I was quite excited to goto Chili Fagara. I had done my research and this was one of the best Szechuan restaurants located near to us. It is located half way up a steep hill on Graham Street, so you work up a thirst before you get there. There is not much lighting inside and the color of the place is deep red, a reference to the famous chili's (Pointing to Heaven is a literal translation) that Sichuan is famous for. The restaurant is pretty small and cramp. I could feel the pain that the poor girl next to me was going through, as I could feel the heat coming off her.
The menu is shall we say contenpoary Szechuan. A few new additions, but mostly jazzed up old favourites. We started off on a few appitizers, some spicy, some not. Just to warm up the taste buds. We also had some beer, which was served to us in a bowl. Which was actually much more easier to drink from than a glass. Also you drink slower also.
I ordered some Lemon Chicken to get us going, a time old favourite. Lovely pieces of deep fried chicken with a thick lemony sauce. This reminded me of lemon curd, a childhood obsession once upon a time. It wasn't on the menu, but I asked for Twice Cooked Pork, they were only too glad to do this for me. I was really happy. Absolutely great, apart from the lack of pork. Would have prefered a bit more. And to finish off and me literally as I was sooooo stuffed. Pearl of the Orient, a house speciality, they won an award a few years ago with this dish. It was a fruit, not too disimilar to a Lychee, coated in spicy crumbs and deep fried with at least 50 chili's. It really did have my mouth on fire.
Now overall, it was ok but not as good as I was hoping it to be. The food in Bar-Shu in London has a more authentic note to it, and they do use Pointing to Heaven Chili's, which give you a more numbing effect in your mouth, not a mouth on fire effect.
Good but not brilliant.
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