" Not Too Convincing "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

Someone recommended me this restaurant and since I am a fan of spicy food and it belongs to the Simply Group I thought it should be good. I liked the decor/house a lot really, the menu looks good but I was not really satisfied with the food. We ordered braised tofu with mushrooms, half of this dish was actually broccoli. We also ordered beef that is being cooked in front of you in an oil pot with stones, but the quality of the meat lacked that of cheaper restaurants which was rather disappointing. The aubergines with green chili was ok but nothing special, and the spicy chicken (la zi ji) had a strange sweet taste to it. The crispy fried Mandarin fish (hui guo gui yu) we ordered was so breaded that the taste and view of the fish had disappeared. Maybe thicker fish slices would do the trick. What we really liked were the dumplings in chili. But it was not enough to give us a convincing overall dining experience at this restaurant.

" Pinchuan Still A Hit "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

Pinchuan is still totally awesome. Every time, we're impressed with the service and the food is soooooo good. Ignore claims that it's "lao wai" sichuan. All the flavor, without the nasty bits of bones all over your plate.

" Nice Decor, Great Value, Good Food "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

Went with a friend for the first time to this restaurant as we (and seemingly most others) have always overlooked it. The decor was modern, somewhere along the lines of Crystal Jade's venue in Xintiandi though the seating in the front is way too illuminated. I would recommend sitting further back where the lighting is far more tolerable.

Our meal came out to 450rmb for two of us, but that was with a 300rmb bottle of wine. So at 75 each, it was a steal considering that we ordered about 5 dishes. The food was fantastic and I highly recommend the dry-fried mushrooms.

Overall, I would definitely go back as the waiter was extremely friendly, announcing in good English each dish as it arrived and the food was as good as I've had in Shanghai. It's decorated as an upscale restaurant and thankfully not priced as one. Maybe not the first place to come to mind when you have visitors in town but definitely a place to go if you're in the mood for good, spicy Sichuan food that isn't going to leave you smelling as though you just left hot pot.