I’d like to begin this post by providing a disclaimer that all the photos are probably tagged incorrectly because I have no idea which dish is which. I mean, just Look At Them. To say that they all look exactly the same is an understatement.

I mean, could ya have added any more chilli??

Apparently the answer is actually yes.

So. Last Friday night saw me skadoodling out for dinner sans Panu, which was probably not such a bad thing, the self-declared chilli wimp that he is. I was heading towards Chilli Cool, a Sichuan restaurant tucked around the corner from Kings Cross which rides high on their reputation for making their own dynamic hot-damn finger lickin’ tongue burning brand of “red hot chilli oil”.

I have to admit, I was nervous.

As I approached the restaurant I started to eye out the closest deli/newsagent/ anywhere-I-can-get-a-carton-of-milk in anticipation of a mouth on fire, but was quickly distracted by the very odd reception I received. Arriving first, I stepped into the restaurant and said I’m here for the booking under Sung, for 10 people.

The waiters ushered me towards the back of the restaurant and pointed at a table of complete and utter strangers and old people and said “There. Mr Sung.”

“Uh, no that’s not Sung, those aren’t my friends…”

“Yes. Yes. This is Mr Sung, you sit down!”

“Um… no…..”

Despite my protests, they started bustling me towards this table of strangers Who Were Not My Friends and for a moment I actually thought I was going a little mad and that maybe, just maybe, Sung had aged a great deal since I last saw him. And he also became Caucasian.

Somehow I managed to free myself from the double-waiter-bustle, muttered something about waiting outside for my friends and dashed back out into the cool evening breeze, feeling as though I’d just escaped a near admission into a stifflingly chilli hot insane asylum. As I stumbled out of the restaurant, Sung and the rest of the crew arrived.

Thank god I’m not mad. But ah-ha, it ain’t over yet.

Sung stepped into the restaurant, letting the waiters know that he had arrived for his booking. Hilariously they pointed to the same table, pointed Sung to the old white man and said “There. Mr Sung!”

Like seriously, LOL or WHAT.

So it turns out that these fogies had stolen our reservation. Confusion aside, the Chilli Cool staff set up another large table for us and the rest of the evening went swimmingly well in a sea of red hot chilli oil and beers.

Despite the overwhelming feeling of deja vu each time a new dish came out, we did manage to order a few that weren’t tainted by the colour red.

The stand out dishes for me were the hot & chilli crispy pork intestines, spicy aubergine, and dry fried green beans, but the dish of the night, and Sung’s favourite, had to be the fish cooked in fresh chilli and chilli powder which is served in regular or large. We had the regular:

Insane, right?

After dinner we rolled over to the Norfolk Arms for desserts and more drinks. All in all a fantastic night with Sung, Aaron, Gail & Simon, Rachel & Joe, Joshua, Simon & Uyen and Andy.

My mouth is still burning!

Chilli Cool
15 Leigh Street
Kings Cross, WC1H 9EW
0207 383 3135
website

Chilli Cool on Urbanspoon

18 Thoughts on “don’t be frightened of a little chilli: a hot night at Chilli Cool

  1. OH MY GOD, this fish cooked in fresh chilli and chilli powder looks amazing! I love the spicy aubergine, my fav!

  2. Hilarious…! I see what you mean about deja vu with every dish, a lot of them do look very similar. I like the odd batty restaurant now and then!

  3. There was definitely a theme to the meal, well a few dishes anyway that were a tad samey. Great fun (and tasty) though and good to meet you.

    On your second photo top left is beef and ox tripe and top right is ox tendon. These were my additions to the order, along with the cold pork belly.

  4. I still can’t get my head around how many chillis they must use every night! Excellent fun night 🙂

  5. Mathilde: Yes the aubergine is amazing! So is that fish if you don’t mind your mouth going numb! 🙂

    Sarah: I know, if nothing else they provided some entertainment 😉

    Joshua: ah thanks for the clarification! Great to meet you too, and you picked some great dishes.. the pork belly was yum!

    Gail: I know. Was it you who wondered if they rinsed and re-used them? LOL!

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  7. That’ll teach me to book under my real name – next time, I’m booking under the name, Mr Noodles! What made it funnier was that I gave them my Chinese name, as in the Chinese character for Sung! Mind you, it worked out well in the end, as it was nice to get our own little area at the back.

  8. Definitely not “what” but “LOL.” Ahahahaha, wish I’d been a fy on the wall, nowt like a bit of total awkwardness to make you giggle.

  9. Oh Catty, u’re too funny! Hahah And hey no blaming on Panu for his chilli wimpness! It’s not his fault us Finns just aren’t equiped with a palate that could handle it… 😉

  10. Mr Noodles: Yes it did work our perfectly! It was just hilarious that they insisted to you that the old guy was Mr Sung 😉

    Sasa: I know, it was just bizarre. 😀

    Maria: Hahaha yeah, but you guys sure can drink a lot! 😉

  11. “for a moment I actually thought I was going a little mad and that maybe, just maybe, Sung had aged a great deal since I last saw him. And he also became Caucasian”

    I love you, Catty 🙂

  12. Pingback: Chilli Cool revisited « The grub worm

  13. Perhaps that what over exposure to Sichuan chilli does to a person – I’ll be keeping a careful eye on Mr Noodles for signs of rapidly approaching caucasionness from now on.

    It was a superb night – yet more exciting new wibbly wobbly parts of pigs and cows to eat. And in great company too.

  14. They STOLE your reservation?! Did that old guy actually pretend that he was Mr Sung?!

  15. meemalee: Hehehe thanks Mimi! xx

    The Grubworm: LOL if that’s the case Mr Noodles is definitely “Mr Sung” old white guy!! And yes, lots more tripe and bits and bobs.. all delicious but not as delicious as that aubergine, right? 😉

    Su-Lin: Well, the staff at Chilli Cool can’t speak english very well, but we think they maybe showed up and said they needed a table for 10 and voila – they were given our table by mistake… fogies!

  16. Those dishes looks hot… what a better choice than what I had!

  17. Oh wow, that’s one serious chilli dish you have there, amazing!

  18. the more chilli there is, the better! that’s what I say!

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