Chong Qing — Restaurant in Stockholm

There are no photos that could convey how delicious the food is at Chong Qing. If you are at all interested in Sichuan flavors and are in the Stockholm area, this restaurant is NOT to be missed. Service here is personable and almost unbelievably efficient, with genuine warmth. But the food... the food. I will be thinking and dreaming of this meal for a long time.

In the interest of full disclosure readers should know we ordered our dishes to be extra spicy with a plea to the chef to serve us as if they were cooking for themselves, with none of that Swedish “this white pepper is too spicy” nonsense. Usually this results in some kind of punishment in the form of dried red chilis activated in oil with a bit of the dish mixed in, but this time we got exactly what we wanted. That level of spicy that clears out your sinuses and warms you to your toes but doesn’t cause you to break out in a sweat. Perfection.

We started with dumplings which were perfectly lovely but nothing compared to the main courses. The first course was Sichuan Ya duck (or maybe a variant? It was in the specials section of the menu) which included perfectly crispy celery, savory onion and duck so perfectly cooked it melted in our mouths in a sauce I was very close to licking out of the bowl. To follow came Shui Zhu Niu, a stew with beef, pak choy and bean sprouts that featured flavors from the Chong Qing region. Truth be told y’all, I don’t know exactly what Chong Qing flavors are comprised of but as soon as I tasted that broth I think I went into a trance. I don’t know how to describe it. There were so many different notes of savory and sweet and sour that my brain just blocked everything else out for a solid half hour. I wish I could give you a more specific description but anything I write will not do these dishes justice. Each one had a unique and near unplaceable flavor. It was more than the lovely aromatic numbness from the Sichuan peppercorns or the warm umami round flavor from that perfect combination of chilies and spices. I think I might need to go back to figure it out. And maybe another time to try this famous hot pot of theirs. And maybe again to see if their take on Kung Pao chicken is anything to write home about. And of course to try their Mapo Dou Fu. How could I miss out on hand made dan dan noodles? This is how addictions start...

The lovely owner Louise stopped by our table to have a chat with us as we were finishing up. She is a no nonsense matriarch with a great sense of humor. Please give her your patronage and be understanding if you can’t get a table without a reservation during peak hours! This place deserves Stockholms attention and a location that is at least three times as large. Her staff was also lovely and extra accommodating of anything we might need.

Don’t miss out. You have...

I do not recommend this place. I ordered:

Suan cai yu (sour pickled cabbage fish soup) - The broth was completely lacking the supposed main ingredient of this dish: "suan cai". Instead we were served a porridge-like broth which was waaay to salty.

Gan bian niu liu (stir fried beef slices) - The beef slices had an ok texture, but were completely drenched in black vinegar.

Si ji dou (green beans) - These were ok, but could have been fried a bit harder for more texture and taste.

The beef and the beans were also lacking a large dose of sichuan pepper.

Put your money elsewhere if you want tasty sichuan food in Stockholm, such as in Peony (Skultörvägen 4, Johanneshov, near Gullmarsplan), Peony 2 (Karlbergsvägen) or Jappi (Kammakargatan 11; here you need to call them in advance and ask for their...

Good Sichuan restuarant located southwest of Stockholm. Servers do speak swedish but not very competent with english. We dont know swedish but luckily our server knew a tad bit of english so it became easier to order. Their vegetarian dumplings were delicious, only 4 pieces though. Ma po doufu was amazing, good sichuan level of spice with numbing pepper corn and quantity was also decent. It was served with plain rice. La zi ji a chicken entree, I thought would come with some sauce but was dry. It tasted good, but bit too fired for me, again good level of spice and Sichuan flavors. Tsingtao beer was good.Will visit this restaurant...