Popular with anyone in Kensington in search of Chinese food without the Min Jiang price tag, Sichuan Popo is, as the name suggests, focused on the cuisine of the central Chinese region, but also its northern neighbour Shaanxi. That means decently done classics of dan dan noodles, mapo tofu and Xi’an biang biang noodles (the name of a sister restaurant in Covent Garden and the City), plus the signature dish of fried pork with Sichuan pepper, the melt-in-the-mouth meat given a blast of mouth-numbing heat to cut through the richness. The kitchen isn’t so purist, though, that it doesn’t serve dim sum, the daytime speciality of Guangdong, and in the evening, too, should one fancy siu mai, har gau or char siu pork buns for supper, while elsewhere the lengthy menu takes in everything from pig’s intestines to spring rolls. If you’re in the area for a Chelsea game there’s another branch near Fulham Broadway.
