Just walking in here the smells had me believing it was going to be a great meal. The menu had an impressive list of authentic Sichuan fare, including the "numbing" spicy dishes so sought after. Everything at every table looked delicious, and the portions were generous but not over the top. We had the egg and seaweed soup -- good but wouldn't order again as the seaweed was very large and difficult to eat and a bit overpowering. The twice-cooked pork was great. A bit on the salty side and not as spicy as I anticipated, but full of flavor. We also ordered their version of kung-pow chicken, which was different than what I'm accustomed to and preferable. Good chunks of chicken, roasted peanuts and a tangy sauce. Be warned that like a lot of places here any rice will cost you extra, you won't just get white rice with your meal. Would definitely return here and try more if only I lived in London! read more

Sichuan Folk - House made dumplings to start! Very good. - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

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I been here a couple of times and loved it both times! First time was just having Sichuan dishes and 2nd time hot pot. Both times were faultless (except for the price)! The food was soooo authentic and I must say is one of the most authentic in London! Love the spice and love the spicy soup fish/beef! 2nd time went there for all you can eat hot pot, was a little pricy but boy it was tasty! The broth was superb and loved every bite! I'm starving just thinking about it! The hot pot itself is a set menu but all you can eat! read more

Sichuan Folk - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

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We came here for some hotpot and it was really good! Price I think for all you can eat is pretty decent, £22.80 per person and they give you decent amount of food, shrimp, squid, beef, fish, mushroom, you name it. Service was very good, server was very attentive and friendly, keep asking us whether we want to add anything, that's very nice. Can't really comment on hot pot since it's the soup base and different type of ingredients, I'll say it's good hotpot in London. If you're craving for some hotpot, stop by here! read more

Sichuan Folk - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

Arguably some of the best Chinese food I've had in London thus far. Hat tip to Amy A for recommending it to me. Finding properly spicy food in this country is a bit hit-or-miss to begin with, but to find really mouthwatering Szechuan cuisine (er... Sichuan?) has been a near impossibility until now. From the moment I walked into this modest-looking restaurant, I had a positive vibe. Whether it was the delicious scents wafting about, or the fact that the staff and various other patrons were speaking in Mandarin, I knew from the very start that I'd come to the right place. I'll be honest in saying that my least favourite dishes that we shared family-style (of course) were the ones recommended by the staff. Perhaps they were steering us toward things that Brits like more? But the fried potatoes were basically crispy Chinese french fries and the house dumplings, whilst they looked to be covered in delicious sauce, came out surprisingly flavourless to me. That said, everything else was superb. The smashed cucumbers went down a treat, the 'ants climbing a tree' (ma ee sang su) and mapo tofu both had that rich aromatic Szechuan peppercorn heat to them. And the twice-cooked pork dish served with steam buns is an absolute hunger slayer. Be prepared to order a couple bottles of Tsing Tao to balance out the heat in the dishes, but the mild tingling ma la sensation is a big part of the reason to come. I fully expect to work this into my regular rotation of dining destinations now that I know it's here! read more

Sichuan Folk - Jellyfish - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

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Taste is just fine. Standard chinese food but not as good as others. Rice - charge 2 pounds per person!!? And the waiter asked us to leave the remaining rice clean - they are difinitely recycling the rice. 2 pounds for recycled rice? You must be kidding Definitely not recommend！ read more

Sichuan Folk - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

Did take out on a vacation to London since it looked like the best Chinese restaurant in walking distance from my hotel and was looking to eat in one night. Ordered: Hot and Sour Soup - good version, not too thick, not too acidic. Szechuan chicken wings - floured, fried and covered in a hot and sweet chili sauce - excellent Grandma's Fried Chicken - mild hacked chicken stir fry; be careful of the bones. Good but not extraordinary. Pork threads in garlic shoots - very good Szechuan dish with an somewhat hot sauce that went well over the rice. Egg fried rice - bland but was a fine base for the sauced dishes. Food was exactly what I was looking for and very good. Front of house had a bit of a problem with my American accent. read more

Thanks to Katie B and Rob C for introducing me to this restaurant a few weekends ago. As soon as I spotted the non nonsense menu offerings, I knew this had to be the venue for the Yelp Extreme Eating Event 3.0 Tonight, 8 interpid Yelpers headed down to challenge our tastebuds with a healthy dose of chilli-rich Sichuan food and also unusual body parts and ingredients. The menu helpfully has pictures of most of the dishes (though disappointingly there wasn't one of the fried loofah and we were too scared to order it at £7.80). The staff speak excellent English and will help you navigate the more challenging parts of the menu if necessary In the tradition of YEEEs, we ordered by everyone shouting out dishes which they liked the sound of and once again, we ended up with a great variety of dishes. Yinnie C won the starter round with her cloud ear fungus mushroom dish though the offal slices and thousand year old egg were great too For mains, I loved the pork knuckle - some may find it a bit fatty but that's perfect for me, the crispy frog legs (I initially thought it tasted like chicken and then I saw the small bones) and the ma po tofu Everything had distinct flavour. The heat levels were enough to numb the tongue occasionally but never hot enough to wipe out your tastebuds We left, suitably filled up and challenged though not as much as Titthankar D has been in the past - he showed us a picture of fried guinea pig that he had eaten before Roll on YEEE 4.0. Hot pot, anyone? read more

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Authenticity - it's a thing that people want. I'm never sure why, though. The main thing would seem to be to the food and atmosphere and all those other things which actually make for a good restaurant not the precision with which the chef can emulate the flavour at the bottom of a noodle bowl bought on the street in Chengdu. There's an indian round the corner from me that prides itself on being throughly authentic, but - frankly - I've never left there without feeling that my longing for a Curry has gone cruelly unsated. So, yeah, authenticity. I'm pretty sure that this is an authentic representation of Sichuan cookery. The rest of the diners all looked like regulars sinking into the comforting relief of being served food that they knew. But that isn't why you should go here (now. at once.) - it's because authentic Sichuan food is AWESOME and because this is one of the few places I've found in London that will sell it to you for a (very) reasonable price. The best bits are the cold starters - especially the husband and wife offal slices which are a masterful symphony of texture, heat and meaty goodness; and the smacked cucumbers which are as fun to eat as to order. The green bean dish that was recommended as an addition to the main dish is one of the kindest things ever done to a vegetable. The twice cooked pork is great, and numbing and hot kidney slices are lovely. The waiter warned us against eating the dried chillis from the fiery hell broth they came in - advice which we immediately ignored to joyous effect. Perhaps the dishes were a bit shy about the use of Sichuan peppercorns - I didn't quite get that insane numb face thing that I've had elsewhere in the world. And perhaps they have slightly toned down the heat for London tastes? It's hard to say, but I didn't quite reach that peak of dizzy chilli euphoria that I was looking for - but still, the food is great, the dining room is nice, the service is exemplary and I loved it teh most. If you're new to Sichuan, go right now, order loads and try everything - you'll likely still walk out having paid less than £20 a head. If you're not new to it, I don't know of a better version in the UK and if you do, TELL ME ABOUT IT BECAUSE I AM HUNGRY FOR PAIN. read more

Sichuan Folk - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

Me like this place. Despite it being in the trendiest neighbourhood (not?), Sichuan Folk feels like a hole in the wall and it is exactly this non-pretentiousness that I appreciate so much about this place. Plus, they do offer quite good and authentic Chinese food. Ideally, you're with someone who is familiar with that cuisine, but even if you're not, simple ask the friendly staff for some advise. (I do recommend to tell them that you're adventurous, because otherwise they will suggest the more tame items on the menu to you, whereas this is really the place where you should do some experimenting. Luckily, I was always with someone who knows their Chinese menu upside down, which on the other hand also leaves me in no memory of what it exactly it was that we ordered/ate ;-) In light of this, I do recommend reading the reviews of Kevin L, Yee Gan O, Rob H and Yinnie C...all of them trusted experts! read more

Presentable facilities. Attentive staff. The food? Not so great. To be clear, guests have the option of ordering from the menu or go with the hot pot format. This diner went with the menu option on a Sunday night. Summary: What is served here is, in my opinion, severely democratized versions of Sichuan cuisine (read: NOT SPICY). There's also an absence of other critical ingredients from which Sichuan cuisine derives its fabulous aroma like toasted bits of garlic, whole peppercorns and generous helpings of red pepper flakes. Taken together, I can't say I'm a fan. Details: The all-season beans were ordered pan fried but was served much too limpy and wet. Strike one. The stewed spicy pork belly was particular disappointing, not least because it was slightly microwaved. Nuked meats have a very telling flavor - can't really hide that. Why the dish came with four peking-style sweet buns absolutely confused me. Strike two. Bad service would have made the third strike. This was their saving grace. read more

Sichuan Folk - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

We've been here for the all-you-can-eat hot pot as well as ordered a la carte off the menu. Coming from New York, we've had some pretty good Sichuan meals as well as some good AYCE hot pot. Thus, the cold London winter elicited a craving for some hot pot. A quick search on Yelp showed that for central London there were only a few options. We had been referred to Sichuan Folk for their a la carte dishes but when we saw AYCE hot pot on the menu, we were sold. For £19.80 per person, they'll keep serving you until you're ready to burst! Now, in NY you can get AYCE hot pot with AYCD Budweiser/soda for $27. So, it isn't as cheap as NY and we didn't get the drinks but, from my research, it does seem to be one of the cheaper AYCE hot pot places in London (most start at £20-£25). The one thing that I didn't love was the fact that they didn't have sa cha sauce (Asian BBQ sauce). How could that be?! That's a staple for any hot pot meal and something I definitely always pile on! Adam has suggested I bring my own. Next winter I'll definitely have to see if they've added it to their sauces. Fingers crossed! In terms of the soup base, we went with a "ying yang" pot with the traditional hot and spicy on one side and the more mellow chicken broth based on the other. The AYCE hot pot did come on a huge plate with a good variety of offerings - sliced beef, pork, chicken, fish balls, variety of greens, imitation crab meat, noodles, various mushrooms, fish slices and shrimp. I will say that these were some of the best AYCE shrimp either of us had ever had. We don't expect high quality shrimp when we go to AYCE but these were really good! The dish had a couple of things that we just weren't feeling - lunch meat, mussels (obviously frozen) and wish we had asked about what came on the plate since at other places you can opt out of options. We had actually also ordered some appetizers, we were starving when we got there, so were down for the count after one plate. Sad, but we definitely will know better the next time. The other couple of times we've come to have their a la carte Sichuan dishes. For London, it's quite good. Sometimes I find food in London bland so I was worried that the spices would be muted but they definitely don't hold back! We started with a recommendation from our server, the Sichuan-folk tripe salad (£9.80). If you love sichuan peppercorns with that numbing sensation this is the dish for you. Offal isn't for everyone but the tripe was quite nice and was mixed with some crunchy strips of celery to give some crunch to the dish. There was some fresh chopped chiles as well as some cilantro sprinkled through. Definitely something different from the norm and quite a bright and refreshing dish. We ordered Sichuan-folk cumin lamb (£10.80) which came with 4 steamed buns (the type that come with Peking duck). This was a cumin bomb! The little lamb nuggets were heavily covered in cumin and deep fried. Placing some of the lamb in the bun helped to cut some of the savoriness of the dish. I found this dish slightly too salty and after all the buns were finished off we requested some rice because I couldn't eat it on it's own. Like we do at every Sichuan restaurant, we ordered the Ma po tofu with pork mince (£8.50) and found it quite good! The nice thing about Sichuan Folk's version is that it isn't overly oily while still having a nice kick. The tofu is firmer than some other versions I've had but this was a really great version. We get it every time we go here. Another dish we usually order at Sichuan restaurants was the dry-fried green beans with pork mince (£8.50) - such a great dish. Fried green beans with minced pork and pickled mustard greens, I love this dish! Also, many places don't actually get rid of the ends of the green beans - such a small thing, I know - but was a nice touch! There have been occasions when I've had the traditional hot and sour soup (£4.80) which was quite a good rendition. Good balance of white pepper with vinegar and a nice smattering of tofu, black fungus mushroom, bamboo shoots. I would order this again but the price only comes with one small bowl so I did find this a bit expensive! Adam and I love dumplings so we have ordered the signature dumplings (£4.80) which I would definitely recommend ordering! Made in-house, the skins were delicate and the slightly spicy and vinegary soy sauce it was bathed in was a perfect complement. We've been here 3-4 times in the past 6 months and it is our current go-to when we want Sichuan! The flavors seem much more clean than other Sichuan restaurants. Additionally, it is much less oily than other places. I did find the portion size to price ratio a bit skewed and would have preferred bigger portions based on the prices; however, at the same time the food is SO good! We will be back again and again! If you're looking for quality Sichuan, you should definitely check out Sichuan Folk! read more

My review here has to reinforce Uli's sound judgement written below. This is a Chinese place that reflects the flavours of traditional Sichuan cuisine. Surrounded by ridiculous hipster vintage clothing shops bordering Shoreditch / Liverpool Street it's certainly less in your face unlike other places nearby which adds to its charm. If you are going in without a Chinese speaker that's fine because the menu is pretty clear. My standard go to items are the Gong Bao chicken and the fried beans without pork. Those beans are heavenly - one of my former colleagues introduced me to it and I sometimes try to recreate them when home but I just can't! There must be some chef secret. It's basically beans and garlic :) simple but effective. Other items worth recommending is the tender sichuanese fish not to be confused with a fried fish they offer which is a little heavy on the oil (minus one star) Ultimately for good authentic Chinese food at reasonable prices - worth checking out. read more

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4 stars?? I don't see it. It does have some things going for it: it's charmingly simple and authentic seeming (which I guess means that there were a lot of Chinese diners and many unusual - to me- items on the menu) but the food and service left a lot to be desired. The pork dumpling last were in a decent sauce but the dough was much too thick and ended up quite gummy. The pepper and beef was ok but it took an age to get to me and that was only after they gave me kung pao chicken without a word and then replaced it, eventually, after I complained. Maybe this is a one off but I will never know because I won't read more

I was invited to join some friends for dinner here. I was told it was highly recommended, and had "very spicy" food. I have to admit that I was worried. Even though I'm part Mexican, and I love places like Lahore Kebab House, I thought this might be the "spicy" that pushes me over the top. (I've even been to that place in the Mission district in San Francisco that has the tingly mouth-numbing lamb dish - Mission Chinese Food.) It turns out I didn't have anything to worry about. Even though all the food was very, very flavourful, it was not too spicy at all. We happened to eat here on the hottest day of the year, but they had a nice strong air conditioner in the back, keeping the entire restaurant at a very comfortable temperature. Another good sign was that there was a large group of people at a table, all speaking Mandarin, having a great time. We decided to let my friend order anything he wanted, and it turned out to be a great way to go, as I didn't have to order based on any preconception. We just ended up with a wide sample of what they had to offer. We had pork, dumplings, jellyfish, roasted green beans (like padrone peppers!) and potato slivers to die for. All of the dishes had plenty of spice, never too hot, some even had that slight but pleasurable mouth numbing effect due to a special peppercorn that is used in this type of cooking. One secret: I took some leftovers home and had them for lunch two days later, and was blown away by how tasty they were. Like twice as good as before! read more

Sometimes you need a good cry, watching sad films, reading a sad book. At Yelp, there's a bunch of us extreme eaters that eat chilli to make us cry. Yes. we are hardcore. At the same time, we also make conventional eaters and vegetarians cry because extreme eating doesn't just involve killing your tastebuds with ma-la chilli, but also weird ingredients, like jellyfish, cloud ear fungus, pig trotters and frog legs. Sorry peeps. That's just how we roll. 8 people turned up, I like to say we ordered in a civilised way, but we didn't. Our tactic: scream out whatever sounds weird on the menu, and keep going. We ordered a number of starters that included husband and wife offal slices, cloud ear fungus (I LOVE THIS SO MUCH.), jellyfish, and some other random items that looked and tasted amazing. We were doing so well with the spicy and daring ordering until Tirththanker let the game down with his chicken and sweetcorn soup. (LOL Just kidding, we don't judge Tirth!!) Mains, twice cooked pork, pork knuckle, beef in 75% chilli oil, frog legs, and SO much more. I left defeated and that's saying something (I out ate all the guys at congee chronicles UYE.) This time though, Rob won the last man eating challenge. One of my favourite dishes is the frog legs, the sichuan chilli pepper had a lemony numbing zing to it which is just something that is unlike anything in western cooking. I definitely recommend that dish if you're feeling adventurous. Also, Sichuan Folk's offerings are similar quality to bar shu, for less money, that's always a win. The only difference, the chilli here is meant to kick you slightly and keep you wanting more. The chilli at bar shu just wants to kick you, like a hooligan, after a football match, and also sucker punching you in the mouth, in terms of chilli hotness. (I'll admit though, maybe it's like domestic violence thing, but I will still go back to bar shu) And the staff are way friendlier here. Ma La Hotpot next time guys? read more

This is one of the best sichuan jawn in the city. Their fish with spicy soup is extraordinary splendid. As my British friend would say, it would blow your tits off. It is _that_ spicy. Their double sauteed pork is always good. Very flavorful and filling. One note is that their food is a bit oily. If you cant tolerate it, it might be negative result. Their do have all you can eat sichuan hot pot for 18 pounds. I havent try it but I am sure I will be back. The End. read more

What I ate on a Thursday at 10.30pm Sichuan-Folk Appetizer Platter - £12.80 A sharing plate with a large portion of Sichuan-Folk Special Flavoured Chicken in the middle and four accompaniments around the side; Walnut Kernel with Sesame, Green Beans with Ginger Sauce, Sichuan Spare Ribs and some pickled vegetables. The chicken was delicious, soft from being poached and covered in a creamy nut sauce despite being the spiciest of the five dishes. The crunchy Green Beans were a second favourite disappearing almost immediately while a few Spare Ribs went back to the kitchen as they were a bit too fatty to eat the whole portion. Sichuan-Folk Twice Cooked Pork - £6.90 We loved this dish of sticky belly pork, sliced thinly with chewy caramel-like frazzled fat. The pork came with some vegetables and soft pillow pancakes to wrap the pork and soak up the delicious sauce. Fish-Fragrant Sea Bass - £13.80 This dish was left until last which was a big mistake. The intense heat of frying the fish had curled it so the tail nearly almost touched it's mouth, by the time we got through the pork the fish had drooped and lost it's crispiness. However it was still moist with a thick sticky coating. Fish-fragrant flavor is one of Sichuans famous 23 flavours as Fuchsia Dunlop explains in her Land Of Plenty "...based on the seasonings used in traditional fish cookery, this flavor combines salty, sweet, sour and spicy notes, with the heady fragrance of garlic, ginger and scallions. The core seasoning is pickled red chilies, either on their own or mixed with fava beans in Sichuanese chili bean paste, which give fish-fragrant dishes their distinctive orange-red hue" Drink 4 Tsing Tao beers Atmosphere Almost empty when we ate (10.30pm) but the helpful manager livened up the room with his enthusiasm in helping us choose our dishes. There is also a private room that has no room charge and can feature karaoke for celebrations. Offers Lunch Special - £5.50 for main dish and soup Join their Gold Club for 10% off takeaway orders (2 mile delivery radius) and to accrue points redeemable against bill Verdict GO! GO! We'd go back when we need a blast on the taste buds. We'd re-order the Sichuan-Folk Special Flavoured Chicken and try the Steamed Pork in Pumpkin and Fragrant Chicken with Dry Chilli. read more

I have had Sichuan Folk three times now and I will safely say that it is the best Chinese food I have ever eaten. They have some pretty exotic things on the menu, but the twice cooked pork and everything I've ever had with the lip-tingling sauce have been like new experiences. Maybe there are other spots that are better, but out say 100 Chinese restaurants I have been too in my life, this easily tops them all. read more

Maybe closer to 3.5 stars - I'd have to go back and give it another whirl. I had the dumplings to start but they were a bit mushy and the flavour was good but maybe just not as strong as I would like. Then I had the spicy dry chicken (with bones) which was also pretty good but they over-fried the chicken a bit and it was just a real pita to eat given all the bones. Some fault goes to me though because I was warned... These places are making me really look forward to going back to NYC and getting my Chinese food there - its just on another level. Overall the staff was on it and very nice and I did like what I ate but I may not go back... read more

I came here with friends and half of us ordered "hot pot" dish. Which is £20 per head. What do you get for that money? A pot of boiling water with some vegetables inside and chicken stock. And a huge pile of mixed meat, veg and fish. Problem starts when everyone who is new to this starts to through all types of food inside. Fish becomes overbooked and falls apart. In the end the whole thing becomes a tasteless mess and they don't even provide you with a bowl to eat it like a soup. But you wouldn't want to. Staff are not helpful at all. And all out food came at completely different times so some finished and others were still struggling with hot pot. Never coming here again. read more

Amazing food! It was as good as the sichuan food i used to get in Shanghai. Service was also fast and very friendly. And the price was 30-50% cheaper than other Sichuan places in Soho. Will definitely go back and will probably not go to other places now for spicy chinese food. read more

Sichuan Folk - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

Had the hot pot, 21.5 quid per person, can have as much as you want. The hot pot was nice, had pretty much everything you'd normally expect :) read more

Sichuan Folk - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

Just had a very tasty lunch, and remarkable value also. Twice cooked pork with rice and a bowl of Daily soup, a pork consomme type of soup, were very good. Make sure you ask for the chilli oil which has a fantastic smokey flavour, and a good bang of heat, great value for £6.50 I will be back read more

The menu had so many different things that we wanted to try that it was a struggle to decide on what to order. It's definitely a spot worth going to if you have a lot of people so you can try an array of things. We started with a mixed appetiser plate which included green beans, chicken and bamboo shoots in some sort of peanut sauce, short ribs in a sweet sauce with sesame seeds, some sort of beef jerky strips in chilli oil and peanuts. All were really good. The beef was particularly interesting. Our waiter recommended deep fried fish with bell peppers. The dish had a slight kick to it and the fish fillets were coated in a nice salty batter. Really yummy. We ordered some tofu to go with it which wasn't anything special. I could have easily made this at home. The service was great as well. Everyone speaks English and were happy to have a chat about the menu. I'd definitely return to try some more! Beware, the restaurant gets very very loud if it's crowded. read more

I went with a friend for lunch (around 1pm) and ordered the dry fried green beans and eggplant/aubergine. It was 7.50 per person and it came with a soup (not vegetarian) but they made the green beans w/o the pork for me. I highly recommend the green beans. The restaurant is simple, quiet, and the staff was attentive. I love this style of Chinese food so when I find it, it is a luxury. read more

Quick glance: + conveniently located near the City for something different + full of Chinese diners - a good sign? + courteous, accommodating staff - food was a bit too oily and salty I had dinner with a few friends here on a weeknight. The venue wasn't packed, but floor space appeared limited so booking in advance is advisable. On the evening we visited, the patrons all appeared to be Chinese which could be a positive sign if they had trekked all the way to (nearly) Brick Lane for some Sichuan food. Or maybe it merely reflects the lack of Sichuan (or just decent Chinese food) in the area. One of my friends is expecting a baby and has requested no MSG in our foods, which led to a friendly, lengthy discussion with the waiter over what could be arranged. He was very thorough to explain that pre-marinated meats have been prepared with MSG, but he could request the chef to omit MSG from vegetarian dishes. I thought it was very kind of him to be honest about their preparation. The staff were courteous and accommodating, but were slightly "ditzy" at times, for example forgetting the special soups we have ordered so only half the table received the "house soup" and the other half were left waiting. The food were decently flavoured but perhaps we had ordered the wrong dishes; I found our dishes to be either too salty or too oily. Nevertheless they made a good treat for a hungry stomach. The restaurant has no dessert offering (as at time of writing) so if you have a sweet tooth I would recommend going down the road to Patisserie Valerie in Spitalfields Market for a slice of cake. I would recommend this restaurant if you are near the City and really fancied some Sichuan flavours but don't want to travel far. There are no doubt better restaurants in this category sprinkled throughout London, but it is good enough to satisfy a sudden craving. read more

On a business trip here in London and this restaurant was recommended by one of my co-workers. My co-worker and I came here for dinner as both of us where craving for some good Chinese food and were getting sick of the hotel fare and the usual sandwiches and.....fish and chips LOL If you're in the Shoreditch area it's about a 10-15 minute walk from the Liverpool Station. It's about two blocks down from Shoreditch High Street. The area itself is pretty swanky and there are lot of other restaurants nearby....try those next time when you're in the area. The restaurant specializes on Sichuan dishes. So, please don't be expecting Americanized "Chinese" dishes like broccoli and beef. Time to try to some authentic cuisine, now! The menu is pretty cool since it's essentially a book with pictures and descriptions of each dish. The wait staff is more than helpful and they will help guide in selecting the right dish and matches your liking. A lot of the dishes are spicy as Sichuan is famously known for. Most dishes ranges from £7-£8. Their signature dishes tend to be more expensive around £12.50. The meal for the two of us was about £26. The only down side is that when converted to dollars the meal was close to $50. But, that's not the restaurant's fault....things here in the UK are double-the price than in the US due to the exchange rate of the pound versus the dollar. As food is concerned, I got the Mabo Tofu and my co-worker got this spicy fish stew. Both were dishes were flavorful and good. The dishes may seem a little bit oily, but it's not that bad. The Mabo Tofu comes in two versions one for vegetarians without meat or the traditional version which comes with minced pork. I got the traditional version and the flavor combination of the pork and the texture of the tofu was good balance. The spicy fish stew was a pretty big portion - but it came with a lot of vegetables, peppers, and good chunks of cod that were seasoned to perfection. Overall, I'd recommend this place if you're in the area and want something that will spice things up and also bring something different to your culinary palette. read more

Came here in search of the numbing pepper and spicy food. Left feeling like ate so much oil and salt. Here is what we ordered: Dumpings - pretty good, could be served at a higher temperature. Smacked cucumber - delicious peanut sauce Twice cooked pork - came with 4 baos (steamed buns), tasty but soo OILY Spare ribs - fried in a batter and tasty - but make sure you have water or beer to wash it down! Seabass - fun to see the whole fried, fish looking like it's trying to jump out of the dish. It was a sweet chili flavor. It was crunchy and tasted good, but there isn't much meat to the fish. Overall - the dinner was pretty salty and oily. I felt inspired to do a cleanse the next day. read more

Came here for lunch with a bunch of friends after visiting the Terry Pratchett mural at the Pillow Cinema. The staff were friendly despite the fact that there were 27 of us and we turned up without reservations. They suggested the "tourist menu" which meant that for a fixed price a head, they brought out a variety of dishes (after taking note if special dietary requirements). Other than one dish (with aubergines intended to simulate fish), everything was lovely. Spicing was excellent. Will definitely visit again when in the area. read more

Brick Lane. Great place for a Chinese. Sichuan Folk sits on Hanbury Street amongst hundreds of great food places and thousands of not so good Indian restaurants. It's an unassuming place. Actually the room is really quite cold and functional. bare walls, blocks of tables. Not much to excite curiosity or make you want to hang around too long. Unpromising. But the menu is full of authentic Sichuan fare which really excites, making up for the dull room. Cloud Ear Fungus, tripe, pigs trotters, cuttlefish, frogs legs. The list of stuff which will either have you screwing your face up or feeling ever so adventurous goes on and on. It's very similar to Ba Shan in Soho, a place that has built a great reputation for similar fare and blistering spiciness (I've reviewed it on here somewhere). We ordered smacked cucumber, salt and chilli squid (does anybody not order the salt and chilli squid? If you exist let me tell you you're not quite right), twice cooked pork, duck cooked with beer, a tofu hot pot, some dumplings and a chicken dish that escapes me although it wasn't the 'numbing hot chicken wings' (actual name) which I've had at Ba Shan and can confirm the name is most apt. Everything that came was delicious. They pride themselves on their hot pots and the tofu one and the duck one were really interesting and intense. A real mixture of flavours and texture. Our server only too happy to explain stuff to us like how to eat the twice cooked pork which came with light fluffy pancake type buns which you use to build your delicious chinese sarnie. This food is certainly challenging in parts (deep fried pig's intestines anyone?) but with 20 pages of menu to get through even the most squeamish are certain to find something exciting and memorable that they can stomach. If you're sick of the Indian restaurants hawking their muck and want a haven from the bearded groovy wordbenders that populate this area, dive in here where you'll find it full of people - mostly chinese when we walked in - who are just here for the food. No gimmicks, no razzle dazzle, just lots of great unexpected, ferocious cooking. So authentic are the tastes I even ventured a small 'ni hao' as I left. Yes, yes it means 'hello' but I hope it showed I felt a little bit more Chinese than I did when I walked in. I reckon this lot could make my old Adidas shell toes taste good given a few spices and a bit of time. I may even try the tripe when I go back. read more

This place delivered some solid Chinese food on a cold winter's day. The signature dumplings were a tasty start to the meal--not your boring run-of-the mill dumplings with sauce but ones that were bursting with flavor and scallions. I loved the twice cooked pork with the soft buns, good green beans with pork (a house specialty) and prawns with cashews. It all went down well and was more than plenty for 2 people. It was slightly pricey but it was really good, very filling and served with a smile. Bring cash. The worst part about the meal was leaving so full and then heading to Brick Lane to be harassed by people wanting us to come in to their Indian restaurants. read more

It was news to me that there's some really decent Szechuan food in and around Bethnal Green. I really like it, but my past experiences in London have put a bit of a dent in my wallet (Bar Shu, Empress of Sichuan...), so hearing about Sichuan Folk really piqued my interest. As Kevin L. says, there is a really positive atmosphere in the place. It feels pretty cosy and relaxed and I really prefer that over the upmarketness of the aforementioned places in Soho. The menu would be a little bit daunting for many with plenty of offally dishes, preserved egg, and the slightly ominous "numbing and hot dry beef" (which contains Szechuan peppercorns). However, a little bravery goes a long way here, and there are plenty of options for those with an aversion to mystery meat. We were most fortunate to have Kevin L. ordering for us - my favourite dishes were the hot and sour soup (which is a lot different to the standard cantonese style), the smashed cucumbers (it sounds a bit odd, but the cucumber is nice and crunchy and the sauce is nommy), the fragrant-and-hot pig trotters (I love pig trotters and this dish was perfect. Sticky and crunchy on the outside, gooey on the inside - I really recommend it, and they're pretty tame as far as odd parts go), the ma po tofu, and the twice-cooked pork, complete with a set of steamed buns. Plenty of food at a reasonable price - I'm really looking forward to coming back here. Highly recommended to the more adventurous diners out there, but I'd highly recommend it to anyone who wants something a bit different to your standard HK-style fare. read more

Best Sichuan I've had outside of Chengdu! Seriously! Great service and very reasonable for London! Highly recommend the Cumin Lamb if you're up for the spice! read more

We found this on Yelp and it's a very decent Chinese restaurant in Spitalfields that favours-as per the name-Sichuan cuisine over the far more staple Cantonese. I was therefore intrigued to try it as Sichuan is far more prevalent over the pond. The scene from "Beetlejuice" came to mind as I entered where the lady, having moved to the sticks Upstate, remarks when picking at her Chinese takeaway"what, they don't do Sichuan here!" I was a little put off by one review describing it as a slightly basic interior, but whilst hardly China Tang it is a pleasant and fairly minimal interior with no harsh lighting. We arrived not long before closing but service was still very friendly and helpful. I confess to having an irrational hatred of menus such as the one here which show pictures of the dishes-none in my view look very appealing. Anyway, the menu itself has a real emphasis on meat and offal, though still does seafood. I was going to try the frogs' legs and will certainly return to do so. However, for now we played it safe. I was gratified to receive a response from our waiter that I had "ordered well" . To start we had two lots of the dumplings-vegetarian and pork. Both were excellent but I particularly liked the pork ones which were rich and spicy (the pork was nice and lean). For mains, we had chicken in peanuts (I know, not exactly adventurous!) and the double cooked pork as well as peashoots and rice. The pork came with four dumplings and we were told to use them by breaking them open and stuffing the pork inside. I thought it all excellent, but I particularly liked the chicken. The pork was good, though it had a little fat which I'm not massively keen on-still very flavourful though. Overall, a great and reasonably priced experience. Somewhere some frogs are walking around with legs that I will shortly devour at Sichuan folk. read more

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The staff were nice and friendly; however I'm more than disappointed with the food. The scallops smelled like chemicals, literally like nail polish remover... the rest dishes were just average. There are tons of better Sichuan restaurants in London. I wouldn't recommend this place to any of my friends, and I will certainly not coming back again. read more

Excellent. Small place, homey, clean. Very good service. I had the double-fried pork. It was very flavorful and cooked perfectly with just the right compliment of vegetables. The rice was a standout--like candy. I also really enjoyed the dumplings. Recommended. read more

Sichuan Folk - Double-fried pork. Very good! - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

One of my favourite places in London. Twice cooked pork is mouth-wateringly good, as are the signature dumplings. Don't be put off by some of the stranger things on the menu as the helpful staff are more than willing to recommend great dishes. The beef cooked with chilli is one of my favourites too, yum. read more

Has potential to be some of the most flavorful food you can find in London. I think they toned down the spice level, which I really wish they hadn't. Next time, be sure to ask for extra spicy. I had the twice cooked pork which was quite flavorful and had a bit of a kick (although I would have preferred spicier). The steamed buns it came with were a bit tough and the plate was a bit oily. However, I would order this again. The signature dumplings were pretty solid. The sesame vinegar soy sauce was a nice touch but I would have preferred some ginger and Chilis in there too. Be warned that it tastes like the dumplings have a bit of cilantro in them. Some people really can't stand cilantro. I am usually one of those people but the taste was mild and was cut by the sauce. I would order these again and ask for some Chilis to add. A couple behind me ordered the hot pot and they were really enjoying it. The pictures for every item on the menu was helpful - makes trying something new a little bit easier. read more

Yum! I really enjoyed the signature dumplings and stir-fried string beans with pork mince. I practically devoured both; it was the perfect meal size for one person. read more

Really yummy food and great service... Went here for the first time last night. Got to the place around 1030pm and the kitchen was already but the staff were really nice and let us put our order in anyway. We asked them to help is choose what to order. Everything they recommended was very yummy !!! read more