Chairman Mao

I once made the mistake of telling a colleague at work that I wanted to sit next to her at Yum Cha, because she had spent a lot of time in China, and would know the best things to order. After several rounds of chicken feet, stinky tofu, pig's stomach, tripe, and some other things I don't even want to know about, I made a mental note to sit at the other end of the table next time…the one where dumplings and pork buns featured heavily. You would think that after that experience I would have been a little bit wary about accepting an invitation from her to go to a Hunan restaurant for dinner – especially one called Chairman Mao. But no, I love Chinese food (at least, I love the non-adventurous type) and am always optimistic. And I had never tried Hunan cuisine before. I had heard it was similar to but quite different from Szechuan food – very spicy and very flavoursome, with the added bonus of smoked and cured meats. My brother assured me that Hunan food was the next big thing in Chinese cuisine. It all sounded good to me – and I could strike that off my never-tried list.

Actually, there were three more things I managed to strike off my list that night: jellyfish, pig's ear and cooked cucumber. And there were a few more items that I thought I had struck off my list but reappeared: tripe and pig's stomach.

I am proud to say that I tried everything at least once. And even prouder to say that I went back for seconds on nearly everything.

It started off innocuously enough. It was 40 degrees outside but the restaurant was blissfully cool and air-conditioned, with big wooden tables, and a lovely cooling darkness. It felt like China – smelt like China too. The first dish was a surprise though: smoked salmon on biscuits. That didn't seem very Chinese – though it was a luxurious and cooling start. Then there was a small serving of smoked tofu, which was also gentle, cooling and harmless. And then the spice explosion began.

It was quite shocking at first: a blast of fiery spice, strange and unusual flavours and unsettlingly unusual ingredients. Both my stomach and mind rebelled at the strangeness of it all. Everything was foreign, alien, and spicy. Lord was it spicy! Where Szechuan uses chilli powder and pepper (the famous málà - hot and numbing) Hunan uses the whole hot chilli. The hotter the better.

But then it all settled down into a fabulously spicy flavour sensation that was incredibly delicious. It was like watching a Shakespeare play...where you can't understand the first five minutes, but then everything starts making sense.

The smoked salmon and tofu were followed by a plate of thin strips of slightly chewy, something. It looked like top deck chocolate – a thin strip of brown, and a thin strip of creamy white. It felt like eating a shoelace. Turns out it was pig's ear. That's the one I didn't try twice. The jellyfish wasn't recognisable as jellyfish – in fact I didn't know what it was until after I'd eaten it. It was like a cool, spicy salad. The pig's stomach looked like bacon, tasted like chicken, and was a spicy flavour sensation. Once again, I didn't know what it was until I'd tried it, which is possibly why I had enjoyed it so much. The tripe was...well, it was like tripe. No matter how much I tried to convince myself that the pretty coral-like pieces weren't tripe, my mind knew better. The braised pork ribs looked pale and uninteresting but had a lovely spicy flavour. There were some delicious Hunan noodles, exotically flavoured, but still richly comforting. The pork belly in red sauce was fabulously unctuously outrageously delicious. Beautifully cooked, with crispy skin, a rich layer of fat and melt in the mouth meat, it was one I went back for a few times.

Not all of it was spicy. There were some cooling dishes like the celery stir fry, and the cooked cucumber dish, but in general, the overwhelming impression was one of ultimate spice. Except for the lovely cooling platter of oranges and grapes at the end. That was a nice, unexpected touch by the friendly staff.

It was very reasonably priced too. There were 10 of us, and there were two generous serves of each dish and it came to just $22 per person. That was a nice touch too.

If you're looking for well-priced, well-spiced food, and want to try something new then make a booking at Chairman Mao. With an open mind (and a strong stomach) it's definitely an experience that's worth trying.

By Caroline Foreman, bondirestaurants.com