Hong Kong people seem to have bottomless appetite for Sichuan food with more and more Sichuan restaurants popping up around town. Chuan was the latest one I tried at one of the invited dinner tastings.
The restaurant took over the site at Time Square which used to be another Sichuan restaurant by a different owner, but the interior went through a complete makeover and seems to go a little upscale than its predecessor. The menu reflected this change in direction as well with more finer dishes on the menu.
We started off with a few dimsum dishes which were normally served only during lunch service and I love the way they put a Sichuan touch in many of the traditional items. The "Mala Xiaolongbao" was literally burst with flavor with the spicy meat jus filling. And the deep-fried mantou was my another favorite - instead of the traditional steamed version, here's an innovative one with the steamed buns being hollowed and deep-fried before meat filling - in this case, sauteed goose meat with sichuan peppers - was spooned in. It has just the right spicy kick and I love the fluffy buns with a crispy crust.
The rest of the dishes came from their all-day a la carte menu. The few chilled appetizers were tasty, including the chunks of slightly pickled cucumbers, century eggs with Sichuan pepper relish and the dried tofu with sweet soy sauce. Then we stepped up in spiciness with three main courses. The prawns were served in a casserole and underneath was sauteed white peppercorns giving the dish a strong hint of spicy aroma and nutty flavor.
The Sichuan spicy chicken was served in bite-sized pieces with the bone, bury in a bed of chilies along with cashews. The amount of spices were done just right - a bit of tingling on the tongue but one that wouldn't make you reach out for water immediately for being too much or left you thirsty for hours.
The spicy mandarin fish is one of the restaurant's signature dishes, prepared using an assortment of chilies with the delicate fillets of mandarin fish swimming in plus glass noodles and peanut sprouts underneath which took up all the intense flavor.
For desserts, we moved back to something more Cantonese, with the sesame rolls and sweet dumplings served in a ginger broth. For latter, I could live with a sweeter version but overall it was an enjoyable evening with nice combination of Sichuan and Cantonese dishes.
(Meal was by invitation)
When? September 27 2021
Where? Chuan, Shop 1102, Times Square, 1 Sharp Street, Causeway Bay
Menu Highlights? Spicy Sichuan Mandarin Fish
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