We were looking for an early dinner after spending the day walking around the city center and knew we wanted some kind of Asian because our townhouse is near to Manchester's Chinatown. This spot had decent reviews and it was open for an early dinner so we stopped in. It was absolutely delicious and definitely hit the spot for what we were hoping to get. We split everything between 4 of us so we shared the short ribs, the shredded beef in spicy sauce, egg-fried rice, and then the pork dumplings, shrimp dumplings and red bean buns. The ribs and beef were delicious - a really tasty sweet and spicy sauce. The dumplings were great and served steaming hot. All of us were pleasantly full after the meal and it was all cooked hot and fresh. The staff were all super friendly and helpful. It's comfortable and cozy and a great spot to great delicious Chinese if you're ever in the mood - and it looks like they do a lot of take out as well as have tables to sit down and dine in. read more

Red Chilli - Egg fried rice, short ribs, shredded beef - Chinese Near Me - Manchester, XGM

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I brought a couple of American students who were studying abroad in the UK for a week. These students live in NE Ohio/Western Pennsylvania and are therefore unaccustomed to eating authentic Asian food. Holy crap, was this place good, and my sheltered students agreed: Red Chilli's food is better than anything available at where we live in the States! I ordered the Gong Bao Chicken (Kung Pao, for those Yankees who often get Panda Express) and...wow. Not only was everything super fresh but there were flavors/seasonings in the dish that I had never experienced before. I would certainly come back here again if I return to the area. The negatives, however nit-picky: The entrees don't come with rice (though, that could be my American fatness talking). The side of fried rice we did order was pricey and good, not great. Also, for those who are used to a Chinese restaurant menu in America, you might find Red Chilli's menu to be a little limiting, as there's no General Tso's Chicken or something similar. read more

Great night out here with the Yelp crew. Definitely the best Chinese I have had in Manchester (save Tai Pan for dim sum) and good value for the generous portions. We tried I think nearly all Szechuan dishes. I had salt & pepper soft shell crab which was salty but not in a bad way, and beautifully spiced and fried. My favourite dish of the evening, however, was the eel which I was reluctant to bring near my mouth initially but I am so glad I listened to Mike and did because it was fantastic - a strong but not too rich or very fishy flavour and some delicious oily sauce that did great a great job interacting with my last bits of rice. Everything was so good though, the tofu with minced beef was a big favourite (I think the secret is the seasoning which I believe was Sichuan peppercorns), the Schuan noodle soup was an enormous vat of comfort food, gong bao chicken was sweet peanutty comfort food and the pork belly was beautifully cooked (and a massive portion). Only thing to note is that the crispy rice is not that great as an accompaniment, crisping it means it's not very substantial. I would definitely recommend and look forward to going back here to try the fried chicken with chilli. read more

Red Chilli - Softshell crab - Chinese Near Me - Manchester, XGM

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In my final year of uni I moved back into halls and was put in a flat including two rather quiet Chinese girls. In an attempt to socialise with them, myself and my other flatmates decided to organise a flat meal. We were going to go for an Indian, but they didn't do Indian... or anything but Chinese, so we just asked them to take us to their favourite place to eat. We ended up at Red Chilli, which is just on the edge of Chinatown and a 5 minute walk from Piccadilly. This branch seems a lot more authentic than the more sophisticated looking restaurant with the same name on the Oxford Road. I'm not a huge fan of Chinese food. It sometimes gives me migraines due to the high level of MSG. However, the food at Red Chilli was spot on. It wasn't too oily like I found a lot of the food in China to be. I don't really know what I had. The Chinese girls ordered loads of veggie dishes (I am veggie, and the others had been put off Chinese meat by the Chinese housemates who boiled chicken feet 24/7) which were put on one of those cool spinny tables that we could rotate, so that we could try a bit of everything. The meal cost £5 each including green tea, which is a hell of a lot cheaper than the prices on the menu. Word of advice - if you know a Chinese person who can speak Chinese then get them to come along with you and do a deal with them! Just make sure they don't order you the pig intestines, unless you're into that kind of thing! read more

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While the food was really good it didn't blow me away but it didn't cost an arm and a leg either. The staff were amazing and the service was spot on. The set menus are really cute called things like "first date" and "true love". I would have given 4 stars but the menu has quite a lot of nice dishes that are marked "not available on portland street" so I assume there is another resteraunt. This was disappointing and made the menu a bit confusing. Seeing as this place is located right on China town I'd expect all dishes on the menu to be available. Overall I'd recommend it. Worth a visit as the food tasted gorgeous. read more

Red Chilli - Chinese Near Me - Manchester, XGM

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I took my parents along here when they came to visit me as they love Chinese food - what I forgot however was that my mum really only likes curry. After some pleading with her to expand her horizons we got some really fantastic food to share between us all. We opted for the chilli mutton, peanut and chilli chicken and Cantonese style chicken along with rice, noodles and wantons. What we weren't prepared for was the amount of food, my housemates loved this as I brought home enough food to feed them twice over! All in seriously delicious, super quick and attentive service. If I'm back I'll definitely be splitting a main course! read more

Red Chilli - Chilli mutton - Chinese Near Me - Manchester, XGM

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Ordered as a takeaway from deliveroo and was a little disappointed! The Edamame was good, the Plain Chips were alright, the Salt and Pepper Chips were a little underwhelming and frankly quite a small portion. The same goes for the Vegetarian "Lamb" Skewers, but was saved by the yummy Black Pepper sauce. The Vegetable Chow Mein was alright, if not a little under-seasoned. The worst, however, was definitely the Salt and Pepper Vegetarian "Chicken". I think it was meant to be a sort of Seitan chicken-alternative but it was so horribly undercooked that it was like eating raw dough. A little disappointed but I'd be willing to try it again given the fact it was a takeaway late in the evening. read more

Red Chilli - Salt and Pepper Vegetarian "Chicken" - Chinese Near Me - Manchester, XGM

I love this Chinese and its located really centrally so its handy if your going for a bite to eat before venturing out on the town. Red Chillis mission is to enchance your experience in Chinese food, looking after your pocket, stomach and soul and it certainly does this! All of the staff have been trained in 5* hotels and cook up the most amazing Chinese dishes. The interior is very contemporary yet the restaurant still has a traditional feel to it. I would recommend you book in advance as this place packs out at the weekend. Definitely Worth every penny and a real treat any day of the week :) read more

Red Chilli - Chinese Near Me - Manchester, XGM

Upon revisiting this establishment after several months I find the situation as before: Good, often great authentic Chinese food coupled with alternately indifferent and incompetent service. The faces of the waitresses betray not a single emotion when they're dealing with the guests (observe the difference when they're talking to each other!), and they couldn't care less if you liked your food of not. Obviously, Chinese establishments *never* read online reviews or just don't give a crap. Still, the great food always triumphs over the poor service. read more

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If you're looking for authentic Chinese cuisine, this is the place. The menu is extensive and detailed. The wait staff is attentive but not over bearing. I had chicken with peanuts and red chilis and my friend had pork and prawn dumplings. Both were absolutely delicious!!! They also have a decent wine list and everything is very well priced for the quality! read more

Red Chilli - Chicken with peanuts and red chilis over steamed rice - Chinese Near Me - Manchester, XGM

Definitely a place to go for Chinese food as they have the chinese restaurant atmosphere and a blazing hot cuisine. I love the food there especially the crispy aromatic duck. Until last year they had the Halal sign there so sometimes I went with my Muslim friends there for a bit. What I've experience is that if you are speaking Chinese, you tend to get better treatment. However there was once when we went for the set deal and I asked whether they had pork in their mixed soup, they said no but it does have meat in it. My Muslim friend ordered that but when it arrived, i noticed that it has luncheon in it which was pork. I called the staff to enquire about it but she was very persistent in defending herself saying that she did say there was meat in it. I told her I specifically asked her if there was pork in it since the menu did not specify what was in a soup. In the end, she gave in. Took it back and gave us a 'new' one which didn't took long. I assume she might had just removed the luncheon from it and gave us back the same bowl. My friend decided to take away his portion of noodles as he couldn't finish it. While the staff were packing it, we heard a loud bang in the kitchen, presuming one of the staff dropped something. My friend jokingly said I hope that wasn't mine. It turned out that it was and his noodles came packed with 1/2 of what was suppose to be there. Service wise, not so friendly except maybe when you pay as they can earn tips there. Food is great though.. read more

My friend wanted the real China Town, Chinese food experience, and as I've never tried here, but heard great things, I decided it would be best to give it a whirl. We spent ages chatting instead of looking at the menu and deciding what we wanted, but the staff didn't seem to mind when we kept sending them away. It seemed that the language barrier did cause a little bit of confusion as after ordering one portion of sweet and sour chicken and one portion of chicken satay, we were served with two portions of chicken satay. Yes, they messed up our order, but thankfully it was sorted out pretty damn quickly, so I'm not marking them down for this. For starters I ordered the vegetable spring rolls and was happy when I was served with six rolls, a very decent sized portion, especially because I was starving! They were crispy and not at all greasy and the vegetable filling had been seasoned perfectly. The chicken satay was some of the best satay I've ever had (and believe me I've had plenty). It was the perfect consistency and had the perfect balance of peanut to spicy flavours. I will 100% be coming back for some more of that! The egg fried rice was delicious, no grease in sight, good chunks of egg and packed with flavour. Absolutely perfect and way better than sitting at home waiting for the delivery man to bring round some greasy mess of a takeaway. read more

Sadly the much raved about crab soup seems to have been stripped from the menu, so my menu selection was off to a bad start. The food was excellent in the main except for a couple of minor disappointments - the crispy rice was rightly likened to rice crispier and led to a slight lack of side dishes, while the pork belly was delicious but the fact I can still taste the abundance of gelatinous fat 5 days later would put me off a repeat performance. As far as recent Chinese meals go though it was up there among the best, and I would certainly return to sample some more of the extensive menu. Aside from the few food related let downs, the waiter was a bit of a wanker and more than mildly unhelpful when one of my fellow diners asked for some advice. read more

You know how you have 'thinking people's crumpet'? Well, this is the thinking person's Chinatown restaurant. It's not the one that gets shouted about, but it is the one that people like on the sly. And it's not just a clever name either - this one isn't for the faint-hearted, as some of the dishes are tongue-tinglingly spicy and rather authentic. Hey, don't think just because you aren't in Rusholme that you won't get your head blown off. Oriental spices can pack even more powerful a punch. As well as the menu being traditional Szechuan, it's also... somewhat creative. Yes, everyone chucks something crazy on a menu from time to time, Dough has its all day breakfast and banana pizza toppings, but frog's legs in a Chinese restaurant? Well, in this one, yes. I don't tend to eat creatures with legs, unless you count prawns and those are more miniature tentacles than anything else, which also gets me round the issue of crab and squid. Not the most logical argument, but I love frogs far too much as creatures to eat them. Meanwhile if you don't like the look of that you can always opt for innards. Husband and Wife's Lungs anyone? A dish that sounds more like it should be served up at Hannibal Lecter's gaff than in Chinatown. Well, bullet point number one - quite a few diners are indeed Chinese. Brownie bonus. We can also tick off an extensive menu as well, something I dread but hey, that's a generic Chinese restaurant thing, I won't whinge about my indecisiveness. That's my cross to bear. But the food really is delicious. The crab soup is moreish and the little extras like dumplings and spring rolls are divine. It's also stupidly cheap (in the nicest possible way) as the portions are gargantuan, the cost per head only around a tenner and they even give you doggy bags if you can't finish. Cold Chinese the next morning for breakfast? Could I BE any more American? I love it. But you'll need a lot of water and a dining companion that doesn't dance around replicating one of Kasabian's recent musical offerings. #I'm on fiiiiii-iiiiii-re...# read more

Friendly service, and the food is not bad, though very oily and greasy. But the portions are very large (both a starter and a main course here will be too much for any human being, I'm sure) and very monotunous. Want a spinach and cashew salad? Here's a plate with a mountain of spinach, some cashews, and nothing else. Want the vegetarian fake-duck? Here's a gigantic plate of just that (very greasy by the way), with a bucket of rice. Good luck. The sweet and sour soup had so many noodles that it could be a meal on itself. Same with the other dishes we ordered. Would be improved a lot if the portions were much smaller, and they came with some variation on the plate. read more

Imagine two non identical twins, one with all the charm and charisma and the other struggling to be noticed. That's how I felt about this rather poor relation compared to the much bigger and more glamorous Red Chilli on Wilmslow Road . Although this is the first and original Manchester Red Chilli on the edge of China Town it's kitchen is much smaller and many of the items on the menu can't be cooked here. Although the quality is equally good (we had fried duck in hoisin and crispy chilli beef with pork and prawn dumplings) it feels unloved and a bit dark and dingy. Staff were great but I know which one I'll choose in future. read more

The restaurant has reasonable rates and an excellent menu. They had two menus, one for specials and another regular dinner menu. Almost everything sounded appealing and most of the dishes had accompanying photos as well, which was actually really helpful deciding what I wanted. The wait staff here were a little suffocating as I was sitting trying to determine what to order but helpful none the less. I ordered a dish with duck and bean sprouts (not sure what it was called) but it was quite tasty but a tad salty. The boiled rice helped minimize the salt issue though. Just an FYI... I had asked if they had wifi but unfortunately they do not. So if you are visiting and desperately need wifi, don't come here because they don't. Overall it was a pretty good dining experience and I recommend it as a place to try if you find yourself looking for Chinese food in city centre Manchester. read more

This has to be my very favourite restaurant in Manchester. I've been going for probably ten years and have always had good food. It's almost a shame that it's so good as it sometimes stops me trying somewhere new. As the name (and many of the reviews) suggest, the food can be very spicy. But it doesn't have to be. Some of my favourites have been the slow roast pork and the lamb and coriander. There is a lot of offal (things like duck tongue) and things like frogs legs. Great if you want to chow off. I don't know if you'd get better service if you were Chinese but the service I've had has always been great. One tip if you do go - they have sliced potatoes with chilli which are a taste sensation. read more

It's a spicy place as the name may suggest. Buried in the heart of Chinatown (well at least as far as I could figure it out), this is a mostly underground restaurant. There are two in Manchester, the Portland Street one being smaller but very central. Main downside of this one is that they don't serve the Beijing Roast Duck due to size limitations. Looking around, I wasn't sure how size was an issue in this large restaurant but I'll take them at their word. We started with the crispy aromatic roast duck which was a bit dry for my tastes but the flavour was quite good. The hoisin sauce was quite tasty and not overpowering as some places will make it and the duck made an excellent first course. For our mains, we shared Jade fried rice (fried rice with egg and tiger prawns), Gungbao chicken (think kung pao chicken for us westerners), and hot spicy poached beef. The rice was fantastic and I could have easily made a meal of it. The Gungbao chicken was also bursting with flavour and had a great mix of textures with the tender chicken, crunchy peanuts, and spicy chillies. The poached beef was interesting and a bit too oily for my tastes, but great in small quantities. The portions were massive and the three of us couldn't finish more than half the food. Definitely a place to go for dinner and take it home for the next two lunches. The waitstaff are very friendly, all seem to speak Chinese (so you can make your Chinese friend do all the ordering for authenticity), and bring you food in humungous portions. What's not to like about this place? Overall, for the price and atmosphere, I like it to satisfy my chinese cravings. Hopefully they do takeaway too! read more

I'm a British Chinese so I'm kind of familiar with what authentic Chinese food should be. I was with my husband and our child on a business trip and found this place from Yelp. Service was good but the restaurant looks a bit tired, dated. and not overly clean. We ordered three dishes. Twice cooked pork belly sliced, beef with Chinese mushrooms and a plate of ginger Kai Lan greens. The pork was dried and too thin. The mushroom was dried as they haven't soaked enough and very salty. The greens again was too salty and dried. All the dishes was only lukewarm. To be honest I was rather disappointed. Price was ok £8-£12 per dish. I wouldn't rush to go back again. You can found authentic dishes in the menu but I think the chef maybe still stuck in the 1950 era of cooking style - over used of salt and MSG. You can see from the dish and the restaurant it is tiring. read more

Red Chill is worth its 4 stars. It's a really decent Chinese which made me rediscover my passion for Sichuan style food. I always think I prefer Thai and Japanese food because Chinese so often seems greasy, but Red Chilli does it how it should be, and gives most oriental restaurants in Manchester a run for their money. Inside its really sheek and modern (no steamy windows here) and it's a nice place to sit an enjoy a long meal. The Crispy Duck is amazing but my personal recommendation would have to be the Sea Bass in Soy Sauce, which is seems a steep £14 until you see the dish, when you begin thinking its actually decent value until you taste the dish, at which point you conclude that its an absolute steal. They also sell beer by the jug which I like if you're in a group (or just thirsty). They also sell WKD Blue and Smirnoff Ice, but I don't know why. read more

Red Chilli isn't your average Chinese restaurant. Indeed, look at its website and you'll see that it has the rather laudable aim of enhancing your 'pocket, stomach and soul'. From a lesser restaurant, this is the kind of sentiment that would make you snort in derision. However, after a meal at Red Chilli, not only will your stomach feel decidedly enhanced, but you'll also see why so many people rave about this place and its truly lip smacking selection of food. Red Chilli specialises in serving up authentic Szechuan cuisine - a type of highly spiced Chinese food filled with innovative and decidedly different flavours. And looking at Red Chilli's menu for the first time, you could be forgiven for scratching your head at the rather poetic names of dishes. After all, what on earth should you choose? Should you go for the 'Husband and Wife Lung' or 'Pockmarked Mother Chen's Tofu'? However, take my word for it - whatever you choose will be delicious. It will also make your eyes, your lips, your tongue and pretty much your entire body water. Seriously - this is the kind of food where you will require serious liquid refreshment, if only so you don't become a decrepid dried out husk by the end of the meal. If you're not sure which dishes to try, just ask your waiter for their recommendations. I did this the last time I paid Red Chilli a visit and was rewarded with a truly delicious crab dish which I still have very erotic dreams about. The prices here are also outrageously cheap - a huge portion of food will set you back around a tenner and you'll have more than enough to share, and shovel into a doggy bag to take home with you afterwards. Red Chilli serves complex, delicious and mind bendingly spicy food. If you're ever in Manchester, don't waste your money at any old identikit China Town eaterie. Come here instead. You won't regret it. read more

A very fine Chinese restaurant indeed. A really interesting menu and very fresh, tasty food. Everything is well flavoured and the seafood in particular is fantastic. Just read on Manchester Confidential that Moso Moso has reopened as a new Red Chilli - fab! read more

I count it was the first Szechwan restaurant in Manchester. It was a fantastic restaurant for the people who is crazy for the spicy Chinese food. Some one like me! I would like give them a 5 stars if they can keep the food taste like first year, but they didn't. Whatever, I have been there many many times. It full of my good memories when I was studying in Manchester. Poached seabass in Hot Chili Oil and Fried Bun(It isn't Szechwan Style I guess) are always my favourite. We parked our car in the public parking in the center of China Town. There are many gay bars near there. You may want to try if you got time. Good luck! read more

Went looking for hot food on a rainy afternoon and Red Chilli didn't disappoint! I was advised to try the spicy poached mutton and the Spring Onion bread. I ordered both and wondered why the waitress looked at me strangewhen the food arrived I understood why, there was enough to comfortably feed 2 or 3 people and try as I might, I had to leave half the bread behind and a good portion of the broth, which was a little too salty for my liking. Price wise it was very reasonable and I didn't need to eat for the rest of the day, so if there's a couple don't be too eager to order lots of dishes unless you're taking your appetite with you! read more

Red Chilli - Chinese Near Me - Manchester, XGM

Oh my god why did I eat so much food! I think we ordered enough for a small army when we went to Red Chilli! The food was good, but it didn't blow me out of the water, its definitely worth a visit though as the service at this place is great. As far as authenticity goes there were a number of unusual menu items that you wouldn't find in more main stream places, not sure I'm a massive fan of duck tongue though, perhaps if it didn't have a bone inside it. The starter selection is great and was probably the highlight of the meal. I need to investigate some of the other china town restaurants now.... read more

Quick, efficient, tasty is how we summed this one up. Patronized by a majority of Asian customers, some seemingly well heeled so I figured we did not do bad at all with this selection. read more

Excellent Chinese food. I'm not a huge fan of Chinese food either but this was so good. I got the beef with mushrooms and it was spicy and tasty. I would recommend sharing a dish between 2-3 people though. They are massive dishes. We ordered extra sides assuming they would be smaller sized. We regretted that since we had lots of leftover pak choi and squid. I wouldn't recommend the Pak Choi because it was salty or garlicky enough for my taste. read more

Red Chilli is located on Portland Street Manchester and is the best Chinese i have ever eaten in, the chef whom come out to see you if you are enjoying the meal he has cook and i can certainly say i do ever time!! I love the Sweet and Sour Chicken and the amazing fluffy Egg Fried Rice. They Offer a great all you can eat buffet for less than a tenner. Fab Fab Fab!!! read more

Enjoyed two meals in this restaurant during our 3-day trip in Manchester, plus two take-outs. Strongly recommend the Hot Poached in Chili Oil (水煮牛肉). I'm from west China and this dish reminds me of hometown restaurants. read more

I've been meaning to eat here for years and finally bit the bullet on Saturday. What a revelation. Quite possibly the best Chinese restaurant in Manchester (Yang Sing perhaps, for the time being, aside). As has been stated by many reviews (including a rare positive Jay Raynor in Manchester review) this is authentic Szechuan Chinese rather than your standard 'Chinese' on every high street. I'm pleased it's in Chinatown too rather than in a totally different district - it qualifies our Chinatown as a serious food place rather than tourist trap. The menu is extensive and rather odd sounding at times. Myself and a friend really had a panic on our hands when it came to choosing. After a frantic fifteen minutes of menu perusing we were still no closer. Fortunately the staff on hand (all superb) helped us pinpoint a meal to suit us. I was close to ordering the 'Husband and Wife's lungs' and almost the frogs legs dish but chickened (literally) out at the last minute. This isn't called Red Chilli for the sake of it: my dish (hot fried chicken and red chilli) was contained about twelve thousand tiny red chillies. It was hot but a instant hot rather than the lingering burn often associated with chillies (more so in fresh chillies - these were tiny dried chillies). My friend had the chilli beef which was as perfect as my dish. The starters (crab soup and beef spring rolls/dumplings) were so good I still have the taste synthesized in my brain several days later. The restaurant was chock full and we were lucky to get a table (had a short wait which we didn't mind), and many of these diners were Chinese which usually means you're in the right place. read more

As a Chinese I have to say the food in Red Chilli is really nice. If you like to eat spicy food, go and order spicy dishes here!

The service here is so bad...i dont think i would come here again. Additionally, the food is just ok, not as great as i consider before

This is the best Chinese restaurant I've eaten at in the UK. I'm a Chinese Australian who loves his dumplings and Northern style food. The people running this are from Beijing and cook in the Northern Chinese style. Do yourself a favour, don't go the usual sweet and sour pork etc. Get a serving of boiled dumplings, spring onion pancake, and zha jiang mian. My wife and I stuffed ourselves silly and were sad to leave in the knowledge that we've yet to find anything similar in terms of authentically great Northern Chinese food in London. read more

Been twice to this fine establishment. As you enter you go downstairs to what feels like a cosy atmosphere. The food is excellent although I ordered the crispy shredded chicken which I thought was going to be something else it ended up being very crispy and didn't taste like there was a chicken in site was like chewing on pure batter! I didn't enjoy at all but the fillet steak spring rolls in black pepper sauce were to die for. Be wary of ordering rice if there is more than 3 of you as 4 of us ordered a portion of rice each and they came in one sharing bowl which wasn't great. The service was good though and a nice atmosphere. I would go again if I'm in the area! read more

Great food but very poor service. Waitstaffs were somewhere between inpatient and flat out rude. Tried both dine in and take out and the service was bad enough to ruin the overall experience. Here's an example, got my take out bag and the waitress didn't even put any utensils in. Luckily I thought of it, asked for it and she impatiently threw them in there, no word, no apologies or anything, only a dirty look as if I've done something wrong. I like their food but not enough to be treated like I owe them something. Definitely going to try other Chinese places in the area before ever considering coming back. read more

not really impressed with this restarant went in and had a few dishes.. one of them a fish one we discovered the fish and the batter on it was still uncooked we told the waiter but they did nothing about it or even apologised.. never been back since read more

They don't like you. Unbelievable. Why be in the restaurant business if you don't like people who come through your doors? We'll forget about the topsy turvy servy I can take rude service but the food was sooooo salty I'm still drinking water. When you try to talk to them? Well, they know what they are doing and what they are doing is taking the piss. read more

Was on a long weekend and stumbled upon this place by chance! Was so impressed with the fresh and tasty food. Only disappoint we don't live closer so we can go more frequently! read more