Memory Of Sichuan in Reading

Best Szechuan outside of Sichuan!

We have previously found this place to be a little gem, regardless of how shabby & rundown it looks, the food & service was always good. However, yesterday, we were hugely disappointed. Service was slow, but tolerable, and the staff were polite, but the food and wine let them down. £24 for some rancid vinegar masquerading as Pinot Grigio. The Mixed Hor'dourves were tasty and fresh. The crispy duck was a cold, pink chunk of wetness. We complained, and they did bring out a steaming plate of the same thing, just very evidently microwaved! When the waitress came to ask how the food was, we said we were disappointed - as it was tasteless and not crispy at all. We were told, "Oh, you should have said you wanted it crispy'. Ermm ... We ordered Crispy duck? Clue was in the name! Our mains arrived - Egg fried rice, which was grey and old, and cold. Chicken chow mein, also cold, with dried up bits of chicken that looked like left overs, & sweet & sour chicken Hong Kong style, that was also cold, and just really very small lumps of batter! Not any chicken at all. We paid for our rancid wine & the Mixed Hor'dourves and left. Won't be back.

Ordered two dishes. Both were deep fried, though that was not apparent from the menu. Main course inedible.

Order a double vodka and coke, let me reassure you this was not a double, was as if my kids water downed the vodka, as soon as I challenged it they knew. I left immediately....do not do that to people! Food did smell and food good but I left, not amused! Don't abuse people, they knew!!

We went for the buffet and found the food exceedingly salty and dry. If I was sceptical I would say this was a ploy to get buffet diners to buy more drinks. I've eaten in lots of Chinese restaurants and this was the worst. Bad Memories of Szechuan more like.

Buffet wasn’t bad two of us popped in mid week food was well prepared, service was a little bland and staff seemed a little blunt

Salt salt and more salt..... food was terrible. Served cold, overcooked, hard and covered in salt. Service wasn't the best either. All in all not great at all.

The food is served too slowly and the order is chaotic

Food lovely although some rather cold, service a bit slow, restaurant was freezing cold and didn't like all the deliveries and just eat motorbikers coming in and out to collect food

the hot pot price has increased to 25£ pp but its good hot pot. not a wide selection- some options were not available

Very spacious restaurant and comfortable environment. We enjoy the lunch set and all you can eat hot pot! There is a toilet on ground floor for elderly and disabled.

I often come here to eat hot pot, which is very good, especially the shrimp in the hot pot is very fresh and sweet, and the meat is generously portioned. The beef lobster is also good. If you want to have a meal, twice-cooked pork rice and large intestine rice are highly recommended. My wife and I’s cafeteria.

Over priced for frozen food from Iceland All the meat is processed meat, slimy tasteless and all came out cold!!! It was freezing in there no heating they served on tea plates again cold!!! Awful waste of money. And rediculous over priced The crispy duck was scrapes of fat soft chewy and tasteless

Oh my GOD the braised sirloin with potato is so delicious ! And asked for extra soy on fried beef rice with chilli and let me tell you it taste better than the place I went to in china town. Their food maybe expensive but I tell you the quality is amazing. I’m so excited to have found a good place in reading.

Was really good food over all. Service could be a bit quicker

We got egg fried rice and sichuan diced chicken with chilli. Unfortunately, there were some 7 small chicken pieces in it for the 15.80 pounds we paid for the dish. We paid and expressed our dissatisfaction to the person serving us. The ambience was ourdated and gloomy. Perhspas of the food were ok we would not have noticed. Unless they make serious changes in their food quantity, we are not going back there.

Had the set lunch in a quiet atmosphere will try the evening menu soon

Had buffet hotpot. Not exactly what I expected. Very generous portion though. Fair price. Might go back to try other dishes but definitely not hotpot.

This is a nice restaurant to visit if you are craving for some Sichuan dish. I'm tempted to try the hot pot next time I'm there. Great place specially if you are a group of 4-10.

Food was ok , atmosphere is very retro and service is bit slow , no customer service or communication from staff . I feel the prices were bit expensive compared to other similar places . Corn soup was very very thick not like a soup . Not a great experience in dining.

Quite an unwelcoming restaurant , little interaction, poor customer service and a strange / rude atmosphere, we felt uncomfortable . Food is mediocre, definitely not worth the weekend buffet price . Satay chicken so tough I almost chocked . Garlic chicken so salty we left it . Decor needs a revamp and staff need to stop chatting amongst themselves and speak to their paying customers . Plus side it’s clean but other than hygiene we will not return for a second visit . Toilets are upstairs so impossible for disabled customers .

This place serviced my car for a reasonable price. Gary the mechanic checked my oil for free as well. Do recommend. Met Ronnie Pickering too

"Ah sorry, service fee not optional." Their words when we wanted to take out the service fee for the worst Chinese food we've ever ate. Every dish smells. Lighting dim as an attic.

I think I set my expectations too high for the Szechuan food here. Although the £10.90 drink, rice & dish is a good deal, the dish did not live up to its 2chilli designation on the menu in neither heat nor flavour. Seemed toned-down, more like a Cantonese version. Very nice waitress kindly brought me some chilli oil to spark it up. The cumin lamb was better, but not enough cumin nor Mala for me. Perhaps it’s just the style they have here. Would probably come back and ask for full-on flavour.

Everyone, please don't come. The charges are very expensive and the food is terrible. He charges three portions for the price of one meal. There are no people around now. Everyone, please don't come. Whoever comes will suffer. Don't come, it's expensive, the food's awful, he charges three for the price of one meal, and there's not many people here, so don't come.

This place is pretty nice and idk why the rating is so low. Food is good and fresh and nothing wrong. Friendly staff and didn’t charge a lot for service charge and takeaway boxes. Will visit again

Enjoyed most of the food, although the satay sauce was quite bland and disappointing everything else was great.

Used to be one of the best Chinese restaurants in Reading, but now the food is terrible. The chicken isn't crispy, it's soggy. The capital ribs are flavourless. The sauce just tastes of water! Only the satay chicken had any mild flavour, but again it was too watered down and undercooked. Basically inedible. Do not recommend.

The lunch menu is cheap and plentiful plus the food was good too

I really don’t want to eat hot pot here. I haven’t tried the stir-fried dishes, so I can’t comment, but I really don’t want hot pot! The taste of the spicy hot pot base is simply amazing. I can’t even describe what it tastes like. There’s a lot of residue in the pot. I think it’s five-spice powder or something. Anyway, it tastes weird. It’s the worst hot pot base I’ve ever had in the UK. The sesame paste also feels like it. It's sour and some dishes are not very fresh. There is also a sticker on the wall that says Chengdu Hot Pot ranks No. 1 in the UK. I don’t know how this was rated. Now the self-service price has become 25 pounds per person. It is not worth the price at all. It is better to go to the Super League to buy it and eat it at home to avoid lightning...

Terrible experience. Here is what we ordered: 1. 水煮牛 Spicy beef (pic 2)-tasted yucky, very salty with strong curry poweder and herbal medicine taste🥵 2. 东北溜肉段 pork (pic 1)-small portion and the meat is too hard to chew , again apart from salt, we couldn't taste anything else. It's so bad that my hubby had to return it. Waitress offered to have exchanged it for a tofu dish(麻婆豆腐), which is full of chilly powder taste. 3. Wonton soup for the little one which was ok but way too salty 4.鱼香茄子,yuxiang aubergine, which was the only good one. We spent £59 incl.service charge. Definitely not worth the money. The restaurant is very stuffy, amd the staff is not bothered to turn on the aircon. Such a huge mistake to have gone in this restaurant!!! Would definitely not recommend this restaurant!

Nice and cheap hot pot, they even have a chicken option, never saw that before!

Mediocre food. Not very authentic, either stir fry or Hot pot. Still the best Chinese restaurant in Reading tho🥲 the other one next to the uni has a crazy owner (agreed by all my friends, colleagues and family), and the Cantonese one in the casino is too hard to get to/in

I arrived here for 2.30 for the lunch menu. Lady was on the phone when we walked it, really rude told us to go away they are closed, when they close at 3pm. This used to be my favourite restaurant in Reading when owned by the previous management, I was their first customer. This is not the first time they’ve been rude. Very sad to see this Resturant become so hostile

Meal was good. I would have given 4 stars if only I didn’t witness one of the staff (the young Chinese guy with the black hair) coughing and spitting phlegm repeatedly in the sink where cocktails /drinks /alcohol is being made for customers. So unhygienic. I believe they have got a toilet or restroom where he could do that. But he kept spitting in the sink. Yuck 🤢

Flavourful, spicy Sichuan food in the city centre, highly recommend

I recently had the pleasure of dining at the Memory of Szechuan in Reading, and I must say, the service provided by the staff was absolutely brilliant. In particular, our handsome server went above and beyond to ensure that we had a fantastic dining experience. From the moment we walked in, we were greeted with a warm and friendly smile, and our server took the time to explain the menu and make recommendations based on our preferences. Throughout the meal, our server was attentive and thoughtful, checking in on us frequently to make sure we had everything we needed. Not only was the service exceptional, but the food was also absolutely delicious. The flavors were rich and complex, and the presentation was beautiful. We particularly enjoyed the Sichuan spicy chicken and the hot pot, both of which were absolutely divine. Overall, I would highly recommend the Memory of Szechuan to anyone looking for an exceptional dining experience in Reading. The service provided by our server was truly outstanding, and it made the meal even more enjoyable.

1. One of the few real Chinese restaurants in Reading 2. The taste is very good 2. I have never eaten in a physical store. I always order deliveryoo. The price is a little expensive but the portion is very generous. Hot and sour soup and twice-cooked pork are very good However, the overall taste is not salty and spicy enough Fish-flavored shredded pork is a bit too sweet ___________________2023 Update: I often order their twice-cooked pork. Unfortunately, the latest twice-cooked pork is obviously not as good as before in terms of pork processing. It has a strong fishy smell unique to British pork. This time I took one bite and threw it away. I am a fat person but I can’t help but eat meat. And I maintain a principle that since I have already eaten something unhealthy for me, Then it must be delicious, not delicious and unhealthy. . . Then I'm sorry. . . I'm sure I didn't have this smell before. I don't know if it's because I haven't deodorized it recently or something. . .

It was very quiet, which can be good or bad depending on your preference. It meant we were served quickly! The staff explained the concept to my friends well enough. The food was great, we got a mild and a medium spice pot. Both were very flavorful. Generous amount of each selected component. Great value for money

The restaurant was cold as only 1 heater was working and we had to sit there in our coats. Staff were cleaning around us while we were eating, spraying disinfectant and doing washing up at the bar. Not all dishes were hot, had to send back some prawns, which they then heated up in the microwave. The chilli squid tasted like the oil was old or reused and the plates they gave us were wet. We were made to feel unwelcome, like they wanted us to leave and we felt uncomfortable, the staff were talking loudly amongst themselves and were not attentive. It’s a shame as the last time I ate there for a family birthday the food tasted really fresh and was good, I am reluctant to go back.

They ran out of rice... What Chinese restaurant runs out of rice…? And they still tried to charge us for it

legit seeming sichuan restaurant; the menu has all the classics, the staff speak Chinese and the food is very tasty

Thete were alot of Chinese peopke eating there so that says alot

The food selection is great. We have visited more than six times and every new dish we try is delicious. And with a fair price. Ideal for groups who like to share.

We ordered hotpot, everything was very good. I think the cleanliness of the restaurant could be improved

If you don't open the cook, what are you waiting for? The Sichuan food in the Sichuan restaurant is so unpalatable. The owner is Cantonese. The Cantonese food he ordered was not even average. Not returning the food is already a shame.

After eating, I resisted my bad temper and did not return the dish, which was a great honor to the store! A chef of this caliber should start working as soon as possible! Won't go there a second time!

Excellent restaurant. Well worth a visit.

Wonderful Superb food every time I visit. Very friendly staff.

good service and tasty Chinese food

We love the food these guys prepares every time delicious

September 2022 First visit. Had the hotpot. Thoroughly enjoyed it, struggled to finish everything. Other diners' plates looked to be of good quality too. £49 for two of us including 2 pints @ almost £11. Don't be put off by the drab exterior. We will be returning.

I was getting ready for bed and it filnaly arrived, cold. Order was wrong, god knows what it was but I was promptly sick 😫 For what I got the price was extortionate, can't beleve I paid so much. Why didn't I read the reviews! I'm sticking to Terry Lings from now on, best taste best value.

Great Chinese place for Reading. Use the bound menu to get a genuine experience. Had the mapo tofu, green beans, yuxiang eggplant, spicy cucumber, peanut tangyuan, fermented bean hollow celery, hongshao pork, and duck. Shoot the cucumber Crispy duck Mapo Tofu Stir-fried green beans Fish-flavored eggplant braised pork Sad vegetables, shredded chili fermented bean curd Rice dumplings with peanuts

Everything is good and prepare with lot of care...definitely to try.

Amazing food and service. Very authentic. Keep this place going! It would be a huge shame to lose this from Reading.

Pretty unassuming Chinese restaurant near Reading station with a menu of Sichuan dishes, Cantonese dishes, Fish and Hot Pot. This time a friend and I had the hot pot and were pleasantly surprised, the soup was pretty good and we got a choice of 8 items from the menu to boil up. At about £22 per person, it’s relatively expensive but for a proper Chinese food fix I’d definitely recommend it. The waitress was friendly and there was a wide range of drinks as well as ingredients for a hot pot dipping sauce. I’d like to return and try out the Sichuan dishes.

Didn't get the food that we order &the service was very poor I don't think I will be going back

The food was served very slowly, after waiting for more than an hour, and it was extremely unpalatable. The grilled fish was full of anise flavor, and the beef louvers with double peppers were filled with mustard.

Had a delicious meal, food was amazing, freshly cooked and there was plenty on the plate I couldn't eat. Staff are friendly and not in your face all the time. Would highly recommend this restaurant.

Very disappointed. Maybe my 20th visit here ordering the same dish. Guo Bao Rou. It has drastically changed with the new chef, pork cut very thick and drowned in ketchup, tasting of very old cooking oil. Totally inedible, we ate half then left. The waitress who I know very well offered no form of discount or compensation whatsoever . Very poor customer management and please do change your cooking oils, they become very cancerous if re used too much.

Unusually very busy in restaurant and unfortunately not able to cope. Waited ages for food to come out. They were fine on other occasions so maybe one off.

Lovely place to eat, we went with friends and had the buffet, and I throughly enjoyed it. Would highly recommend eating here.

Not a great experience, service was poor and food a little cold.

The taste is ok and the price is reasonable

We have tried to have dinner about five times and they have not wanted to serve us, giving us different excuses. The last time their excuse was that they did not have enough staff to serve us during business hours. Not recommendable.

We tried to have dinner like 5 times and always they are close to close the restaurant or they said that they don’t have enough staff to attend us and we are only 5 people. I don’t recommend that.

No matter from the perspective of diners or chefs, they are very average, not very authentic, but bland. I think this is disrespectful to the ingredients.

Gone down hill, all food came out cold. It's a shame, this place used to be great!

I wanna give you half a star only but there is only 1 star. Floor star were very unprofessional with us and they discriminated us because we were asian aswell. They were nice to other chinese customers but were rude to us. Very bery unprofessional, they need to learn how to serve all customers equally no discrimination.

It’s alright, not anywhere near as good as other Chinese Restaurants. Food was okay but nothing special, definitely not fresh as stated. Staff aren’t very attentive and you have to tell them multiple times when you want something. We had to ask the waitress about 5 times for something until she bought it to us. The staff who clean up are nice but the lady taking orders isn’t so friendly. Wouldn’t recommend but it’s not the worst.

This is phenomenal food and a great price. All you can eat freshly cooked food is under £20 and includes all the good stuff. The staff are a bit busy all the time but are polite and professional and attentive. It's much better to eat in than get take away as it's more expensive and not as good after delivery.

Spam in the Singapore Noodles. Was not nice. Would be better with real ham. Generous portion for the price.

Worst Chinese restaurant ever...

Food is great and reasonable price.

Memory of Sichuan is a Sichuan Chinese restaurant in Reading town centre, that serves traditional main dishes and hotpot. Their mains are pretty authentic, with a particularly good value weekday lunch menu deal, but this week we went for their hotpot and was blown away by it. It's £22 per person for unlimited buffet (order 8 items at a time, we ordered 3 times). The main thing I loved about it was the variety of offerings available on their hotpot menu. You start off by choosing your soup base: plain, spicy (3 levels), pickled veg, or lamb bone soup base. You can half/half any of the soup bases except the lamb bone soup base. We went for half plain, half mildly spicy. In addition to the normal thin meat slices, they had unlimited offal, seafood, vegetables, tofu/vermicelli, and even rice/noodles/dumplings! Their portion sizes are huge, we made the mistake of ordering both beef slices and lamb slices and that was enough meat for the entire meal, we wanted more seafood. The fish, shelled prawns, and squid were all fantastic. And though you don't want to fill up on carbs, the fact that they have udon/noodles/ho fun/fried rice for free is something I've not yet seen before at a hotpot buffet. I have to say that their homemade la mian stretched noodles were fantastic to finish off with, and the dumplings were pretty good too. Some detractors were that the hotpot burner was not very fast and they fill it up pretty deep, so the pot simmered rather than boiled. Twice they forgot our enoki mushrooms orders (or did they run out but didn't tell us?), and sometimes they run out of sesame paste dip on the side but you can just ask for them to refill it. But all in all it's my favourite hotpot place in the UK now, and I've been to plenty in London. Some other hotpot options in Reading include The Imperial Kitchen at Genting Casino and Kung Fu Kitchen, but I'd be surprised if they can be better. £22 for such a variety of unlimited hotpot offerings is an incredible deal, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone wanting a warm hearty meal this winter! :)

Food is very delicious but I would give the service 4 stars as it’s not up to the level of cooking.

Amazing buffet. Well worth the money

My girlfriend is from Chengdu in the Sichuan province. The dishes we ordered were very representative of the region and give westerners like me a glimpse of their culinary world. Far better than Cantonese typical restaurant and takeaway dishes. The dishes were not fully authentic but was a nice tasting experience never the less.

Really great food guys, ya gotta eat here!!

A cheap but friendly buffet chinese. Quality poor, but you get what you pay for.

Absolutely appalling with timing, they lie about your food preparation time and you will be there waiting for hours, every time you ask them how long it takes they say it is coming. If you would like to have 3 hr for your dinner, pbpy better place to go.

food was excellent and so was the service

The one and only authentic Chinese restaurant in Reading! Great service, too! This is the only authentic Chinese food in the Reading area. Although it is a Sichuan restaurant, the owner is actually Cantonese, so it is definitely a good idea to order Cantonese food from his restaurant! The spicy chicken is delicious, don’t worry if you don’t make any mistakes when making the soup! And there is a KTV upstairs. Don’t ask me how I know 😂---A stubborn Chinese stomach

Fantastic food & fantastic friendly service. A great atmosphere & great hospitality as well as great value for money. Highly recommended.

Tasty 'home cooked' food, well served in a nice environment, we arrived too late for hotpot, but their extensive menu is worth perusing.

Walked past many times without going in. Hot pot was excellent and to my knowledge the only place in Reading you can get it. Reasonably priced and very filling - you only need the hotput buffet nothing else.

An authentic experience. Great food and very reasonably priced. Love it.

Eat in wasn't busy but they sent out quite a few deliveries. Was a set price of £18:90 I think but you could order what you wanted off of a 2 sided menu as long as you didn't waste it. Go properly hungry to make the most of it.

Food is actually not bad, price is average and service is great. Plan to try their hotpot after lockdown

Food is ok and hosts are nice but interior can really use a makeover . Recommended once in a while.

Really nice staff, nice food. Thanks guys.

Myself and my mum came to the restaurant since lockdown food was good but the staff did not follow the coronavirus guidelines they did not do the track and trace and they did not have customers sitting 2 metres apart and this put myself and my mum in a position wjere we have obliged to not return as guidelines have not been met

Felt genuine unlike random takeaways, worth a go. Food was delicious and they're not too expensive!

Good food, good value on eat out to help out scheme.

Good Chinese cuisine, friendly staff, clean restaurant. Excellent for quality and price. I advise.

This was the second time we have eaten at this restaurant and it did not disappoint. We live in Oxford and came to Reading to do some errands. I really don’t understand the bad reviews at all. The food is amazing, by far the best we have ever had in the UK. It’s made fresh and comes hot and delicious. The staff are very nice and friendly. We never had the hotpot so don’t know what’s it’s like but the buffet is fantastic and I highly recommend it!

Best Chinese buffet we had in the UK... everything we tried was delicious. Glad we could return!

I did Friday lunch a week ago and though the service was fast, the restaurant was kind of cold and to be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of the taste of the food. That might be just my taste but in any case, I don't think I would try again

I have to give it a thumbs up. As a Sichuanese, I am very happy to be able to eat delicious Sichuan food in Reading! The boss has a great attitude! I'm so happy to eat traditional Sichuan cuisine from my hometown, when I'm a long way from home in Reading!