Silk Road — Restaurant in London

I went to Silk Road with some friends last night. I wasn't particularly sure what I would be eating there as I'm kind of pathetic when it comes to eating spicy food.

There are only a couple of the items on the menu without any chilli peppers next to them. I decided to go with the boiled lamb based on it being extremely plain and mild.

I tried some bits and pieces of food from other people and was quite upset that I hadn't been a bit more daring. There was nothing I tried that I found too spicy to eat, so I'd picked poorly.

Everything I tried was good, and we had quite the selection: boiled lamb, medium plate chicken, a variety of skewers, various dumplings, cabbage, spinach, etc. All good. All edible even though they claim to be spicy. We also had 13 beers and a bottle of wine. The bill came to £100 not including any tip. For 5 people who were completely full that's not a bad bill at all.

I normally like it when the staff leave you to your meal without bothering you, but I did find that they wouldn't come up to ask if you were ready to order or pay unless you specifically got their attention. I'm not sure if I think that's good or bad, really. Depends on my mood, I suppose.

I found the place to be quite plain when I first got in there. There are long wooden bench seats without any backs, which is not my favourite way to sit for several hours, and it means you sometimes get bumped by the other people who are sitting directly behind you. There's also nowhere to hang your coats, so if there are 8 of you at the table it'll get quite squished. Pro Tip: sit on your coat. ;)

I would definitely go back here, and I will be more adventurous...

So much love for this place.

Silk Road left me so bulbous, stained with chicken drippings, and oh so happy.

We started with a round trio of dumplings, and at £3 for about 8, this is the kind of good value dining, I can get down with.

Of course we had to have the big plate chicken, which come with the fattest carbiest noodles (I heartily approve), and they do a good job soaking up the slighty spicy but mostly sweet broth. The chicken is very bony, but I love working for the little nuggets of soya'd meat, but people with little people in tow might want to watch out for a stray shard or little rib bone in the craw.

The skewers come out deceptively hot, so don't just cram that bespiced tripe into your facehole without doing some blowing or letting it rest. The tripe picks up the char and flavors well, and they'll fill you up if you're not careful. The lamb skewers are on a whole other level of flavor, though eat these while hot since that fat will conceal on you, and no one likes chewy fat (or maybe that's a plus?).

Tsingtao should be your cooling beer of choice, and Silk Road is happy to keep you topped up. The homestyle aubergine is meh, and it doesn't seem to have taken on much of the seasonings. The "Chinese leaf" dish is confusing, but great with a big bucket of rice the next day.

I think we all paid about £11 each, but I had enough food for two more meals after, so great value.

Definitely make a reservation, particularly...

省流版：对中国人脸难看，菜难吃，千万别来。

I've been here last week and all I can recommend you is not to eat here.

We had stir fried noodles here. All I can taste is salty. I guess the cook put salt twice so it tasted so salty. I drink a whole bottle of water in order to feel my tongue again.

The second dish we had was the lamb screwers. I had to say it is ok, just the meat is dry occasionally. But generally I'd come again just for the screwers, if I haven't had the third dish.

And, here we go the legendary dish, big plate chicken. For the ones who don't know what it should look like, it's stir fried chicken with potatoes and chillies, then stew for a while to reduce the soup and serve with wide noodles.

In here, hah, it is basically a soup! So watery! So not authentic! And the chicken, unless I ate a mutant chicken, it is no way I'm so lucky that found 4 chicken necks in the same dish. And the rest are chicken ribs and spinal bones.

Obviously they are trying to save cost and put less-meaty chicken parts in the dish so that they can still call it "chicken" and you can hardly find a way to argue.

On top of all this bad experience, the service is awful. Every waiter/waitress I came cross were having poker faces. The attitude they talk to you makes you feel you are not welcome here.

So, again, turn around and find another place to eat. Don't step in the pit which...