spicy panda - chinatown

Tonight, hot for some spicy food, we make our way through the Chinatown Mecca of Dixon street, and climb the stairs to the Spicy Panda restaurant. Spicy Panda, spicy food, I get it. But still, the tissues on the table are ominous and by no means ornamental. Imagining the chefs in the back peppering their woks with chillis, sichuan and all manner of more mysterious, hellish spices, my enthusiasm for a tear-jerking meal begins to waver...

Our ascension to the firey peak commences with a traditional starter of black fungus with pickled green chilli ($8.80). It’s a bubbling cauldron of dark-hued ‘shrooms that taste surprisingly clean and refreshing. There’s a fair pinch of heat which tickles my tongue in teasing preparation for the inferno.

Black fungus with pickled green chilli ($8.80)

The menu does not pander to the more conservative western tummies that occasionally stroll the doors. Page after page of the menu unabashedly includes the body parts and organs that are offa-loaded from the anglo-restaurants streets away. Not quite brave enough to order the shaved pigs tripe we turn instead to the chef's special of diced rabbit with black bean in chilli oil ($11.80). Cubes of rabbit coated in the crimson oil,  zingy black bean paste, cylindrical slices of shallots stirred through. This rates 2 out of 3 chilli's on Spicy Panda's heat scale, but after one spoonful, my mercury has risen beyond comfort. However, it’s all part of the experience, adding a competitive vibe to the eating and doesn’t detract from the tastiness of the dish.

Diced rabbit with black bean in chilli oil ($11.80)

The legendary mapo tofu (I forgot to note the price, but I assume it’s around the price of the other mains) features on the unwritten menu, but be sure they’re not hiding it away for want of desirability. The silken pieces of tofu are the perfect voluptuous vessels for the radiating black bean and chilli sauce. It's so good, and so hot, I want to consume more than my torched tastebuds will allow. Rice and a serving of cold vegetables are necessary accompaniments.

Mapo tofu

Strips of steamed marinated pork belly ($18.80) arrive overlaying a mound of ash-coloured preserved vegetables. I'm told by the wait staff that this is a special kind of Sichuan-preserved vegetable. Later, after consulting my asian grandmother I learn that it's probably mui choy - preserved mustard greens. The salty greens marry well with the sweet richness of the pork. This pig has clearly enjoyed a lengthy sauna and is beautifully soft, with the skin retaining a slightly crisp edge. 

Steamed marinated pork belly ($18.80)

Half a tissue box later, pre-emptively satiated from the over-consumption of chilli we recline, smiling at having (almost) made it through Spicy Panda's furnace, with full tummies and satisfaction, and only singe marks to complain of.

Spicy Panda

t: 9262 7007

1/2-8 Dixon Street, Sydney