Shayan S.
Yelp
This place is friggin' fantastic - amazing food, great service, and they're about to open a Karaoke room downstairs (whoohooo!).
We ordered a ton of stuff; it was great that we had a Chinese friend with us, who helped us order the good stuff :)
What he had:
Appetizers:
Crispy Pork Belly
If you order anything in this place, it has GOT to be the crispy pork belly. OMG. I died. The plate lasted less than 5 minutes... addictive, perfectly crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside and full of delectable smoky flavour. This is like crack to me.
Smacked Cucumbers Hunan Style (vegan), £5.90
These were absolutely delicious, surprisingly spicy, and an ode to garlic lovers; it's one of those dishes that is highly addictive and makes you keep eating... loved it.
Dried Bean-Curd in Spring Onion and Oil (vegan), £6.90
This dish was so popular that we ordered it twice ! It is so much more than tofu, and infused with subtle flavours. Highly recommended, especially if you're with a vegetarian/vegan crowd.
Spiced Fungus (vegan), £4.90
WOW !!! This one had a true kick in good ol' fashion Hunan style. It was absolutely divine; great texture, served cold, and the chopped chillies will 'blow you away'. For spice lovers only though.
Blanched Spinach in Sesame Sauce (vegan), £5.90
Tame dish, but delicious... the Spinach tasted earthy in a kind of organic way. Enjoyed this a lot.
They were out of the Northern Sichuan Pea Jelly, which the vegetarians at the table were keen on tasting... but next time will be the one :). So many more appetizers to choose from, we'll have to come back!
From the mains, we had:
Deep Fried Beef with Cumin, £9.90
My least favourite dish, ordered by a friend of mine; I'm not too keen on cumin as I find it overpowers a lot of the meat and is hard to be subtle with; if you like cumin though, this will be a hugely satisfying dish... the beef is cooked to perfection, and tender.
Gong Bao Prawns with Cashew Nuts, £12.90
Didn't have a taste of this one, but it was gone in less than 5 mn; I think that it might have been *that* good !
Sliced Sea Bass in a Soup of Pickled Mustard, £12.90
This was one of the highlights for me (I ordered it, so it had better be the best tasting dish for me ;-). Served in a great tasting broth (not too salty), the sea bass melted in your mouth, and the flavour profile was out of this world. Slightly mustardy, delicately spiced, a hint of anis seed... yum, yum yum!!!!
Dry-fried Green Beans (fresh runner beans, minced pork and Sichuan bean sprouts), £7.90
Another surprising banger ! There's some serious chilli in this, so be prepared to cool this off with some Tsing-Tao or Tiger beer :) But very, very good.
Stewed Beef Brisket in Five Spiced Sauce, £9.00
Another one of my favourites of the night, ordered by my friend John (who did the review below). Very tender, not too fatty, the sauce was not too hot, subtle, but with strong flavour profiles. Highly recommended.
Bitter Melon, £10.90
I hate that stuff by default, so I'm not in a good place to review it.
All in all, Yipin China is one of those places that you very much hope will succeed. It's pretty unique in its offering of traditional Hunanese and Sichuanese as well as Cantonese food; and it offers a menu that caters for gung ho risk takers (Swan feet, duck tongue, offal) as well as adventurers (the sliced sea bass, or the beef in extremely spicy sauce)... as well as the more conservative, risk averse diners (the bean curd, aromatic crispy duck, etc.). Great options for vegans and omnivores alike, and they are fully licensed.
I really want to keep this place a secret, but I want it very much to survive... which in Islington is touch and go, especially since it's not on Upper Street per se, but on the road less traveled of Liverpool Road. That being said, given the quality of the food, the fact that the Chef has been part of some pretty famous restaurants in mainland China, and that they're opening up a Karaoke downstairs, they've got a lot going for them. I just hope it won't become too popular so that we can selfishly walk in whenever we want to have some soft shell crab or 5 spice beef !!!