Chongqing — Restaurant in Florence

One of the best Chinese restaurants I’ve had, not just in Italy. We came in around dinner time and were quickly seated. From just looking around the inside as we sat, it was nothing spectacular - small restaurant with about three staff out front, slightly dimly lit, tables and chairs cleaned but creaking and worn. The menu was also worn out. The service was below average for western/sit-down restaurant standards, they don’t talk to you unless you flag them down, greetings and smiles rare, but when you come to a place like this you are here for the food. And boy did they do that part well. We ordered a couple of dishes we always do at Chinese spots like garlic sauce eggplant and stir fried cabbage. We went light on these because we also ordered a main that was a spicy soup-based dish with innards, cabbage, and glass noodles. The portion size for this was big (feeds at least 2-3), and it was definitely spicy- not unbearable, but you will be needing water throughout the meal. Also, seems like it was the go-to menu item of this place. I don’t exaggerate when I say this restaurant managed to go 3 for 3 that night and gave me nothing to complain about in terms of food. Everything was cooked to perfection from the eggplants to the spicy soup/stew. It was the most satisfied I’ve been at a Chinese place in a while and it was extra interesting since it was in Florence. Most customers seated around our table were also Asian, which is a good sign usually ;) Pull up to this spot and you won’t be disappointed. Good change of pace from the pastas and the pizzas. No pics since it was so good - we got lost...

We were wondering around the area looking for an Asian restaurant with good reviews. We found Chongqing and arrived there around 8pm. There was a long waiting list so we had to wait for more or less 30 minutes. You have to be patient here because they are so busy and usually ignore you until it's almost your turn. The waiter who took care of the waiting list took our order some time before we got seated (he was kinda rude). I wanted beef with black pepper but didn't see it on the menu so I asked the waiter and he showed me the stir fried beef with leek🐮 In the end, we ordered that and the stir fried pork in hot and sour Yuxiang sauce🐷

Finally we got seated. It was so packed and kinda hot inside (we went there on October). There was very little distance between tables (it was hard to even just get out of your chair so it's definitely not a suitable place to hang out)😢 our food arrived around 10-15 minutes after we got seated. Unfortunately, the food was just okay for me (below my expectation after seeing the good reviews). It wasn't tasty enough to my likings and the stir fried beef with leek definitely didn't taste like beef with black pepper😔 at least, the portion size was pretty big and the price was good and...

the food is good, considering you are in the middle of tuscany. i came to firenze 12 year ago, this time taking my very old parents. i am surprised to see how many chinese are in the old town are and how many chinese restaurants are on the same block . despite my devotion to authentic italian food (and i don't eat chinese outside china and phill china town, let alone in italy) my 86 year old parents are still the happiest when they eat chinese and instant noodles! this place is right downstairs of my rented apartment. cooking was decent light on oil and salt which is a plus. service was prompt, price reasonable but portion size is more for one person. not much ambiance to speak of. staff were ok but not warm (this is italy after all) we ate there 3 times already since we arrived yesterday afternoon, and no one says hi or smiles at us (very uncharacteristic of italian culture) well... they are not italian after all. so, if you are looking for simple and fast fix of chinese food, this place is good. but do not expect much else. however, i do want to point out, the place is not dirtier than any chinese place like this i see in the US. it is par...