I found myself pleasantly surprised as I walked through the door at Red Chilli Chinese Restaurant in York last Friday. The place was buzzing but not noisy, busy but not rushed. As I found my friends who were already waiting in the bar seating area, a lovely waitress showed us to our table. We took our seats and flipped open the menus, and my heart sank. Not because there was anything wrong with the food on offer, but because I am terrible at making decisions, and there was just too much to choose from. And it all sounded delicious. Eventually all seven of us had made our decisions, and the waitress disappeared off with our orders.
Soon dishes began to appear, each prettier than the last. I had ordered Carrot and peanut soup for my starter, and a beautiful silky smooth (very orange) soup arrived. Unfortunately although the soup lived up to its name, the taste didn’t live up to my expectations. It was very carroty, but in a slightly tasteless way. It could have done with some seasoning to balance and bring out the flavour. My friends were, however, really enjoying their food. They had ordered the Deep Fried Squid in Batter and Vegetarian Hot & Sour Soup, both very prettily presented. As we ate our starters I looked around me and had to conclude that most of the other tables were populated by Chinese people, to me a very good sign that the food is both good and authentically Chinese.
After a suitable break our main courses arrived; a very impressive array of brightly coloured dishes. I had chosen Stir Fried Sweet Corn & Baby Corn with pine Kernel, which was exactly that, but very flavoursome and perfectly cooked. According to my friend, his Crispy Shredded Steak Fillet with Cantonese Sauce was also delicious. We had all ordered Egg fried rice to go with our food; served in a bowl for all to share, and very generously proportioned. The food seemed to go on and on, and we must have spent hours eating. But although the restaurant was full, we were never rushed by the waiters, who were all smiles all evening.
All in all it was a lovely evening, and I would definitely eat there again; hopefully sooner rather than later.
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