The Sichuan in Islington

Was definitely a little worried when we walked in and when we said we had booked etc, the manager looked a little shocked to say the least. So we don't know if there was a booking problem? So we had to wait a little longer than we should have, which is a little embarrassing when you are with guests. That was the last of the problems though. Everything from then on was absolutely great, The service, explanation of the menu and some of the dishes and the quality and taste of the food was extraordinary. We all absolutely loved it - so authentic - will definitely be back.

Not going back. Used to like this place. Took take away a noodle veg dish! I asked for vegan. As I am eating it am a bit surprised that many noodles in my dish are chopped. Then I wonder why I was charged 8 pounds more the previous time for same food. Final point, seafood in my dish. Appalled. Called and they don’t even answer the phone. I have no confidence in this establishment sadly. The waiter was a lovely lady. But am very disappointed that even though I specified no seafood or fish sauces I got bits of seafood in my take away. Very dangerous.

Still my favourite for spicy food in London! Friendly staff. Best dishes: Smacked cucumber Beef Ho Fun Hand-torn aubergine Lamb & Cumin Mapo Tofu Don't take my word for it.... Go visit! Beats queuing for hours in West End's Chinatown.

This is a fairly average restaurant…not bad, but certainly nowhere near great. The dishes are expensive relative to the quality, with the chicken having the usual pink tint found at this level of restaurant….not undercooked though. The starters were fine but I couldn’t help feel a bit bemused with the prawn toast…three tiny bits of overcooked toast with rubbery prawn. The main courses were somewhat better apart from the quality of the chicken. I thought £8.80 for a large rice was on the steep side, but maybe that’s just me. The service was good and very quick, although I do worry when dishes are produced to your table in such a short time period. There is certainly nothing wrong with this restaurant, but I personally feel there are better choices out there at this price-point.

Ate there once, ordered the "Husband and Wife"and "Mouth Watering Chicken" and 3 other dishes. The portions are on the small side, food was ok and rather expensive. So I decided to order takeaway via Uber eats and instructed on the message "less chili oil, more sauce" Chicken arrived in a ready meal like packing(rectangular white container with thick plastic transparent sealed from end to end). I was surprised that were no garnishes on(peanuts, chili, coriander etc). The sauce was virtually lack of flavour(slightly sour taste, no warm/spicy numbing taste). Oil was more than sauce. The beef was garnish, however, it had less than a teaspoon of sauce in the dish! Working as pan asian chef specialist chef for 16 years and ate both dishes hundreds of time in lots of places and different countries(China, Singapore, Germany, France etc) I knew what buy food containers from suppliers looked like specially from Asian supply chain. The chicken dish was definitely brought in and frozen and defrosted. To finish this dish, the establishment needs to pour more of sauce and garnish the dish. The lack of reading and understanding messages/instructions left on the box is not forgivable! The laziness of removing the brought in item and not garnishing is even worst! Both dishes are almost £20 for cold starter dishes. If you want to con your customers, be constant! I slipped its all it takes. Judging from the chicken. It makes me wonder if the establishment is cooking at all, more like reheating brought in dishes. They sold it as freshly cooked dishe and charged higher price to cover their cost. This establishment is conning customers. I WOULD AVOID AT ALL COST!

We love this place, when we go to London we always come here to eat. the food is delicious and fresh and the customer service is top class, if you like a great Chinese then this is the place to go to.

An authentic, non touristy Chinese restaurant very near our hotel Great staff, service was first class, no rush, answered questions about the menu Enjoyed tasting different dishes. The prawns and chicken were excellent and I enjoyed the crispy beef ( although my friend found it too crispy) Noodles and rice were delicious and drinks served quickly Definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area

When I visit UK I always stay in the Old Street area; this Chinese restaurant is very close to the City Road Travelodge and as there are no Chinese restaurants where I live I sometimes get a takeaway from this restaurant for a nice change. Very nice food. If I visit the area again in the future I will definitely stop off!!

From the outside this restaurant looks fairly uninspiring however I’m so pleased we gave it a chance! Great food at reasonable prices and it’s always a good sign when you see Chinese people eating in a Chinese restaurant

Lovely food in an authentic setting; great staff and top service. We tried a number of dishes and all were first class. A frequent visitor to Chinese restaurants, and I have to say this was one of the best! Will definitely return!

Wow what can i say amazing from start to finish, food amazing and Lesley absolutely amazing. Great feel about the place will be back

Amazing and authentic chinese food. All the dishes we had were great and very good value for money.

First visit to this restaurant with friends and we were not disappointed. We received a lovely warm welcome from Lesley the waitress who turned out to be so knowledgeable and helpful with the menu. We ordered 4 hot starters and shared, followed by 3 mains. We all agreed,It was some of the tastiest Chinese food we had ever tasted. One of our party visits China frequently on buisness and was very impressed with the authenticity of the food. It was a very pleasant dining experience and a big thank you to Lesley for looking after us so well. We will definitely be back.

After a long day of travelling, I asked my hotel staff for a good recommendation for a nearby Chinese restaurant, they simply pointed over my shoulder and said the one over the road was pretty good. Pretty good, is a serious understatement. My first impression were that it was busy - a good sign for a Thursday evening. Secondly, there were a lot of Chinese people dining, another great indicator. Then, the staff. I was approached by Lesley, a lady who has worked in the restaurant for 37 years - albeit under different owners. She was magnificent. As a lone diner, I often asked for recommendations if I think my server is invested enough to want to deliver a great service. Lesley quickly guided me through the extensive menu and highlighted some of the most popular dishes and guided me away from certain dishes that i said I wanted to void - Squid, Seaweed, Oysters - no problem. My beer was delivered quickly and was soon followed by my Won Ton Soup, which was hot, and tasted wonderful. Another beer, and my main course arrived in good time. A simple, classic Gong Bao Chicken with Peanuts and good portion of Egg Fried Rice, which was light. Both dishes were perfectly presented. The Chicken was perfectly spicy, I left perfectly satisfied. This was the best Chinese meal I have had in many years and I look forward to visiting again and certainly before Lesley decides to hang up her Apron - she was excellent.

Ate here over the weekend with my partner after reading a Time Out review. It did not disappoint. The food was excellent and authentic with large portions. The waiter was excellent and recommended dishes and how much to order. Great value for money and there were many returning diners on the night which says it all. Mr Solomon

good atmosphere，the staff are very Friendly,give good advice when you choose dishes，you won't regret coming here. You must have a try.

The restaurant was practically almost empty on a Saturday evening. Ordered spring roles to go, then realised we should eat inside. Asked a server and he said we could. 10min late the manager walked over and told us we are not allowed to sit in...

Service was good, extensive menu and able to get a glass of wine where other restaurants didn’t have the supply. Quite busy for a Wednesday evening

The staff here were friendly and helpful. The food was delicious, bu they do have some spicy dishes. The egg fried rice and noodles were both great. The beef stew was a bit spicy but delicious nonetheless. The star of the meal was definitely the...

We found this place by just walking down the street. So happy we entered. The food was excellent and the server was very friendly and also helped us to chose dishes we would like. Such a gem in Shoreditch and we will definitely go again!

Well another visit to London and to an amazing restaurant The Sichuan Restaurant. This place is amazing the staff are so attentive and remember us, (mr&mrs Duck). A special thank you to Rachel for her freindly welcome, and advise on the food, the fish dish...

Came here as it was right opposite our hotel, we didn’t know what to expect but we were very pleasantly surprised! We chose a big sharing dish where you choose 6 items which you can choose to have in a broth or dry - we...

Well back again and can't fault the food, the staff, the atmosphere stopping at the mount calm and am so happy we found this gem of a restaurant another week here and looking forward to having a relaxing meal here each night keep up the...

Meat overall very poor quality, Beef and prawns were 'jellyish' crab soup was full of seafood sticks very disappointing as it is not cheap either.

Mostly excellent food - especially the dumpling starter, mapo tofu and sichuan pork. Wine selection wasn’t great but the food more than made up for it

Interesting menu, albeit bizarre in parts Service was excellent and the three main courses were all very good - however too many chillis in the crispy beef for this palate Would go again

I have been a customer here for long time but today, after ordering a noodle vegetarian soup, flagged as Vegetarian, I'm pretty sure I was given a vegetable soup made with beef stock. I have been veggie for years now and both the smell, colour...

This restaurant is one of the worst places I ever been in my life. Me and some friends stop here to dine in. The service was great however, immediately after eating I felt nauseous then an hour after, I began vomiting. Obviously I receive food...

Excellent Sichuan cuisine. ...and they have a rather powerful Erguotou ( Chinese white liquor is a Chinese alcoholic beverage. It is a type of baijiu made from sorghum) as a digestif. Highly recommended. Good service.

This is my local Chinese restaurant and I've been dining here for around 3 years now and have truly worked my way through the menu. I cannot fault it!! Never have I had such consistently good food, to the point where my husband and I...

The restaurant was full of Mainland Chinese people when I visited - says it all. Absolutely delicious. Incredibly slow service though. Tip: do not order soft drinks! Just ask for a jug of water, otherwise you will get completely ripped off. All the Chinese were...

This has to be one of the best Chinese meals my wife & I have ever had. I had read some rather mixed reviews on this restaurant so we decided to give it a go as we were staying in the nearby Travelodge. As soon...

Went there a month ago for lunch and was favourably impressed. So tried it again this week for dinner - and was not. Place very busy = good atmosphere, but not so good when service and cooking disinntegrates. Have a staple dish for my sins...

Bad service and worse food. Unpleasant treatment and very expensive food. 50 pounds two plates. not recommendable

Nice Chinese food in a great atmosphere. We knew this was good when more Chinese Londoners were in the restaurant than western or other people’s. Yum yum in my tum!

Droped in for a quick dinner. I had some spicy Sichuan chicken and dan dan noodles. The noodles were authentic and very tasty. Quite a nice experience all in all.

Terrible restaurant. Have waited for 20 mins for a dish and 30 mins for dumping. Waiters constantly on the phone don't care. Didn't apologise. Avoided this place at all cost.

Popped in for a evening meal with my wife. The starters were fine (duck plus the spring rolls), main course (chicken black bean, noddles, plus a beef dish, really salty). The service was terrible, two guys were on their phones playing games, I had to...

The food from this Restaurant is Fantastic and l mean Fantastic. As we walked in we noticed there were a lot of Chinese and Asian people eating here so that told me it was going to be good 😁 l just didn't know how good...

Rude staff, slow service. Ordered take away with 45 minutes notice (they said on the phone it takes 10 mins) and it still wasn't ready after an hour! Ended up waiting in the restaurant for 15 minutes. Staff very rude when trying to deal with...

The best dish was the cold starter of wood ear fungus. The absolute worst was the mouth-watering chicken, which arrived warm (should have been cold) and tasteless. We were looking forward to the deep-fried chicken with a pile of chillies, but there were very few...

The food wasn't as spicy as I expected (and hoped), but overall it was still quite good. There were some hits and misses though. The braised pork was quite disappointing; it was a bit too tough and wasn't flavourful enough. The "husband-wife offal" and hot...

Doesn’t look like much from the outside but the food is just top notch. Been looking for a UK Chinese restaurant that doesn’t fall into the same homogenous category since returning from a foodie trip to Beijing over 10 years ago. This is the place....

We wanted to go for an Indian and found the one next door to this. Although the Sichuan looked a bit old and worn it was very busy whilst the Indian was nearly empty. The menu looked interesting, so in we popped. Wow what a...

Absolutely stunning. Beautiful food had chill beef, pork, chicken dishes and duck and pancakes. Quite spicy not what I’m used to with Chinese food but it was so delicious. Not all the food is spicy so don’t let that deter you. If your in the...

Visited on Saturday for lunch. Service from our waiter was very poor. It took 25 minutes to serve us the appetisers, and then another 40 minutes for the food to arrive and we were the only people in the restaurant. Food is OK to average....

Unquestionably one of the best Chinese restaurants in London, The Sichuan is located on the City Road, not far from the Old Street roundabout. The cooking is of a high standard. I had the crispy soft shell crab, followed by beef in black bean sauce...

We were staying in the Travelodge opposite and thought we would give it a try, we spotted some Chinese people eating inside so figured it must be good! We were not disappointed, the vegetable spring rolls were delicious and our main dishes, duck and beef,...

Great Sichuan cuisine, obviously with more spices than a Cantonese one and full of flavours! We ate at 4pm so restaurant was empty but apparently this restaurant is packed at lunch/dinner every day! Pork ribs were lovely and my husband is usually very peculiar about...

Nice Chinese restaurant near to the Travelodge hotel. We visited mid week, it was not busy. The food was great and very tasty. Rice portions are a little small so you may need to order one per person if you are used to large portions...

Love this place - I lived in Asia for five years and this is one of the places in London where I feel like I can enjoy my favourite dishes without a European twist!

They have a very good menu (more than what they show online), and very authentic food. This is the 2nd time I have been and both times it was packed! Had the Singapore noodles which was a nice big portion and shared two starters. As...

Ants climbing up a tree. I was obviously intrigued when I saw that in the menu. The dish did not involve any ants. It was fine pork mince with noodles and the mince clinging to the glass noodles did look like 🐜 🐜 🐜 climbing...

I was looking for a quiet place for dinner, staying in hotel opposite. This unassuming place looked suitable. The menu is varied and has authentic Chinese food. I felt reassured by how many, seemingly, Chinese people were eating there. I was alone and the dish...

I try and come at least once a week for lunch. It is alway busy, which is a good sign. The lunch menu offers a tasty array of dishes at reasonable prices, and the full menu is a good option if you are entertaining a...

This is definitely one of the best Sichuan restaurant in London. As a Chinese, I can tell you they are authentic... Love the beef in chilli broth, the stir-fry beans and the starter (beef offal slices) are the best! The restaurant is spacious that you...

Chinese food is my favourite food and I’ve got to say that this is up there with the best I’ve ever eaten. lovely clean restaurant, great polite staff. We had Dim sums to start, probably the best we’ve had. Mains we had Sichuan beef, morning...

We visited early evening on a Saturday. We were greeted as we went in by a rather brusk guy who showed us to a table. The menu was quite extensive with lots of dishes different to that expected on the usual Chinese menu. We didn't...

Went for lunch with friends and ordered special fried rice and king prawn with a side dish of boneless chicken with chillies. The prawns were horrible and the side dish of chicken was simply a few strips of breaded chicken in a sea of chillies....

If you are looking for good Chinese cuisine, you’ll have to add The Sichuan to your list. This restaurant, headed by a multi-awarded chef, smells with the pride of the origin of the cuisine: Chengdu, at the heart of China, in the Sichuan region. The...

The City has been waiting for this kind of restaurant for years. VG food, VFM, vast helpful picture menu with some V options & excellent service led by peerless maitre d’ more Leyton than Orient; there’s a nice feel to the place. Ideal for Huckletree...

Staying in London for a couple of days and saw the reviews for this fantastic restaurant. It said the dishes can be quite spicy, but for somebody who normally eats Currys thought I would give it a try. Wow, it was fantastic Jerk Beef to...

Fantastic spicy Sichuan Food with good service. Really enjoyed the authentic menu served here and would go again.

Place was absolutely heaving and full of Chinese diners. Menu is extremely varied with many things you are unlikely to have seen or had before. Staff were incredibly friendly and helpful and the service first class. Can't recommend it enough.

I honestly don’t know what I ate as our Chinese friends took charge and ordered for everybody. I am so glad they did so because I can honestly say I never had such wonderful, tasty and hot food before. We had an amazing meal: try...

Absolutely delicious meal. Went back for a second meal and it didn't disappoint. Menu has a good selection of traditional Chinese meals including offal. Meals are of a large portion, second visit we chose 1 mains and a rice to share, plenty left over. They...

Went as it was just across road from where we were staying. Food great and loads of it, service good can't fault it. Loads to choose from, will certainly be back

We stumbled across this restaurant after attending a graduation at the Barbican. The food was fantastic & the service was excellent. I would highly recommend this restaurant.

For the humanities end of year meal we met at the Windmill pub, before walking around the corner to the phenomenal Sichuan restaurant, where we sat at our pre booked banqueting table on a mezzanine overlooking the glorious HAC, on a beautiful summers evening. We...

The dumplings were fantastic. I ordered a pork dish with green onions. The onions were perfectly cooked but the pork could have been cooked longer to avoid the chewy texture. I took most of it home and cooked the next day. It was much better...

We chose to dine here last minute, we had not booked but thankfully they were happy to find us a table. We were so glad they did because after tasting the food we were completely blown away! The dishes are unique and full of flavour,...

Staying over in London I found this place not far from my hotel and it was excellent. I was greeted and seated quickly and my drink order taken. The menu was extensive with quite a few things I hadn’t seen before - pigs ears, smacked...

This was an amazing surprise close to my hotel. Really tasty and interesting food. Also great atmosphere for group of friends or colleagues to get together and share meals.

I love chilli and I love Chinese food so this had been on my list for a while. It did not disappoint. We shared jerk beef, dumplings in chilli oil, spicy chicken in chilli and the beef broth, again with chilli. Every dish was a...

My wife and I have been thinking that “chinese” food in general has not necessarily been doing it for us recently. By that I mean the food has been a little too sweet for our taste. We thought maybe Szechuan would be what we were...

I came here alone for dinner on a business trip and had the "refreshing mushrooms" and a mapo tofu without pork and steamed rice. It was quick and delicious and I love the tingle of Sichuan pepper, one so rarely finds it properly. Service was...

After an exhibition at the Barbican we came here for spicy food to warm us up from the cold rainy weather. The staff were friendly and service was great. Food was good but if you cannot take too much spiciness , do let the staff...

This was our first visit to this restaurant which is handy for the Barbican, Moorgate and Old St areas. It was a Monday night and relatively quiet but it still had a nice atmosphere. The menu was very interesting and unusual, the service was great...

I went with a few friends one Saturday lunch time. The staff were really friendly and welcoming. The food came really quickly and was absolutely delicious. We look forward to returning to this restaurant.

We had eggplant for starters and fish for the main course. The eggplant was sooooo nice! We will definitely come for this again!

This Chinese is different from the usual Chinese places that I have been to. The dishes are different from the norm in a good way. The service was very good and the waiters made good conversation and recommended some dishes. The lobster was the best...

I had the Hot and Sour soup which was one of the best I have ever had, this was then followed by 1/2 crispy duck with the pancakes, cucumber and onion. What a treat and the restaurant was quiet when we walked in, but soon...

Six of us had a great meal here, the stand-out dish was Sichuan prawns in red chillies - but all were good, including aubergines, pork with french beans, bak choy, fried rice. Will definitely go again !

This place does great authentic Sichuan food and there’s not a lot more to say for a short summary. Having ordered an excellent steamed sea bass, pork with cabbage and a spicy beef dish (sorry I can’t remember the specific names) they were all very...

Delicious, fresh, and overall yummy. Nice bright and clean restaurant. Portions are generous. The food came quickly. Negative was the food was a little cold, and the service a bit slow. We will be back, and I think we may have a new favourite Chinese...

My partner and I recently had a weekend in London and were staying at the Travelodge across the road from this restaurant. We looked it up to see what the reviews and menu were like and decided we liked the look of it. We weren't...

I visited The Sichuan while in London on business having had a decent evening meal there a few months ago. The food I ordered was of reasonably good quality and I have no qualms there. The bill arrived and came to a little over £18...

We looked for somewhere to eat and decided to try this chinese restaurant and I have to say we really enjoyed the food and the restaurant. The staff were welcoming and the service very good. The food was great to would recommend, and we will...

This is one of my favourite Chinese’s I have eaten at in ages!!! And I am really fussy. The food wasn’t greasy, it tasted like good quality meat and big portions! It is quite expensive, but definitely worth it. Lovely atmosphere and friendly staff. Highly...

Our family of 4 adults had dinner on New Year's day when many other restaurants were closed .When we arrived we noticed a sizeable Oriental clientele which is a reliable sign of good food. Sichuan is one of many regions in China and its cuisine...

We had a goal to eat some Sichuan food while in London as it is one cuisine unfortunately not well represented in our current home location. We were staying in an Islington flat up by the Old St roundabout and fortunately The Sichuan was just...

We visited the Sichuan on a Monday evening and it was busy - a great sign. The food was interesting, tasty and different to the usual fare you find in the UK. I'd recommend this place if you are looking for a reasonably priced (as...

We went with friends who have all been before a number of times so there was a bit of hype. The place is unpretentious and has a lively atmosphere. The front of house staff are friendly and helpful. The service is not super-quick but quick...

Quite disappointed with my visit here. Spent £65 for two - 2 starters, 2 mains, rice, 1 glass of wine and a soft drink. Taste was quite bland and not spicy as expected.

Stopped nearby and struggled to get a table in another restaurant so popped into this one. Very friendly and helpful waitress. My dish was a lot spicier than I thought it would be; tasty all the same though.

Solid food, pleasant staff, not more, not less, but quite convenient if you happen to be in the area. They managed decent soup dumplings, and a creditable signapore mai fun. Overall pleasant and efficient.

Decent spicy Sichuan cuisine in a comfortable environment. The crushed cucumber appetizer is excellent. The DaNDan noodle was just ok.

Busy restaurant serving sichuan cuisine. The food was average yet the restaurant was hectic. Lots of young people dining with friends. As this was a set dinner arranged by the newly engaged there was a big selection of dishes which were tasty. SAervice was a...

Lovely tasty food - and lots of it - my guest and I both took home what we couldn't eat - excellent friendly and attentive service and a nice atmosphere. Food was a tiny bit oily - hence the 4 stars not 5.

Setting: good atmosphere, not too noisy so can have a good conversation, but not so quiet people will hear :-) Decor is nice too. Situated near Liverpool St, opposite Travelodge London central. 4* Food: Really really nice!!! Very tasty dim sum, and my main was...