Food and Drink

Where to find the best Szechuan in the City

Camilla Griffin07 Feb '225 min read

Szechuan Hot Seat

To bring in the Lunar New Year we’ve compiled a list of some amazing hot spots around the city to try out some Szechuan!

Sichuan cuisine originates from China, from the Sichuan Province. You'll also see it written as "Szechuan" and it's pronounced "setch waan". Sichuan cuisine is renowned for its spicy, daring, and powerful flavour profiles think, a boxing match in your mouth. Every flavour fighting to give you the knockout experience.

Red Chilli Sichuan

1/191 James St, Northbridge

This fan favourite restaurant right in the heart of Northbridge is serving up some of the best Sichuan you can find. Rated for their speedy service, friendly staff and authentic dishes, this is definitely not one to skip!

Chilli Panda

2/137 Newcastle St

A modern, gorgeously fit restaurant with a more luxurious dining experience. If you eat with your eyes, you’ll be able to see how amazing this place looks just from their Instagram alone. When we were researching for this post, we were practically drooling over their menu. They definitely delivered when we dined in! Some favourites included their Stir-fried Beef and Pork Belly with Chilli, Sweet and Sour boneless Chicken and their signature noodles or rice with pork mince!

Chilli Panda

Uncle Billy’s

9/66 Roe St

An absolute classic and staple to the China Town scene. Uncle Billy’s has a huge menu to choose from with fabulous prices! AND you will be rolling out the door with their generous portion sizes too! From sizzling Szechuan beef, salt and pepper squid to their moreish pepper chilli chicken – all the dishes are fresh and FULL of flavour. So, whether it be a big night out or a quick lunch spot, we can’t recommend old mate Uncle Billy highly enough!

Xiao Long Kan

2/191 James St

Gracing you with Chinese facts as soon as you enter, you’ll be up to your eyeballs in choices from their huge range of a hot pot selection. Fun fact – did you know traditional hot pots have been around since the early 19th century? Who woulda thunk it?! Their step-by-step guide on how to order is great for newbies to trial and test their tastebuds. Their signature spicy beef dish was a close call for us to choose, after the waiter had recommended it ump-teen times, but we really didn’t think we were brave enough, so opted for their traditional Chinese hot pot and added the spice to our liking.

Yuren Matou

Washing Ln

It's rare you'll hit the trifecta of affordability, fast and friendly service, but this place hit the spot. We especially enjoyed their Stir-Fried Beef ($14). Quite the squeeze to get in as it doesn't seat many, so be sure to reserve a table and watch the magic unfold in front of you. This was probably our top pick amongst the ones suggested, just simply from its authenticity. Couldn’t believe how busy it was on a Tuesday lunch time alone!

Nice to Meet You

342 William St

Their Chuan Chuan Hot Pot is always a wonderful choice to share amongst friends. The novelty of being able to cook your own food to your liking and add what flavours your desire is such fun experience. It's a bit on the pricier side than your average hot pot, but their succulent skewers make up for it. Plus, you won’t need to invest in your next lip filler session with their numbing and plumping mouth experience. We should’ve BYO milk for this one!

Nice to Meet You

Kung Fu Kitchen

139 Newcastle St

See? What did I tell you about flavours being a boxing match? With a restaurant named "Kung Fu" you know you're in for a culinary stand-off! With an amazing range of premium foods to add to your hot pot (quail eggs, Wagyu beef and scallops) You'll be spoilt for choice for your next bite. If you are going with a group of 3-4 in February for the Chinese New Year celebrations, you can feast upon their Kung Fu Kitchen Feast for a total of $138, which equates to around $35 pp (fast math, you’re welcome!) – you can BYO bougie wine for $2 corkage pp or indulge in local legends Feral Brewing Beer jugs!

Szechuan Hotseat

305 William St

If you work in the area, this is probably a restaurant that you’ve walked past a dozen of times but never entered. Offering their signature Kung Pao Chicken, it'll be definitely worth a trip here to indulge on some flavour explosions! Vibrant and beautiful dishes that are worth the camera eating. A fantastic range of entrées to share amongst a group – or eat for one – no shame here! Their deep-fried crispy pork was hard to part with.

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Where to find the best Szechuan in the City