in London's China town (mala!) I haven't had that steady sweat and happily numb tongue since I was in China :) We had the shredded chicken (bang bang jiding), a cold sesame flavored appetizer (not that hot) along with the stir fry potato strings, which has this amazing crispiness along with the spice. Mapo tofu is a must-have (with rice). We had the whole shrimps as well -- less dry than what I've had before but still quite good. Also the spicy noodles (tantanmien), good and smoky spice. Pretty good selection on their menu (I'd go back for the soup pots and kang pao chicken) and non-Chinese friendly with photos for most dishes! Do look out for their spice ratings (number of peppers) as the hot stuff is no joke. FYI for those familiar with South Beauty in China, Bar Shu's mask logo resembles the logo for the Chinese high end Sichuan chain South Beauty (it is one of the standard business trip meal in Shanghai), but I asked and they're not related. read more

Fancy the tasty Szechuanese of Baiwei but with a slightly less scruffy décor and better service? Cross over Shaftesbury and meander into Barshu. Barshu amuses me because the prices are the same as at their sister, Baiwei (and Ba Shan, cattycorner from Barshu and part of the same family) but the setting is cleaner, the staff have some concept of service standards, and the noise level is much more reasonable. We ended up ordering man and wife offal, pickled vegetables, red braised pork, and gong bao prawns. The offal was good, nicely tender, though the spicing was a touch tame. The pickled vegetables were nice, though a touch overpriced. The pork was succulent, served with steamed baby bok choi, and not overly sweet. The prawns were a touch on the sweeter side and the portion was ample, but £19 for gong bao is sort of ridiculous. Two appetisers, two mains, a pot of tea, still water, and one portion of rice came to £66. The value for the money isn't quite there, but the food is solid and closer to authentic than not, and you feel better paying that much here than at Baiwei. Also, unlike Baiwei, this place takes card. Chip and pin only. read more

I've had the pleasure this week of having two wonderful Chinese meals, one slightly better than the other. I'll start with the better of the two. This week was one where coincidentally, I had plans to eat at two Szechuanese restaurants. BaShan and BarShu. Both are incidentally across the street from each other, and both are authentic. However, I would have to admit that Barshu is finer cuisine and ultimately a better experience. We came as part of a work party of 6 to BarShu on a weekday for lunch. It was quiet and thus service was very attentive. Having had BaShan the night before, I had no qualms having spicy food again (I love it), and had heard so much about BarShu prior to going. Lots was ordered, and everything from MaPo tofu to other starter plate type dishes to non-spicy tofu with pork. For starters, everything came piping hot and definitely is the way Chinese people love being served. No point having cold plates and serving food that gets cold quickly. The other thing you notice here is that everything has a sauce. Mostly spicy, some not. The food can be greasy, but it's with chilli oil, so I'm fine with that. We had quite the spread of everything from Morning Glory vegetables to Spicy Mapo Tofu and I think my favorite of the lot was this pork dish that had both the szechuanese peppers and white cabbage. Compared with BaShan, this place is slightly more refined, and less doused in dried chillis, making the food a little more palatable and accessible to a foreign diner. Additionally, BarShu doesn't seem to use MSG (or at least had a lot less of it than BaShan) so for the mildly allergic like me, this felt definitely less bloating and leaves me feeling a little less breathless in a bad way. 4* and definitely will come back if looking for Szechuanese food. read more

Not Cantonese and mainly using dry spices. In general spicy food. If you into spicy food would recommend it highly but very unlike the typical Chinese flavor profile so even if your not into Chinese food worth a try if your into spicy. read more

Barshu - Chili chicken enjoyed it very much. - Szechuan Near Me - London, XGL

This was my second time visiting this place about one year apart. I love Sichuan food and this place is great. I had Ants in the nest and the dry sauté beef. Both were full of chilis and Sichuan peppercorn. I love spice and it made me sweat and my mouth numb but it was great. Wait staff was very nice and attentive and appreciated my lame attempts to thank them in Chinese when they brought me stuff. I plan to bring my whole team here next year when we are back, assuming they are up for the spice read more

Taste good but little bit expensive. Jiaoyan Frog leg is a delicious dish and cost less. read more

Barshu - Dan Dan noodle, Koushui Chicken, and Sour & Hot soup. - Szechuan Near Me - London, XGL

There are places that I choose to eat at because I am simply just seeking great food. Barshu just became my new favorite place in that category. If you keep your expectations at just that, then this place will blow you away. Probably the best Sichuan food I've ever had! You are definitely not going to get a dining "experience" at Barshu. The service was pretty standard; not very personable, but speedy and efficient. We also got great recommendations from the server. We went on a busy Saturday night. The ambiance was not very energetic, but quite comfortable. The food was definitely the star of the show. Everything down to the Ginseng tea was spectacular. The Gong Bao prawns and Dry-fried green beans were out of this world! We also tried the Beef with chilies, chicken and peanuts, cold pork roll appetiser and the dumplings...nothing disappointed. Looking forward to going back for some of the dry wok dishes that feature some more adventurous meats. The prices are moderate. I would plan on £25+ a head without drinks. Portions are quite generous, but the drinks are a bit overpriced. A good Sichuan meal is expected to be spicy. The spicier the better for me. My lips were still burning when I woke up the next morning. Can't wait to go back! read more

I reached a new level of bliss last night. Getting my ass kicked by fiery chili peppers and then numbed by innocuous looking peppercorn is probably not most people's idea of fun, but for me, it was just what my sniffling nose and watering eyes were looking for. To give a little context, I've been having serious Chinese food cravings (and ramen, but that might be turning into a torrid affair) since I moved here, and upon hearing that Bar Shu had quality Sichuan food, I quickly booked a table for 7:30 that night. The restaurant is pretty spacious (with slightly traditional Chinese wooden chairs) and was quite full when we got there. We flipped through the menu, which has pictures to help distinguish between all the various pork and poultry dishes, and ordered: Northern Sichuan pea jelly- in black bean and chili oil sauce which was a bit too salty Smacked cucumbers- doesn't sound like a very nice thing to do to cucumbers. Was very scrumptious with its peanut sauce Soybeans- probably the least exciting thing on the menu, just edamame beans and fungus Gong bao chicken- this had a sweeter, gravy like sauce that I've not really seen in Gong bao chicken dishes but I really enjoyed it Fragrant chicken in a pile of chillies- it was good but I only wish the chicken pieces were bigger as it really is digging through a chili minefield only to find a tiny morsel Sweet potato noodles in hot and sour sauce- loved this! Dan dan noodles- not sure I like the pork shavings instead of minced pork, but it was a decent dish Dumplings- pretty good, comes in a serving size of 6 For the 5 of us, the bill came out to 150 which included 2 rounds of beer. Wasn't too bad at all, but a bit more expensive than my typical Sichuan feasts. Make sure you keep a full glass of water next to you before you start eating as you will need it. read more

A friend and I walked in early on a Thursday evening and were told we could eat but they needed the table back in 1.5 hours which was fine. The food was good. We had the crab with sizzling veg, green beans with pork and some dumplings. The food was comparable to Chinese I have had elsewhere. The crab was perfectly cooked although quite small. I really enjoyed the searing heat of the Sichuan peppercorns. The green beans were also quite tasty- stir fried with a bit of pork - but this was on par with other places I have been to and could easily be replicated at home. I wouldn't say it was over the top amazing considering the cost but it's very solid Chinese cooking for London. A meal for two with wine came to £82. However the wine was excellent and the service was good. Much better than what you'd expect from a Chinese restaurant! read more

I was really pleased with the authenticity and delightful Sichuan flavors in which Bar Shu provided when we rolled in last night around midnight. The decor inside the establishment was very soothing and only added to the successful experience in which we were provided. For the food we ordered three basic yet essential dishes which all were quite well prepared. Spare Ribs, Pork Dumplings, and Peanut Satay Chicken. With obvious large number of Chinese restaurants located within Chinatown in Soho, I really appreciated the authentic food and atmosphere of Bar Shu. read more

I can categorise my friends in many ways....whether they are foodies or not, ravers or rockers, festival goers or arena dwellers, but one of the most important categorisations is whether they like spicy food or not. I work this out by taking them to Barshu....it really sorts out the fakers from the fire eaters! This place really is the best Sichuan I have ever experienced. From the winning starters - numbing and hot dried beef and Sichuan pickled vegetables through to the real heroes such as the fragrant chicken in a pile of chillies (very spicy) and the lamb ribs with lashings of chilli this place really is majestic. This is just a few of my favs - there are loads of great dishes to choose from. The service is normally pretty swift but quite impersonal, you often need to book and the prices are relatively high but I think its worth it given the quality of the food and the experience. The atmosphere is normally buzzy and watching your friends faces as they go from 'its not that hot'.. to asking for water, ice, and napkins really adds to the experience!! For me, this place is a winner!...even though not all of your friends will want to go back!!!.. read more

They're so nice here now! The service has greatly improved and the food is delicious! I came by myself this time and had a mini feast composed of all kinds of little Sichuan appetizers. Bean curd skin with scallion oil (still awesome), boiled dumplings, mushrooms with chili, and my new fave: Yunnan chicken salad with basil and chili. The table next to me ordered a bean thread noodle dish ("ants climbing a tree") and it looked enviable. Definitely trying that next time. read more

This place is pretty good, but alas, compared to the sichuan restaurants I've eaten at in Chicago, New York, and even Atlanta, I'd have to say this is just OK. In their defense, I only had 2 dishes -- the spicy chicken and the dan dan noodles. That + a hot tea cost 30 quid (including tip). Fairly stiff pricing. The dan dan noodles isn't really very special. It tastes good, but ... The spicy chicken is different than what I've had before. Usually, it's been pieces of breast or thigh sauteed with the red chillies. This one was much smaller pieces of chicken (including with bone) crispy fried. Really delicious, but a little bit difficult to pick up. Also, hard to pick up the sichuan peppers and experience all the flavors of the dish. You have to work at it. But absolutely the right amount of spice (a lot!). I probably wouldn't go back, simply because of the cost to value ratio. You might try it once. read more

Serious Szechuan, but lots of pork. Make sure you ask for dishes *without* pork/meat if you're vegetarian. Once that's done, it's fantastic -- szechuan peppercorns galore! If you're craving that weird mouth-tingly feeling, come here. read more

Barshu - "Old-woman" tofu (you have to specifically ask for it sans pork). - Szechuan Near Me - London, XGL

Great food coupled with great service. My first visit was great and looking forward to many more. The pork dumplings in chilli oil and the Dan Dan Noodles were standouts. read more

We absolutely love Barshu and have been coming here for 7 years. We always order the fish-fragrant aubergine, which is utterly fabulous (and doesn't taste of fish, by the way, if that's a concern of yours). We also often order the fried string beans, which are lovely, and a variety of other seafood and vegetable dishes. Service is fast and polite. Be sure to make a reservation for dinner; might be able to swing a table for lunch without one. read more

Probably my favourite Chinese restaurant in the whole of the UK, and the only place I've been to where the food tastes so authentic you could actually be paying 50p a head. Of course, you're not, you're in Soho and you're paying more like 20 quid a head, but the illusion is nice until you get the bill. Having said that, if you factor in that I paid 700 quid to fly to Chengdu to eat this stuff, it's relatively good value. The weird taste sensation (ma) you get from the pepper corns has to be experienced. It's almost like going to the dentists and having your gums injected, in the best possible sense of that experience! I'm a massive fan of potatoes in Chinese cooking too, which is something you seem to get in Sichuanese stew-style dishes. They really soak up the complex array of flavours... and well, I'm salivating just thinking about it. I must get some breakfast... read more

Let me start with a story. Last September I was lucky enough to be able to take an independent holiday in China (meaning we weren't with a tour). Everyone told us we would struggle doing it independently if we didn't speak the language and we laughed in their face when we got to Beijing and everything was in English or at least in pinyin (Chinese words in English letters). Then, we took a trip down to Xi'an... It's not that Xi'an didn't have it's fair share of restaurants with menus with pictures or pinyin (they even had a pizza hut!). It's just that we found ourselves on a budget and ended up in many a restaurant where we were only presented with lists of Chinese dishes and no way of deciphering them. One night we found ourselves in such a restaurant but were lucky enough to be sat opposite a young Chinese couple who saw what we were pointing at, had a good laugh to themselves and immediately intervened. They basically ordered our dinner for us but what came was the strangest, weirdest but tastiest eating experience of our trip. You can imagine then, my excitement at stumbling upon Bar Shu one evening in Soho with my partner, only to find the same strange dishes we had on that fateful night in Xi'an. And let me say, that they were as good as I had remembered. In one mouthful I was transported back to that fragrant, humid main street where I had first tasted a Szechuan pepper so integral to the cooking of this region. I was even lucky enough to get a taste of something we had fallen for whilst in China: the humble Pea Jelly in sauce. Actually when we had it was agar agar we thought, But I recommend it highly, along with the Gong bao chicken and anything with peanuts or cucumber All in all, I would go back to this restaurant and would highly recommend. Only lost a start because of the price - you could get 4 meals for this price back in Xi'an... read more

The flavors are familiar, and generally authentic. But the mapo tofu has no hua jiao (Sichuan peppercorn), leaving your mouth craving something more. Even the chili chocolate sorbet I ate afterward had more of a kick. read more

As an American, the food here was so different from any Sichuan food I've ever had that it's hard to know how to rate this place. The hot and sour soup and dumplings were familiar, but that was it. It tried some items I hadn't seen before; some I liked, others I didn't. read more

Tucked on the corner of Frith Street we were tempted in by looking at the plate of food the restaurant's solo diner was eating. The nice thing about this was that you got very mouthwatering looking photographs of the food in the menu which completely lived up to how the dishes tasted. You'll be able to have a few sad laughs at the weirder translations - "whacked cucumber", "strange flavoured dish", "numbing flavours" - but the food was yummy and in many cases as hot as the dishes look and the previous reviewer has mentioned. read more

Bar Shu is a very interest restaurant in Soho. Being outside the normal Chinatown catchement you wouldn't quite expect to find a good restaurant here, especially as at night this area is a bit seedy (be warned, my female Chinese friend got accosted when she went out to make a phone-call). The food is styled from the Sichuan region and as such many of the dishes are very hot and spicy. The restaurant's signiture dish is a fish in chilli oil dish. Very spicy without much else which was a disapointment. Helpful hint however, the restaurant will let you take the chilli's home with you in a box, perfect to flavor dishes for weeks to come :) Other dishes are above-average to excellent and as such I am always happy to come to this place. There is a lot of space inside, including some private rooms but I've found on Fridays it is very full and you might want to book, (There's no where to sit inside waiting to be seated). Prices are moderate to high, I think the £20 estimate another reviewer mentioned is probably on the low-side but is possible if you stick to Green Tea and don't take the very large dishes such as the fish above. I've been to China for a number of months before and sadly I've yet to find a Restaurant that really matches the food I had in the different provinces. However Bar Shu really does make a good attempt at it and I'd honestly recommend you try it at least once, (remember to order some tap water!) :) read more

Superb Sichuan restaurant. I've tried a few now and Shu was far and away the best. Not the cheapest, mind. We tried Ants Climbing Trees (a dish I saw everywhere I went in China but failed to order) and were very pleased we did. Bean curd noodles with ground pork in a spicy sauce. Really good. Even better was the sliced beef in ridiculously hot sauce so many chillies! Lovely stuff. Two dishes, rice, two beers and service cam to just under £40. read more

This is an oasis of non Cantonese fare just north of Chinatown producing very good Sichuan cuisine. My interest in the place was encouraged by the involvement as a consultant of the British food writer Fuchsia Dunlop as I had read her delightful book on Sichuan cooking. The first Westerner to train at the famed Sichuan cookery school in Chengdu, this lady knows her onions )and chillis) All the starters on offer are cold, although smaller starter-sized portions of street foods including Dan-Dan noodles and dumplings in chilli oil are to be found at the back of the menu. I recommend the Numbing-tongue Dried Beef with Sichuan Peppercorns to get your taste buds ready for what may follow - if you have been to Sichuan please note the food here is a toned down unless you request it Sichuan hot. Over the last 18 months I have eaten most tings on the menu and recommend you try everything be it the well known Kung Po Chicken or Prawns to tripe or the amazing hot pot. Many dishes are not for the faint hearted. The wine list is very poor and not thought through even though I understand it is difficult to choose wines that compliment this type of cuisine. I would like to see some Pino Grigio from North East Italy as well as some good Alsace. read more

Went here a few months back, and was surprisingly treated to a good meal of Szechuan food. You'll start off noticing the Ming Dynasty-style furniture in this pretty large place, but you'll forget about that once you start eating the hot, spicy, and delicious food. I loved the Szechuan hotpot and Numbing and Hot Dried Beef - as they've translated it. But the party I went with all said the side dishes they ordered were good too. Price-wise, you could go as low as 5 pounds for a bowl of noodles, but for a whole meal, you would probably reach about 15 pounds per person for a good meal. read more

The best way is capture the service at Bar Shu is with two stories. Five of our party of 12 arrived at 7:15 for a 7:30 reservation and were told, "your table is not ready, come back in 15 minutes, you can't stand here." It was 28 degrees F out and the entry area was empty. After the 12 of us ate and drank -- a mediocre meal that ranged from a couple of lovely dishes to several almost inedible and having spent over 300 L -- a waiter came to our table and simply said, "you're time is up. the next party is here." Several of our party are journalists, foodies and world travelers -- lovely people. And will be writing reviews based on this. I'm told we received a "typical china town experience -- they know they'll never see you again." I suppose they won't. But they might have. read more

Very expensive Chinese food for what they actually can offer. Food, not good. We ordered the boiling fish and lamb chops , fish has no flavor, lamb is super dry. Only thing I liked is the stir fried asparagus. This is the only Chinese food we had in London so far. We picked an expensive one hoping for the best. Nah, not really. Avoid! read more

This my go to place in London. You have to order the spicy lobster. It's spicy, but the tastiest lobster I have ever had. Service is ok, but what do you expect for a Chinese restaurant. You don't go here for service, you go for the food! A definitely must try if you like spicy. read more

The price we have paid for one chicken with chilli dish around £18 which can only see the red dry chinese chillies, a lot of it! There were hardly any chicken in the dish!(The size of the chicken pieces were smaller than peanuts) And the waittress says it how is made. The wait staff weren't rude but they weren't friendly as it should be. The portions of majority their dishes are relatively small as well. So if you love food and eat a lot, this is not the place for you. Me and my friend, two of us only had 3 simple dishes with plain rice costed around £57. More importantly, we weren't even full from the meal. The place is nicely decorated, of course the customers paid the price for having a meal at such place. It's an interesting place to take your non-Chinese friends for a meal and "showing off". However, from my experiences, this place is NOT recommended for the food or the service. read more

I wanted to try this restaurant when I was in London as I love spicy food. We ordered... 1. Dan dan mien - the flavour of the sauce was good but the noodles were overcooked & the bok choy or whatever veggie that came with it was raw. I had to spit it out. 2. Boiled crescent dumplings in chili-oil sauce - this dish was not good. The meat just tasted foul. Traditional dumplings are supposed to be made with pork. The meat in these dumplings did not taste or look like pork. 3. Red-braised beef with beancurd stick - My brother said the beef reminded him of the way our mom cooked beef stew. 4. Bear's paw beancurd in a spicy sauce - this dish was good. It came with sliced chicken even though this item was listed in the vegetable section of the menu. 5. Boiled sea bass with sizzling chili oil - the flavor was spot on. My complaints of this dish...usually I've seen restaurants serve this with just filets of fish & not the entire fish with the head (our bowl had 3 halves of heads), bones & skin. Overall the food was good but I felt like it could've been a lot better. read more