I've been here a few times and for some reason it's usually with westerners, probably because my bf is so very into hot and spicy food. It's better to come in a small group so you can order more food, try everything and be completely stuffed at the end of it.
We always order the sour and spicy cucumber (or eggplants if we yield to my bf's whims), ChongQing saliva chicken (tender pieces of chicken in a spicy sauce with shallots and peanuts), and one of the best cold noodles I've had in HK - al dente, chewy, doesn't stick together in a clump, perfectly seasoned with chilli paste with a bite to it. I can down a plate myself given the chance. For mains the must have is the fish in spicy chilli broth. A massive pot of chilli sauce, with succulent pieces of fish fillets (no bones to worry about) that's been lightly cooked in hot oil to seal in the goodness and flavour, bean sprouts, and my favourite part - potato noodles. It's thick and wide, green-ish in colour, chewy and elasticky at the same time, slipperly and easily gets away if you're not concentrating hard enough with your chopsticks. I just dig the texture, and all that chilli coating those noodles just takes me to heaven. The "four season beans" (long or string beans) are done in Si Jie's particular fashion, with peppercorns and pickled vegetables and a bit of minced pork to give it that extra flavour. The beans are a verdant green and still retains a bit of crunch even though it's thoroughly cooked and the flavours soaked through and through. ChongQing chilli chicken looks impressive, with a mountain of bright red chilli and chunks of chicken hidden amongst it. Halfway through the dish and it gets harder to spot that piece of deep fried chicken nugget of gold, which means I usually give up and revert back to digging out potato noodles instead.
These are just a few of our favourite dishes, but there are dozens to choose from on the menu, and you get a set number of appetisers and main dishes according to how many people there are in your group. Those who are not particularly keen of spicy dishes are catered for too. Usually Si Jie will give you an extra dish of stir fried vegetables. Rice has never tasted so good, if only to dilute that numbing around your mouth lips and tongues from the infamous Sichuan peppercorn. Beer is a must, and soft drinks for those who need to cool down are also available. Welcome to BYOB.
And the best part of dinner is Si Jie herself. The restaurant is her family business, husband, son and the girlfriend of said son all pull their weight around here, serving a full house each time I'm there. And it's become quite a spot for westerners who are in the know too, or have local friends who take them there for a bit of alternative dining away from the LKF scene. Si Jie cooks all the dishes, and still manages to find time to come and have a beer with the guests. Well, in her case, it's more like half a dozen beers. That girl can drink! Last time we had about 6 hefty fit young blokes and none were a match in the beer guzzling contest. She gets red in the face, talks loud and fast in Mandarin, jokes around regardless of communication barrier (helps if you have a translator in the group), and makes you feel like a long lost friend being treated like royalty. She learnt that my bf's youngest sister (who wasn't there at dinner) knows how to speak Mandarin and can probably match her in beer consumption, and immediately warmed to this stranger she's not met, and gave us a bottle of lethal 52% Chinese wine from her home province to deliver to the lucky girl. And if she's in a really cheerful mood, beers on the house too (only if you pretend to try and beat her in the drinking contest). It's always a great night out and everyone leaves with a filled stomach bursting at the seams, loads of laughter, and good memories of an awesome night out.
Last thing, call and make a reservation, it gets booked out.
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