Yu - Sichuan Restaurant

Best Sichuan Noodles in Hong Kong

Sichuan food is hot, spicy and mouth numbing

Highlights:

Cuisine: Chinese Sichuan.

Signature dishes: Sichuan Dan Dan Noodles with spicy and minced pork, beef noodles in soup, mouth numbing seasoned noodle with sesame and Sichuan spices, chilled Sichuan spicy chicken, Sichuan style snacks (marinated cucumber, marinated eggplant).

Price: from 50 HKD, see the menu at the end of the article.

About Sichuan Cuisine

Sichuan cuisine is an extremely popular style of Chinese cuisine originating from Sichuan Province in China, and characterized by hot, spicy, rich flavors. A Sichuan dish can have all possible flavors - spicy, salty, sweet, sour, bitter. The main seasonings are the Sichuan Pepper, chili peppers, garlic, anise star, fennel, sesame chili paste. The unique combination of all these flavors bring every dish an incredible taste.

Authentic Sichuan dishes can be fiery spicy with a mouth numbing effect. This numbing effect is created by using the famous Sichuan pepper. The Sichuan pepper differs from hot and powerful red or black peppers. The flavor is something like a citrus fruit like a lemon. Most Sichuan dishes contain chili paste, fish sauce and dried chili peppers.

The famous Sichuan pepper was imported to Sichuan province in China from South America 200 to 300 years ago and became one of the main ingredient in Sichuan cuisine. Spicy dishes helped people from Sichuan province with its high humidity and rainy seasons keep internal warmness. Sichuan district has been known as the region being rich in growing domestic animals, poultry and fish. So beef, chicken, pork, fish are widely used in spicy Sichuan dishes.

Signature Sichuan dishes

Dan Dan noodles (Dandan Mian) is an extremely popular Sichuan dish. It consists of a spicy sauce, chili oil, Sichuan pepper, minced pork, and scallions served over noodles. The taste can be characterized as savoury, nutty, spicy, and smoky.

Sichuan Hot Pot - simmering pot of broth at the dining table, containing a variety of meat, fish, vegetables whatever.. The broth is flavored with chili peppers and other spices. While the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at the table. Hot pot cooking style is popular all over China, and even considered to be a cultural tradition.

Sichuan cold chicken in red-hot chili oil (mouthwatering chicken). This famous cold dish consists of chicken socking in Sichuan sauce. The special chili oil sauce with a lot of ingredients gives the dish sophisticated and irresistible flavor.

Sichuan Beef - poached beef in a fiery chili-oil sauce, perfectly combines with rice.

Sichuan Boiled Fish (shui zhu yu) is a very popular dish in China's Sichuan specialty restaurants. This Sichuan boiled fish is heavy on the oil, Sichuan peppercorns, and dried red chili peppers, all used to flavor the delicate fresh fish filet at the center of this dish.

Atmosphere

This authentic Sichuan restaurant is not about fancy ambiance and sophisticated interior, it is all about spicy food. The restaurant is located on the first floor in the old walk-up Chinese building. Yu is a Sichuan restaurant popular among locals and expats as well. There's often a long queue during lunch time, evening time and on weekend. So be ready to spend some time in a queue during peak hours. Yu is a Hong Kong style restaurant with tiny chairs and no space for movement. Decor is quite simple - with wooden furniture and various decorations on the walls - Chinese symbols, artificial chilli, eggplants and pictures. As in many Chinese restaurants if you are only one you can share the table with strangers. It is a wide practice in Hong Kong as there are so many people and not enough space.

Yu is a Sichuan restaurant with a great choice of noodles - soup noodles, cold noodles, vegetarian noodles, famous Dan Dan noodles with spicy minced pork, classic hot & sour potato noodles. If you love spicy food this place is just what you need. Except noodles the menu has a wide range of Sichuan style marinated snacks, Sichuan dumplings and desserts. For those who are not strong spicy lovers there is an option to choose your level of spice. You can choose the level of spiciness from one chili (almost not spicy) to four (fiery spicy). Honestly, for us it seems that most people take one or two spicy max. We always take the fiery spicy and love it so much. The dishes are to die for, that's the only words I can use talking about Sichuan cuisine, it is impossible to describe the taste, it has all variety of flavors - spicy, sour, sweet, bitter. You should try it by yourself to feel the real taste of Sichuan flavor. There are around thirty different kinds of Sichuan style marinated snacks. Our favorites are marinated cucumbers and marinated eggplant.

Even if you think you don't like Chinese food or you can't eat spicy dishes, come here and have a try. Yu is a really unique place with authentic Sichuan cuisine. And prices a re more than welcoming. You have to pay from 42 HKD to 56 HKD for noodles, snacks are from 42 HKD to 80 HKD. They serve alcohol beverages as well. You can order bottled beer for 36 HKD or house wine 55 HKD. During lunch time they do serve set lunch menu. The price for a set is less than 100 HKD, almost all sets are 72 HKD. For this price you can get chilled Sichuan style chicken with Dan Dan noodles or soup noodle set. Chinese tea is always for free and always refilled. No service charge.

Well, the following dishes are highly recommended:

Dan Dan noodles

Dan Dan noodles - spicy and numbing noodles with chili oil, Sichuan peppercorns and minced pork.

Cold chicken in spicy sauce

Marinated cucumbers

Sichuan pickles have an incredible taste, and are crisp, tender, salty, sour, hot, and sweet. The unique taste of pickles is created by using a special Sichuan salt.

Marinated eggplant

Beef noodles in soup

Have a look at the menu, as you can see prices are very cheap! It is a great value for money.

Yu Sichuan restaurant is one of my favourite restaurants. I can visit it more than four times a week. If it was closer to my place, I am afraid I would go there every day.

Address:

G/F, No.4, Yiu Wa street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Opening hours:

from 11:30 to 17:00 & from 17:00 to 23:00

Last order 22:30