We met another couple Das & Louise at the pandas so we caught up later and headed out for dinner, Sichuan province is famous for spicy food and its infamous "hot pot" dish. This consists of a giant bowl of boiling oil full of chilli's and sichuan peppercors which is heated by a burner under the table, you then have a selection of meat and veg that you order which comes uncooked and then you dip it in and cook it yourself. We got a medium spice pot to try for the first time as we were warned it was very spicey. Well in went the food and my goodness it was spicy – not like a curry spice that burns inside of your mouth – this kind of peppery spice just made ur lips burn like hell – we love our spicy food so it was great but there were “spicy” and “extra spicy” bowls you could have ordered I cannot imagine how hot they must be – medium was hot enough!

Cost for hotpot for 4 people with a few beers £5 .50 each