Bar Shu is an upmarket Chinese restaurant inspired by the cuisine of the Sichuan region. Pay them a visit and you’ll find some excellent cooking and lots of unusual dishes on the menu, but unfortunately you’ll also find prohibitive pricing for those on a tight budget.

The Venue
Occupying a corner block on Soho’s Frith Street, the recently refurbished Bar Shu is seconds away from Shaftesbury Avenue. Choosing somewhere to eat in the area without doing your homework first is akin to taking part in a gastronomic lottery – you might get lucky and strike gold, then again you might get wooed by the lure of a cheap deal and end up in a restaurant from hell. If you take a chance on Bar Shu you’re likely to be more than satisfied, particularly when it comes to first impressions. Its external petrol blue paintwork and large rectangular glass windows give it a subtle yet distinguished air, and the long, luminous, red lanterns that dangle in the windows on both the ground and first floor are easy on the eye and cast a reassuring and welcoming glow after dark.

Inside, it’s peppered with decadent wooden furniture and sturdy Chinese antique ornaments decorated with dazzling gold leaf. Oblong wooden blocks hang from the ceiling and are mounted with squares of cloudy white marble, which glow via back lighting. One of the main features on the ground floor is a hand carved wooden divide that scythes the room into two. It has a large oval shape cut into its heart that allows people to walk, and see, through, whilst on either side intricate carvings of dragons watch over diners.

The Atmosphere
During a lunchtime sitting, the restaurant has a healthy buzz about it. It’s undoubtedly popular with local media and music industry types, as well as affluent Chinese patrons. Service is pretty much on the ball; you will very rarely have to even lift a finger before one of the punctilious servers is at your side and ready to assist. Whether you find this a little imposing or absolutely spot on really depends on the level of intensity that you demand from dining out.

The Food
For those with conventional tastes and budgetary requirements, the menu can be a little bit daunting at first. One of the first things you will see is a large plate of boiled sea bass swimming in red-hot chillies, priced at a pain-inducing £28.90. In their defence, this dish may well be able to be shared by two people or even more, but there’s no guidance on the menu to this effect. Peruse the rest of the options and you’ll find a huge amount of offal that doesn’t lend itself to mass appeal: duck tongues, tripe and ox foot tendons are a few on offer. To be fair there are plenty of green vegetables along with safer options taking in seafood, belly of pork and chilli beef. With its onus on the more unusual dishes, Bar Shu has actually cultivated quite a reputation for itself in foodie circles. If you’re the sort of person who loves offal, you’re in the right place.

At the lower end of the pricing scale you can find some absolutely delightful dishes at Bar Shu. Five crescent shaped dumplings (£4.50) are steamed and served in a shallow soy sauce with finely diced spring onions. The fresh casings are so delicate that they break open as soon as the chopsticks pinch the skin, unveiling good quality, fragrant pork mince balls. Slathered in the dipping sauce and twinned with a touch of spring onion, these dumplings make for a very satisfying side.

One of the cheaper main dishes on offer is the fish-flavoured aubergine (£8.90), which bizarrely lacks any outward sign of fish. Instead, a deep bowl of amber red chilli sauce contains rectangular chunks of pale, pulpy aubergine. The sticky sauce is flecked with red chillies, garlic, sesame seeds and tiny specks of pork mince meat. The pork is almost undetectable on the whole, but paired with some plain steamed rice (£2.50) it’s a beautiful dish, if one that’s sheer viscosity and sweetness become a little sickly after a few bowls. In fact the size of the serving would make it good for sharing between two, so there is potential for the bill not to escalate so steeply. Having said that, you should be prepared to spend a reasonable amount of money per head at Bar Shu – there’s a minimum spend of £12 per person.

The Drink
Wine starts at £18.90 for a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, and an always dependable bottle of the rich, plumy Montepulciano D’Abruzzo is just under the £20 mark. Prosecco hovers around the same mark, whilst the cheapest bottle of Champagne will set you back nearly double that. Bottles of beer include Tsingtao. For non-alcoholic refreshments Chinese tea is a popular choice at £2 per person, and fruit-based drinks are also on offer. The lychee and aloe vera one is a particularly thirst-quenching drink that goes well with the food, although at £4.50 it’s again going to bump the bill upwards.

The Last Word
With its quality Sichuan cooking, stylish interior and unusual dishes, Bar Shu has built up a well-respected reputation. Despite all of this the desire to be a regular visitor may well be tempered by the fact that the pricing is a little too unpredictable for those with modest bank balances.

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