Quirky Snazz has charm
Matthew, a friend who is staying the night, reels in from what he describes as "an 18-course lunch" at Le Gavroche. Where else to take him but Snazz Sichuan. I went to this spicy restaurant in the area of King's Cross that borders Somers Town in the early part of the year when the weather and the restaurant were freezing cold. We had to choose between a two-bar electric fire or having the Sichuan hotpot - only one could be plugged in.
We chose the fire but still shivered in our seats. Chillies may be hot but their better function is to induce cooling sweat on the brow.
The charm of Snazz lies not only in what strikes me - never having visited Sichuan province in southwest China - as the authenticity of the food, but in the charm of the staff and the quirkiness of the surroundings, described as tea house and gallery. The two-level ground floor dining area - there is a private members' club in the basement - puts me in mind of some of the films of Zhang Yimou.
The menu is long and decidedly exotic. Lungs and tongues, ears and tails are there for the asking but we steered a middle course, off-setting fire-exploded kidneys - a dish with which Matthew said he felt affinity - with sweet and sour spare ribs and strange-flavour rabbit with drifting fragrant king prawns in cumin.
Common to most of the assemblies are Sichuan chillies, lipnumbing Sichuan pepper and salt, lots of salt. But beneath these strident flavours each main ingredient is clearly discernible and the cooking process obviously individual to the dish. We particularly like the chilli and sour green bean pasta sheets which are cool and floppy, and the white-braised pork in hot and garlicky sauce where the meat is seductively gelatinous.
I have eaten better dry-fried green beans at Bar Shu in Soho and the traditional snack of dan-dan noodles is a bit claggy, but now that the weather is at least mild I shall be back again and again to Snazz. As an appetite accelerator after a heavy meal it is second to none.
Snazz Sichuan
Chalton Street, London, NW1 1JD
