New restaurants in Causeway Bay – delicious Sichuan dishes at San Xi Lou
The restaurant’s new location seems airier and more spacious than the popular original in Central and the food does not disappoint, with chilled goose intestines with chilli a tasty starter and scrumptious Sichuan-style stewed beef
It took several attempts before I could book San Xi Lou for a time that was convenient to us: the receptionist kept offering me tables at 6pm or 9pm. I finally called more than a week in advance to get a table for a prime-time dinner reservation.
The Causeway Bay Sichuan restaurant seems airier and more spacious than the popular original in Coda Plaza, Mid-Levels. As at the original, many people visit the Causeway Bay branch for Sichuan hotpot, as evinced by the large array of ingredients for the mix-your-own dipping sauce.
We ordered from the cooked food menu and almost all the dishes came within 15 minutes, which made our small table very crowded and meant the hot dishes were cool by the time we got around to eating them. We finally asked the waitress to have the kitchen slow down.
New restaurants in Central: beef the name of the game at Ngau Saam Gun
Chilled goose intestines with chilli (HK$98) was a delicious starter. The well-cleaned intestines were tender and the pile of cooked green chillies looked intimidating but had just the right spice level, with the occasional kick at the back of the throat which kept things interesting. Deep-fried chicken cartilage (HK$88) had a crunchy texture and the Maggi sauce added a lot of umami.
