Chilli Daddy in Bristol - food review
Posted on: 2015-07-08
Our rating:
Chilli Daddy brings the genuine, authentic taste of Szechuan food to the Bristol masses. Nothing dumbed down or tweaked and Anglicized for the blander British palate here. Szechuan food prepared and cooked with heart, soul and ladles of spicy fire.
If you're looking for a true street food success story, look no further than Chilli Daddy on Baldwin Street in Bristol, which initially generated plenty of trade as a stall during the weekly Wednesday Corn St and Wine Street market. In fact, it was a pioneer in that it was the first Szechuan street food stall in the UK.
Chilli Daddy's food stall has gone from strength to strength in the now burgeoning Bristol street food scene, and was shortlisted for the 2014 Food and Farming Awards. It also has another restaurant close to Bristol University on Perry Road - but its Baldwin Street incarnation is it biggest and most impressive operation so far.
Now with two restaurants established and in full swing, it brings the genuine, authentic taste of Szechuan food to the Bristol masses. Nothing dumbed down or tweaked and Anglicized for the blander British palate here. No, Sir. When it comes to Szechuan cuisine of the highest order, Chilli Daddy is the real deal.
When I visited on an early Tuesday evening, the venue was already feeding a crowd of Asian gastronauts - always a good sign - who were enthusiastically devouring the huge portions in front of them. In-keeping with its street food origins, you can order food from the ad hoc serving hatch and kitchen, but if you need to rest your weary pins and take a more leisurely approach to Szechuan gastronomy then you can grab a chair at one of the red tables in the lime green dining area.
The table presentation is basic and perfunctory, consisting of no more than some cutlery, chopsticks and a box of tissues you'll invariably need to mop away the tsunami of chilli-induced sweat that will imminently start glistening from your brow.
There are 21 food items on the menu and most of them hover comfortably around the £5 mark and take in hotpots, warm rice dishes, warm noodle dishes, and a range of noodle salads incorporating fish, beef, chicken or tofu. The cooking techniques at Chilli Daddy's hark back to owner Dr Weng's mother and grandmother's traditional approach, so you know you're getting the best, most delicious, authentic Szechuan flavours.
Appetizers consisted of mouth-watering chicken (£3.50) and seasonal wild garlic dumplings (£3.50) The chicken was swimming in a deliciously pungent, spicy broth that allowed the tender strips of meat to macerate in the aromatic, giddying flavours. The wild garlic dumplings were divine, deep fried but not greasy, slightly crunchy and filled with a tasty-but-not-overpowering garlic paste.
My Chicken Dandan wheat noodle hotpot (£5.50) and my brother's pork Saozi wheat noodle hotpot (£5.50) both arrived in a bowl the size of Bristol, a massive, eye-poppingly huge receptacle for the smorgasbord of sensational spicy flavours that had been ladled therein. The small chunks of chicken and pork were beautifully tender, swimming around with the thick wheat noodles in a rich, dark broth ocean crammed with chillies, spring onions, pak choi, nuts and coriander. Both dishes were spicy and sinus-blastingly delicious.
Dishes are rated from 0 to 5 on the spicy scale - 5 being the spiciest - and you can specify how much of kick you want your dishes to have when you order. Gastronomically, I have the constitution of a ten year old girl and the unpredictable bowels of an infant, but felt I should throw caution the wind and at least experience some of the potent chilli kick in a place that is, after all, called Chilli Daddy. I went for heat and spice level 3 for all my dishes, and that was enough to make me neck a few glasses of water and frequently pat my sweat-flecked brow. My brother - the self-confessed chilli aficionado and culinary hardcore adventurer that he is - upped the ante to a 4 and didn't even break into a sweat.
Chilli Daddy himself - Dr Weng - was our host for the evening, and he was charming, charismatic and palpably passionate and proud about Szechuan food and his street food stalls and restaurants. And so he should be. Chilli Daddy is authentic Szechuan food prepared and cooked with heart, soul and ladles of spicy fire.
5/5
Reviewed by Jamie Caddick for Bristol's leading events and entertainment website.
Chilli Daddy is located at 45-47 Baldwin Street, Bristol, BS1 1RA.
Tel. 07914 538539 and 07758 889961
Web. www.chillidaddy.com
Email. info@chillidaddy.com
Or connect via Facebook and Twitter.
Article by:
Jamie is a writer, blogger, journalist, critic, film fan, soundtrack nerd and all-round Bristolian good egg. He loves the music of Philip Glass, the art of Salvador Dali, the writings of Charles Bukowksi and Hunter S Thompson, the irreverence of Harry Hill, and the timeless, straw-chomping exuberance of The Wurzels. You can sometimes find him railing against a surging tide of passing cyclists, or gorging himself senseless on the Oriental delights of a Cosmos all-you-can-eat buffet.
