Szechuen Kitchen in Southampton

Brilliant genuine restaurant full of ethnic Chinese 🇨🇳 folk having a whale 🐳 of a time! Best Chinese in years thanks so much Would love to go back with a few friends next time 🕰️

Great food and really big portions

An amazing Chinese was working down here and honestly was spot on best salt and pepper chicken wings I've tasted.

Fantastic food! We had the szechuan hot and spicy beef / pork belly with handmade noodles (see pics). An amazing blend of spices!

Bland bland bland, ordered spicy and it was not. We ordered spicy znd just recieved very tastless foid . Service was great, but food disapointing.

Good food, feel authentic Chinese restaurant. The only downside is you have to choose minimum 8 ingredients for hotpot/dry pot, which would be perfect for 3 people and above. But for two people, it is a lot and we couldn’t finish all. Apart from that, all good.

Have to know what you are doing to enjoy the hotpot. Lovely experience.

Had an amazing time here, such care went into the food and it really felt special. Thank you!

Excellent authentic Chinese food, we went with the Rice noodle soup dishes and they were as close to eating in China as you could get! Definitely a restaurant note added to our list for the next time we’re in the city

So glad we found this place. Food was excellent, service a little slow but worth waiting for. Portion sizes are ample, we probably didn't need the starters.

Too spicy and very oily. Service isn’t nice. And why can’t I remove the service charge with a not enjoyable service? Rude staff as well. Won’t come again and won’t recommend.

Really glad we found here! Brilliant authentic food, tasty as.... Being gluten free is always an issue, limited to food I can eat, but asking if the squid starter, soft shell crab and chicken wings were ok....yes they only use cornstarch. Perfect 3 big starters arrived after 10 mins or so, lovely chrysanthemum and jasmine tea too. Masses of food beautiful flavours, loads of chilli....why on earth did we order mains? Needed to bring half the beef noodle broth and twice cooked belly pork home.... Service a little slow, very popular amongst the Asian community... An absolute pleasure to see most of the staff sitting down together to enjoy their pre evening service meal, as a chef it brings me joy to see....respect, many thanks, if I was local, I'm sure I'd be on first name terms and learning Chinese.

Really glad we found here! Brilliant authentic food, tasty as.... Being gluten free is always an issue, limited to food I can eat, but asking if the squid starter, soft shell crab and chicken wings were ok....yes they only use cornstarch. Perfect 3 big starters arrived after 10 mins or so, lovely chrysanthemum and jasmine tea too. Masses of food beautiful flavours, loads of chilli....why on earth did we order mains? Needed to bring half the beef noodle broth and twice cooked belly pork home.... Service a little slow, very popular amongst the Asian community... An absolute pleasure to see most of the staff sitting down together to enjoy their pre evening service meal, as a chef it brings me joy to see....respect, many thanks, if I was local, I'm sure I'd be on first name terms and learning Chinese.

Amazing authentic food! Really friendly and nice service. I appreciated every single minute and the wonderful taste. Best food in England for me so far! 🥰 谢谢

Most wonderful food, highly recommended 👌

The dining experience was enjoyable, with great food, albeit leaning towards the pricier side. While the staff were pleasant, the service left something to be desired. I found myself waiting for a drink until I requested it, and water refills were non-existent. Consequently, the service charge seemed unjustified, given the lack of attentive service despite the staff's friendliness. Overall, I really enjoyed the food.

In my impression, there are very few Chinese restaurants that use black and white tones. I don’t quite understand this style. I only had one Chinese meal after four months abroad. The price did break the upper limit, but it was worth it. My stomach is short of oil and water, and there is nothing that a Chinese meal cannot solve. Everything in this plate of braised pork sausage is delicious, and the potatoes and onions are also very delicious. I ordered the saliva chicken as a cold dish, which can relieve the spiciness. The boiled cabbage is a big portion and relieves the greasiness. We two girls showed off our rice and had a great time.

Most of the dishes are quite good, my only gripe being that some dishes are too salty. The staff are nice and friendly, speaking a combination of English, Mandarin and Cantonese, depending on the waiter. Pretty decent hotpot, and an amazing fish soup.

Very good food. Sumptuous quantity.

I recently dined at Szechuen Kitchen in Southampton and found the hot pot menu to be an exceptional experience for my family. The variety and quality of the ingredients were outstanding, making for a delicious and interactive meal. However, from a marketing perspective, there are some areas that could be enhanced to attract a broader clientele. Firstly, while the food is both visually appealing and delicious, a slight rearrangement or update in the decor could make the space more inviting and enhance the overall dining atmosphere. A refresh in the interior design, perhaps adding more elements that reflect the Szechuan culture or modernizing the layout, could create a more appealing ambiance for a wider range of customers. Moreover, the restaurant could benefit from more proactive marketing efforts to promote its unique hot pot experience. Given the quality of the food and the fun, family-friendly nature of hot pot dining, there's a great opportunity to market this as a unique culinary adventure. Social media campaigns showcasing the interactive dining experience, the fresh ingredients, and the vibrant dishes could attract food enthusiasts looking for something different. Collaborations with local influencers or food bloggers could also be a way to increase visibility and reach a wider audience. Special events or themed nights centered around the hot pot concept could further enhance the appeal. In summary, Szechuen Kitchen in Southampton has a fantastic offering with its hot pot menu. With a slight revamp in decor and a strategic marketing approach, the restaurant has the potential to become a go-to destination for a diverse range of diners seeking a unique and delicious culinary experience.

What an amazing food experience. We all had the hot pot and it was so tasty. The £28 all you can eat hot pot was value for money. Lamb, Beef, mussels, lobster ball, squid, pork, all the greens, Pak Choi, Mushrooms, potatoes, noodles, rice and many more items + free coke, Green tea… the food kept coming, the broth kept being topped up, the Service was fantastic even though the place was packed. I would strongly recommend this experience.

Great Szechuan cuisine. Highly recommend the dry work. The mala soup is very spicy, so be warned!

Incredible Szechuan food! We had the special noodle soups (spicy beef and brisket), and both of them were absolutely delicious. The spicy one especially was nice and spicy with authentic flavours and that traditional Szechwan tingle. Would come back here in a heartbeat! 😋👌

Food simply fabulous! See you soon!!

Cramped space, lack proper ventilation. Fair food quality. Not worth the price.

Good food, worth the price, nice and friendly staffs.

Really great food so much food and you get a drink included in the price The juicy beef was so nice ☺️

Went to a late dinner, looks like the staff was thinking only how to finish work faster 😁

The food was superb - absolutely delicious and big portions! The staff were friendly and attentive.

We were yesterday and we had very bad to experience. Food was too oily and when we ask to add hot water to our tea pot we got different pot with cold water. Surprised as previously we were in other restoran from same chain and all was good

We had soups with homemade pasta that were tasty and heart-warming, perfect for a rainy evening after visiting town. The restaurant offers authentic Chinese food, lots of Chinese descent clients testify to this authenticity. We wished we had room for the hotpot that looked yummy but we had late lunch that day. Service was attentive. Thank you! We highly recommend.

Authentic cuisine. Highly recommended, although do take note on the level of heat in the dishes. Definitely will return.

Food tastes good but price is too high and some staffs are not friendly

大约一个月前在川味园吃麻辣香锅 鱿鱼全是臭的 女经理端走还要问我你觉得你想要怎么办，还要说剩下的都是好的，鱿鱼就是这个味道 （一股被泡过药水刺鼻的味道混着变质味）不是吧臭味和腥味会分不出来吗，后续处理就是端到后厨把鱿鱼夹走重新炒了一遍，经理让服务员后来送了杨枝甘露表示是免费赠送，但是里面还有吸管的外包装泡在里面，吃了快一年了疯狂推荐没想到遇到这种事情。

Highly recommended chinese restaurant. A great Chinese restaurant and hotpot restaurant in the Southampton area. A little on the pricier side, at around £10-£20, however it is a great place for the occasional social dining with friends. The service is pretty fast and the staff are friendly. The atmosphere is also good and relaxing. Recommended dishes: -松鼠鲈鱼 -四季豆 -孜然羊肉

Upstairs Chinese restaurant (very much not handicap accessible) This restaurant serves very good noodle dishes.

훠궈먹으러 코로나전에 왔었는데 그새 가격이 많이 올랐네요~전세계 어디나 물가는 무섭네요~우리입맛에도 잘맞아 한국분들께 추천해요~

Very quiet on a week night. A bit odd for the 'buffet' menu if you don't know what is happening. But it was delicious and I would definately go back 😁

Delicious food! Outstanding were 1) stir fry w/ aubergine and green bean, and 2) crispy sweet and sour sea bass which was deboned but served beautifully with the head and tail.

Had to wait over an hour for food, came out cold, but was tasty. Went to pay the bill and they had put on a 10% tip. I asked for an explanation and was to it was a service fee. I said there was no service. I sure it was because we weren’t Korean.

Delicious food! I love their pickled fish soup and crispy soft-shell crab. But my recent visit the prices went up and I am not sure it is worth the price but we are in a cost of living crisis. However the staff is realy nice and welcoming but sometimes we are lost in translation as I requested for some of our food to be packed but instead it was thrown out, but they were super understanding and very professional! This definitely a place to visit!

Sensational food, quality and quantity. Recommended.

The hotpot is a unique experience and reasonably priced if you’re hungry! Comes with unlimited drinks, including beer, which is great. Recommend for large groups and for the experience.

A go to for Szechuan Hot Pot! Service: the staff were really friendly and helpful. There definitely is a culture of going up to the counter or needing to get the staff's attention yourself but this added to the experience for us. The staff as well as the table next door were really kind in explaining some general rules for hotpot and the tick box menu was novel. Food: it was a hotpot buffet hour when we arrived so hotpot was on a different menu and slightly more expensive (Friday pm). We had the spicy and the tomato soup base as well as some meat, tofu and vegetables. The flavours and ingredients were really tasty and fresh and we loved cooking everything ourselves. The addition of free Chinese green tea and make your own dipping sauces was amazing too. Atmosphere: the restaurant itself was full of Chinese groups so felt all the more authentic. The way the hotpot was served all matched what we had seen in China before and we'd love to eat here again. They had a sister restaurant M'Dim Sum where we plan to go next.

在这儿吃饭，买单时候告诉只能付现金，刷卡转账都不行，我问支付宝呢，跟我说汇率9。让我去银行取钱，告诉我旁边就是，走了十分钟才找到。

We came with partner and 2 children. we wanted to order hot pot for 2 person as my kids don't eat chinese food. on the spot we were told that they have to count for 3 and a half people because there are cameras and if children eat with us it must be counted. If I buy a set for 2 people, it is only my business whether my child will eat with me. This is clearly extortion of customers for additional fees. I will never go back there and will not recommend it to anyone.

Not very spicy for chinese and high cost efficiency

Not what I expected. Wasn’t too good !

Great traditional food, service and atmosphere. Delicious dumplings!

Took my daughter and her friend there, ordered kid friendly safe food; chicken in peking sauce, crispy sweet chilli beef, house special Ho fun, egg fried rice, boiled rice… and we are now absolutely stuffed. The portions were large. Delivery time was good, not too fast, not too slow. Prawn crackers aplenty and gently spicy. Food was extremely tasty. The Ho fun was amazing but the kids didn’t like that one and the texture was a bit new to me but loads of beef and seafood. Great value for money. Really good service. Our waitress was extremely pleasant and the lady who cleaned up my daughters drink, after she spelt it on the floor, was incredibly polite and happy, constantly smiling and helpful. A real pleasure. Great service. Good atmosphere. Interesting place. The hot pots looked amazing. Had three Fantas and a Jasmine tea… as well as the above and it all came in at just under £60. Will definitely go back.

Tasteless spicy soup dish. Chicken was all bony. No decent meat at all. Place is also a dump and filthy. No heating available and the place was freezing. Really was an awful experience

水煮牛肉 炸牛里脊肉，虽然有点咸，但是 好吃的 富贵毛血旺 料很足，有肥肠，牛百叶，鸭血，午餐肉，蟹棒，腐朽，豆芽，白菜 毛血旺没有特别的正宗，但是也是好吃的

Hot pot was great, fresh ingredients and friendly staff. A great experience for a reasonable price. Worth a try!

Very friendly staff. All Chinese clientele- which is always a good sign! I was the difficult vegan - but they whipped me up THE MOST AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS mind-blowing exotic vegetable noodle soup! I think I fell in love a little with whoever it was that made it in the kitchen! All the other dishes going out looked amazing too - obviously made with love! Highly, highly recommended!!! 💕🌈 🍲

Heard about fabulous hot and sour soup here, so we wanted to give it a try. Ordered hot and sour soup, chicken satay with peanut sauce and a spicy lamb dish. Soup arrived and it was good. Very think. Lots of shrimp, pork, mushrooms, etc. Meal arrived and chicken was a disappointment. Description said ‘hot and spicy peanut sauce’. Dish was none of those. Was boring. Asked waiter if there was an error. He said no. It is subtle peanut flavor in sauce. Trust me, there was NONE. Lamb dish had more flavor. Overall service was bad. Waiter forgot to bring beer. Nobody ever asked us if everything was ok, if we needed anything. Would not recommend.

Quality of food is horrible. Both my partner and me got a terrible stomach ache soon after having lunch. Also, we waited 1 hour and half to get our food (spring rolls, rice, noodles and chicken, so no elaborate dishes). First and last time we eat there.

Food quality is so so. But service is too bad. May be we went in night 8.45.

先说优点，吃的火锅，味道属于不错的。食材也新鲜。 但是老板，咱要是做不来自助火锅或者自助服务跟不上可以不做。用餐时间规定两小时，第一小时上了一盘菜，两个人吃了10分钟，剩下时间就在等，期间只能捞锅里的渣解馋。等于真的按照两个小时算，我们吃两盘菜就要走了不是😯 当然后面一桌等到在打牌是真的惊到我😂

Shocking service ! We were 4 of us and gave our orders . We waited for 40 minutes and during this time we see people around us being served . Eventually we asked the lady who took our order and she said we have to wait another 45 min to 1 hour . They should have told us this right from the beginning and we would have just left the place . Instead only after we asked they bothered to tell us this . Please don't go there . Absolutely no respect for people's time.

红烧牛肉面不红烧，直接水煮给你，要辣椒给蒜蓉垃圾，这算什么川菜？

吃的，菜都还不错，没有说特别好吃，但也没 有难吃的 缺点是上菜很慢 菜量不大，价格也不贵，人均14￡，没有吃很饱 多吃饭真幸福，可以尝很多很多的菜！

吃的，菜都还不错，没有说特别好吃，但也没有难吃的 缺点是上菜很慢 菜量不大，价格也不贵，人均14￡，没有吃很饱 多吃饭真幸福，可以尝很多很多的菜！

Worst restaurant ever. Wait for an hour for just two noodles and all food are so oily. Rubbish and no next time

Some waiters are indifferent to their customers. Not everyone accepts professional service training obviously. Food is great but not highly recommended.

上餐速度极慢，过了20分钟催的时候，回答说：现在做。 订家常菜去调蘸料的时候，扎马尾的女服务员还在背后跟其他的同事议论，我不能调蘸料了？？

Long wait for food, self-service with time limit. 14 pounds for a bottle of ice tea. How generous they are.

Amazing Szechuan food, not for the faint hearted chicken chowmein folks. If you're not used to real Chinese food, might not be your thing. (Your friendly neighbourhood Asian lol)

We thought the twice-cooked pork dish was too over-cooked, and the service was very slow although the servers were friendly and helpful (other than they recommended the food that was too over-cooked to eat and enjoy).

Hot pot 2 serving 1st time exp was 👍 good

45 minutes wait for salt and peper chips and 2 hot and soure soups, service worst ever. Mostly onions hardly any chips soup just tasted of vinegar. This is the worst takeaway I have ever had. Besides the few chips could not eat anything else

0 out of 5 Really bad experience. Don’t recommend to order any noodles. I ordered two different types of noodles,it taste disgusting.

Really bad experience. Don’t recommend to order any noodles.

Absolutely awful, duck pancakes arrived without the hoisin sauce to begin with and sadly that was the only edible thing we bought! Chicken and sweetcorn soup was flavourless and gelatinous - completely inedible. My partners special fried rice was smelly to point were it seemed off… and everything was slimy. Nothing fresh about anything prepared. Only gave 1 star as no option for lower, do not recommend and will definitely not be ordering from here again.

Expensive, low quality and missing items. I'd rather walk into traffic than order from them again. Ever ordered aromatic duck? You'd think they'd know what was supposed to be included but I guess they tan out of half the ingredients and somehow thought it was ok to sell it anyway. Scummy, truly scummy.

Dining in with my friends. Nice service and excellent food. Highly recommended. 今天吃了麻婆豆腐, 担担面, 干煸肥肠, 豆奶可乐, 回锅肉!

Absolutely 💯 perfect food very good staff

Bland and uninspiring food bad service and way too expensive!! Don’t waste your money!!

Excellent The best Chinese food I've had in years

We waited a long time, although the food was good quality be cautious as hot and spicy really was up on the scale

Dining in with friends and kids. Nice food but small portion and slow service!

Having read the mixed (albeit mostly good) reviews we were unsure as to whether this would suit us. It's certainly very authentic! I think we were the only 'white caucasian' Brits there - probably to the cooking! After a failure on our part to grasp how the menu worked - and a minor language barrier with the waitress, we eventually ordered the recommended hot pot. Fantastic! I like hot food, but my husband doesn't. The 'stock pot' arrived split in half with two different flavours. A platter of assorted raw food was delivered which we had great fun cooking at the table. With the additional dipping sauces, the whole meal was fantastic! A must do if you visit Southampton!

The boss of this restaurant is very rude. The internal kitchen is dirty.

Good authentic Chinese food being served here. Anyone not used to be authentic Chinese food be warned that food will have a lot of bones and can be often be quite spicy. Service can be a bit slow at time and staff can be a bit ditsy. Manager also seems quite eager for customers to leave as soon as you have finished your meal and not allow you to enjoy a drink afterwards.

Good authentic Chinese food being served here. Anyone not used to be authentic Chinese food be warned that food will have a lot of bones and can be often be quite spicy. Service can be a bit slow at time and staff can be a bit ditsy. Manager also seems quite eager for customers to leave as soon as you have finished your meal and not allow you to enjoy a drink afterwards.

Delicious seafood, lobster, oysters, sea bass, with special sauces cooked in Chinese way. Spicy beef and green onion chicken tasted very nice. All are perfect!

Starters simply rubbish 1 spring roll Next course two cold duck pancakes also rubbish 6 pancakes for 3 people, where are these people from? Asked for some more duck which arrived after we asked again Next course was really god beef and chicken , top class and served hot as was the special rice and garlic vegetables Overall 6 out of 10, not worth a visit unless you go for the hotpot

Use the restaurant a lot - as it is directly across from my hotel. Normally very good but recently they tend to concentrate on their Chinese customers - at the expense of the rest. Ordered a starter and a main - as is usual, but after 1.5 hours, both were served together. Sent the main back - it was a sizzling dish, which wouldn't have been after I had finished my starter, but when it came back it had been re-heated......not how I hoped to have my evening meal. Lots of Chinese locals in for hotpot - but not really zn excuse......

Had a really good chicken curry here. My only gripe was the price of the orange Juice

They don't speak English. The preparation was extremely late with two tables and the food was not the best

The quality of the food here is high. I am satisfied with the environment and staff. The spicy food and the hot pot look/taste so good.

品尝了新菜：灯影牛肉、火爆腰花和重庆烧鸡公，非常正宗的四川味道，好吃极了

All you can eat Chinese style hot pot including drinks!

Best in town hotpot It’s consistent It’s good quality It’s friendly cosy flexible Focus on food only... focus on Szechuan hotpot...

Great location, good view of the High Street from the first floor. Food are quite authentic!

Genuinely really tasty food. My partner and I both had version's of the spicy noodle soups and also the fried dumplings and they were lovely. There was also a wide variety of intresting things on the menu such as frogs legs, trotters and the like, not often found at other restaurants making this place rather special. The staff are very polite and the restaurant clean and simple decor. The food was served relatively quickly and order taken as soon as we were ready. The place looks like nothing much from the outside as you just see a sign and some stairs but don't be alarmed a very yummy restaurant awaits you upstairs.

Good & Friendly Services Warm Hospitaliy

The best Chinese meal we have had in a longtime! Stunning food fantastic service they were very busy due to a very large group of Chinese people (always a plus when they eat there too) Children made to feel very welcome, nothing too much trouble, would highly recommend and wish we lived nearer!

Had an amazing meal here on Saturday evening, food was fresh and the menu was reasonably priced . They really looked after us and we will definitely return. The setting is also lovely!

Legitimately one of the best Szechuan restaurants in the country. If you want an English take on Chinese food - this isn't for you. If you don't like chilli - look up Szechuan and make an informed decision before coming to Szechuan Kitchen. The staff were polite and lovely - I've known very few wait staff to be as attentive outside of Michelin star dining. I won't lie - the food took a while to make it to the table, but this isn't fast food and I personally appreciate that the food at Szechuan Kitchen is made fresh while you wait and they made it worth it. The duck spring rolls were particularly good (my mother in-law said they were the best she's ever had) as was the pork belly in chilli sauce. The wait staff were happy to make recommendations which was very welcoming. **** I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH **** IF YOU WANT ENGLISH CHINESE FOOD, THIS IS NOT FOR YOU. THIS IS AUTHENTIC CHINESE FOOD. DON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT SOMETHING YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. - I feel ok saying this as a white girl who has just eaten a lot of asian food. The only place I've had anything similar in quality outside of Asia was at a Chinese wedding... and it was a fancy wedding.

My wings were raw and I had to put them in air fryer to eat its a bit scary.