Made in China

At first glance, the menu seems rather standard, but a closer inspection reveals its hidden depths. The fare comprises a number of unusual dishes, mostly from the Hunan region, one of the eight distinct culinary geographies of China. There were even some vegetarian dishes that caught our carnivorous eye, which we toyed with the idea of ordering. At this point, we realised that the servers rather resembled the Terracotta Army, very decorative but ultimately non-effective. It took some effort to break them out of their Zen-like trance to place our order.

We started with Chicken Dried Red Chili, an entirely justified name we discovered. Though the dish takes a while to meander its way to our table, there’s nothing reticent in the way it grabs us by our throat. The chicken is tender, moist and fiery, the spice burning through our palate in a wholly delicious manner.

We mop our brow and wave napkins to get

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