Mr Chilli, Liverpool

Mr Chilli is our go to place for a quick and easy Chinese with Sichuan  and Wuhan influence. It is situated on Seel Street and has easy parking outside. It is often said that the most authentic restaurants are always frequented by those of the ethnic origin of the cuisine, here is no different and due to the nature of the menu I guess it appeals to us Asians more than others.

A lot of dishes are chilli based as one would expect, with a variety of dishes on offer as well as a sharing hot pot where uncooked foods are ordered and cooked by the customers in the central hotpot to their liking. I have been many a time for the normal menu and the hotpot with no preference for either, it just depends on the mood I am in.

There are a variety of set menus on offer for the hotpot offering a selection of meat, seafood and veg dishes along with options for the soup base. For those who like chilli I would suggest the ‘ma laak’ or super hot chilli soup base packed full of chillis, although it would be wise to go for half and half in a split pot with a chicken or clear broth incase you underestimate the strength of the chilli. Its no fun if you become numb to taste and end up with a runny nose.

Our favourites for cooking in the hotpot include thin lamb and beef slices which cook in a matter of seconds, crab and prawns in the spicy soup base and enoki mushrooms. For a fun communal meal hotpots are hard to beat if you don’t mind getting stuck in.

Other specialities include knife cut noodles and dan dan spicy noodles which are about the best you can find in Liverpool. Bang bang chicken in chilli oil and topped with peanuts is another classic dish along Thinly sliced pork belly bacon in garlic, sesame and chilli oil.

Other more extravagant dishes include wok fired spicy crab and chilli baked seabass. Eating crab is messy but it is worth the effort, for first timers it is wise to go for the claws. To finish the simple dish of steamed and deep fried mantou buns is a throwback to a staple of ancient China.

For chilli fans it is hard to go wrong at Mr Chilli with most dishes coming in at under £10. Don’t come here for the bastardised western versions of sweet and sour or crispy duck or you will be missing the point.