Sichuan House Seafood
395 Victoria St
Abbotsford, VIC 3067
Ph: (03) 9913-6235
So imagine my delight when I received an invitation from Peter, the owner of Sichuan House Seafood, asking if I'd like to try out his Chengdu-style Sichuan cuisine, (which is different from the more commonly known Chongqing-style), and if he could arrange a dinner for me and five friends? Um... YES! Did we just become best friends? (See my previous post: "My Love Affair with Sichuan Food" for further evidence of my enthusiasm for this cuisine!)
I easily rounded up five fellow chilli-fiends, and we made our way to Victoria street on a Friday night. Peter welcomed us to the restaurant, and had a chat to us about the food. Interesting fact: did you know that Sichuan food is actually hotter in Melbourne than it is in Sichuan? Peter says that customers here judge the authenticity of Sichuan food based on the heat levels, and expect it to be so hot that restaurants have increased chilli levels to meet customer expectations, so much so that Melbourne Sichuan food has now become hotter than the food in Sichuan! Mind blown.
We started with a couple of cold dishes. Normally I don't order cold dishes, preferring to save stomach space, however these came highly recommended. I'm glad we tried them - they were excellent!
Salted cucumber in sesame - $12.80 |
Mung bean curd noodles in spicy sauce - $7.50 |
Front: Dumplings in spicy sauce - $7.50 for 6 pieces Back: Wantons in chicken soup - $6.50 for 6 pieces |
Zhangcha duck - fresh duck smoked in tea leaves and seasoned in herb sauce - $25.80 |
Shuizhuyu - marinated fish slices, vegetables in spicy soup stock - $28.00 |
Mmm... chilli and peppercorns |
Fish slices and beanshoots |
Yuxiang eggplant - deep fried eggplant strips in yuxiang sauce - $18.80 |
Gongbaojiding - Gong Bao / Kung Pao chicken - $21.80 |
"Ants climbing trees" - $16.80 |
I got one of my friends to lift up the noodles so that I could get a picture of the "ants climbing a tree" effect. (The pieces of minced meat are the "ants", and the noodles are the "tree". Geddit?) Thanks for hand-modelling, Val!
Ants climbing the tree... |
Fried braised lamb shank tossed in cumin and spicy salt - $28.80 |
The little chunks of lamb had a crisp coating and were nice and tender. They were also quite fatty, with some of the pieces being pure fat. (This can be a good or a bad thing, depending on what you're after!) The spicy salt on top was very spicy, but so addictive. I couldn't stop eating it!
And finally, a little sweet treat to finish off the night.
Mochi ice-cream and red bean pancakes |
And that was the meal at Sichuan House Seafood! If you can't tell, we all loved it! We left with full bellies and big smiles on our faces, making plans for future visits. A big thank-you to Peter for the invitation, and for giving us an insight into Sichuan cuisine.
Sarah and friends dined as guests of Sichuan House Seafood, with thanks to Peter.
6 comments
What a fantastic meal! I'm a big fan of cold Chinese dishes - my mum used to do a great cucumber & octopus dish, and cold cucumber is a great dish with the right spices. :)
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the fish fragrant eggplant here! Definitely one of the better ones in Melbourne! Let's do a Sichuan dinner one night.
ReplyDeleteWow... the Ants Climbing Trees that I used to make for my family did not look as enticingly golden-glossy as this! I'm ashamed.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen ice cream mochi with such a thin skin of mochi before either! Mmm.
Whoah that eggplant sounds incredible, but really you had me at duck bacon. OMG HELLO!
ReplyDeleteSichuan food is hotter in Melbourne than in China? How interesting!
ReplyDeleteThose dumplings look awfully good...
You love Sichuan food :) I'm starting to like it too the spicier the better! And they even have dessert Mochi!!! Another place I've gotta put on my list! Still need to make it to Dainty Si Chuan!
ReplyDelete