Wendy L.
Yelp
There has been a few Chinese restaurants that has attempted their business here but they don't seem to last very long. The Old Street Chinese restaurant is the latest establishment best known for its Sichuan food and Sichuan Hotpot buffet.
The restaurant brought back quite nostalgic memories of the times I was in China with the smell, simple decor of red walls and solid wood tables. The place was pretty big and most of the customers were Chinese. Even the staff spoke very basic English although service was much more friendly compared the Chinese restaurants in Chinatown,
For £19.98 per person you can get a Sichuan hotpot buffet. You have a choice of a spicy Sichuan broth, a plain or both. We opt for the plain and hot which were both incredibly good.
Plain hotpot base
Even the plain soup had a lot of depth and umami from the chicken broth base. Red dates, tomatoes and goji berries gave it sweetness and spring onions for aromatic sweet mild heat.
Sichuan hotpot base
This was not just pure spicy but very fragrant as well. Containing very rich, pungent, peppery, sweet numbing spices varying from Sichuan peppercorn, fried chillies and ginger for it's flavour. Still quite mild compared to what you get in Sichuan but for me it was better that way or I my tastebuds would have been destroyed.
Help yourself condiment station was a very thoughtful thing to have as many places don't offer any dipping sauces other than soy sauce.
There were different things you can pair together to create your own sauce:
Chive sauce
Spring onion
Minced ginger and garlic
Chicken infused oil
Chilli oil
Red fermented tofu
Sesame paste
Oyster sauce
Black rice vinegar
Soy sauce
I recommend
Dip 1: Add mince ginger and garlic, Spring onion, sesame paste and chicken oil
Dip 2: Add chilli oil, soy sauce and black rice vinegar
Dip 3: Add the mince garlic and ginger, spring onion and chicken oil
Another recommendation is to order a Wong Lo Kat tea to help with the spicy food or purely to help the food cool down after boiling in the broth,
For our hotpot buffet we ordered:
Fat lamb belly
Fat beef belly
Beef honeycomb tripe
Fresh tofu
Chinese leaf
Rice cakes
Fresh fish slices
Sweet potato noodles
Wide mung bean noodles
Crab sticks
Chicken on bone
Cabbage
Spinach
Cooked pork belly
Fish balls
Beancurd stick
Fresh prawns
LAMB & BEEF
Although the lamb belly, beef belly and honeycomb tripe came frozen, it still tasted very good and high quality after cooked. They were succulent and sweet in flavour and although slightly chewy, their thinness meant they were still very edible.
FISH
The fresh fish slices were by far my favourite, incredibly sweet and flavours enhanced when cooking in the hotpot.
NOODLES
Noodles were lovely and chewy and nice to have with the broth at the end when it's taken all up the flavours of the meat and veg.
TOFU AND CHINESE LEAF
Both the tofu and Chinese leaf were nice and fresh and absorbed the flavours of the hotpot well which also highlights the quality of the broth.
CHICKEN
At first I was quite disappointed at how the chicken on bone was pre cooked but it was actually nice to have it browned and seasoned before not only to keep the flavours intact but also to ensure that it was safe to eat. Being boiled in the broth to recook it, the chicken absorbed the moisture it lost and became tender and juicy again. Pretty good.
PORK
Pork belly was nice, bouncy and incredibly tender. The fat must have marbleised the meat beforehand when it was roasted making it nice and succulent too.
VEGETABLES
Cabbage and spinach were both very fresh and refreshing to have.
FISH BALLS
Fish balls were very bouncy and recommended to left longer in the broth to take on more flavour as it slowly soaks it up like a sponge.
TOFU STICKS
Same with the tofu sticks that needs longer time in the broth to rehydrate. Therefore I recommend it to be one of the first few ingredients to throw in before the rest so it becomes nice and soft. There were lovely and silky after unraveling, soaking in the hot broth.
PRAWNS
Prawns came surprisingly fresh and not frozen. These were okay in flavour but not the sweetness. Nice after being dipped in the sauce created and had a really good bite being bouncy and firm.
I've been to a lot of hotpot buffets in London and none of them have been so reasonable in pricing yet offer such a good variety of food and high quality of ingredients for the hotpot, The broth were also well seasoned and full of depth and complexity. I was very happy with the small touches such as the self help sauce counter, the wide spacious atmosphere and service. For £19.98 it is very worth what we had and I would definitely be returning with my friends and family next.