Sichuan House

Smart city centre restaurant offering a rare chance to try a sizzling regional Chinese cuisine.

The 2017 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

Diners looking to experience authentic, high-class Chinese cuisine would be well advised to visit Sichuan House. Specialising in the typically fiery dishes of that region, the menu makes few concessions for Western tastes, with sea snails, duck tongues and chicken gizzard among the more unusual ingredients to be found. Less adventurous eaters may prefer the house speciality of roasted sea bass served on or off the bone in a spicy sauce with sliced lotus root, air-dried tofu, belly pork and Chinese mushrooms, or perhaps tender fillet of beef in a delicious mandarin sauce. Each item on the menu is helpfully accompanied by a picture and a chilli pepper rating. A number of vegetable dishes is also available, making a shared meal an appealing prospect for a larger group or family. A few takeaway-style dishes lurk at the back of the menu but, given the quality of cooking and diversity of the cuisine, it would be a shame to miss out on this cultural dining experience.

• High point: High-end regional Chinese cuisine
• Low point: Migraine-inducing flashing curtain lights
• Notable dish: Roasted sea bass with Sichuan sauce