Sichuan Style Restaurant 重庆味道 — Restaurant in Hamilton

The Sichuan Style is absolutely a five-star experience, and we found it by accident. Next time, it will be by design.

The last time we were in Hamilton at lunchtime, feeling hungry, we found a small, quirky Chinese restaurant called Shan Yuan, in Victoria Street. I posted a review of that meal on this platform. Today, remembering just how great it was, we went to find it, only to find its name had changed to "Silver Spoon", and it was closed. Dang! It's so good, and we had really been looking forward to it. (I see that the title of my original review has been changed in Google Maps to the new name. Check it out, then try the food. Yum.)

But back in the here and now, we were unsatisfied, and very hungry. So we went to find the Sichuan Style restaurant, just around the corner in Collingwood Street. It looked promising.

When dining out, we have always been in the habit of sharing whatever we select. My bride of fifty-two years chose pork and cabbage dumplings, in a bowl of chill sauce. I selected Kung Pao chicken on rice. It has small pieces of chicken with peanuts and broccoli. They appear to have been steamed, then coated with a chilli and sesame sauce.

I really cannot choose a winner. Both are absolutely superb. They are very spicy, as the sign on the window promises. But don't be afraid. The balance of flavours in both are perfect - chilli and sesame oil in the pork and dumpling. In the Kung Pao, the chilli and sesame are smoothed in a fine, glistening, subtly cornflour-thickened sauce, softened by the peanuts and chicken pieces . There's nothing but pleasure in these spicy delicacies. The same goes for the warm, wonderful service.

The place is is of modest appearance, but pleasantly appointed, with comfortable seating. They served the meal with water, and an elegant pot of wonderful China tea, with small China cups. The Sichuan Style restaurant delivered on its promise. We were...

Popped by on the way to Rotorua for breakfast. It was quite packed at 10ish? At least half the restaurant was full so I could imagine during peak hours, there must be a queue for this place as it’s not really that big, probably could fit around 9-10 tables?

Had the soya and fried dough / youtiao. The dough isn’t the thin type I usually have - it’s as huge as my palm?? Really big portion. I liked the soya which is normal but the youtiao is too big and slightly different variation of what I like / usually have (Cantonese style, long, thinner, way crispier ones).

Also had a portion of dumplings - surprisingly the skin is very thick unlike the ones I usually have. But the fillings were freshly made. After a couple of dumplings I decided not to the eat the skin, it’s just too thick.

Tempted to order other food but was already too full by then. A very authentic Chinese Sichuan joint! The lady who operates the place is also very friendly and nice. Not sure if she speaks English as we spoke to her in Mandarin. They have menus in English and Mandarin too so it wouldn’t be a problem to...

Disappointing Experience at This Restaurant

As a regular customer, having visited seven times in the last three weeks, I was shocked by the poor service and food quality today. Our noodles were undercooked, and when we requested a replacement, the front-of-house staff seemed put off, lacking even a basic smile.

The second serving of noodles was of extremely low quality, with only three small pieces of chicken and very few vegetables. We paid approximately $80 for three noodles, including holiday tax.

Considering that two of us opted for takeaway and I left my plate unfinished, eating less than half of it, the experience fell far short of our expectations. Compared to previous visits, I would give today's service a 1-star rating.

The front-of-house staff's attitude was dismissive, please remember we are not asking for free food. When food is not cooked properly, any customer would reasonably request a replacement. Instead of providing a satisfactory replacement, they seemed to be reducing the quality and quantity.

Treating customers with such disregard is...