Ma Wang Zi Chuan Restaurant

While I did not contribute to the planning of the trip, I had to pull out my expertise and find food places for the group. A popular eatery in the bustling Taikoo Li area, the restaurant features a vintage hipster interior and Sichuan classics on the menu

Starting out as a stall in Weishan in 1923, they were awarded one Michelin Star in January 2022 and are one of the more popular restaurants for Sichuan cuisine with a twist

Located in the vibrant food streets of Wenshufang, Wide and Narrow Alley, and Jinli, this restaurant offers a wide array of delicious Sichuan dishes, and sometimes you can see queues starting from the afternoon. The queue takes on an auto-queue system, separating big groups from small groups into different queues. The queues can be very long, prompting scouts moving around, offering to sell queue numbers to guests for a sum of money to shorten their wait. We were offered queue numbers by multiple scouts, but decided to just wait since we visited quite late and were at the tail end of the peak period

I like the blend of modern and ancient, which is depicted in the decor of the restaurant. The external facade is modern, but the wooden windows are like those of ancient houses. The furnishings inside also have a mix of marble tables with bamboo chairs, and the open kitchen area is built to look like an old straw house

The table set up was simple with a white porcelain bowl, spoon, cup, plate and wooden chopsticks supported by a peanut, which is used as a chopsticks holder. For drinks, we had the melon juice, which was sweet and refreshing

The first item we were served was the minced chicken beancurd – 鸡豆腐. This was a pretty simple dish with homemade tofu served in light chicken broth. There were some bits of chicken in the tofu itself, and the entire dish was light yet savoury. The texture of the tofu was denser and rougher than the silken kind. This was a great soup dish to balance the spiciness of the rest of the dishes

We also had the minced garlic spicy pork belly, 蒜泥白肉. A classic cold appetiser from Sichuan cuisine, typically featuring thinly sliced, poached pork belly served over crisp cucumber and topped with a savoury, spicy, garlic sauce. Back home, I love this dish as the tender meat is very addictive with the cucumbers and garlic sauces. The version here is much spicier, so while it is enjoyable, I had to gulp water with every bite

We had the 毛血旺, a traditional Chongqing stew featuring a bright red, chilli- and peppercorn-infused broth with duck or pig blood curd as the star ingredient, complemented by an array of other ingredients, including tripe, pork, and chicken gizzard. This version contains pig blood and various internal organs from both the pig and cow. Since I don’t take beef, we asked the staff to remove any cow innards and leave only the pig ones. The layer of spicy red oil was extremely scary as I basically tried only the pig’s blood, which was savoury and very spicy. It was a very delicious dish, but just too spicy for me, as my friends really enjoyed it

One of the recommended dishes was the mapo tofu, which came with minced beef, so I did not try this dish at all, but my friends said it was very flavourful and complemented rice extremely well. It was also on the spicier side, so great for people with spice tolerance

This was a recommended dish from their server, which is the gong bao brinjal box, 宫保茄盒, which is very different from the brinjal box I usually see on menus. The usual brinjal box is a brinjal stuffed with minced meat, but this dish was a stir-fry dish of cubed brinjal with peanuts, shrimps and chilli. This dish was mid-spicy and just nice for my tolerance level. The brinjal was lightly fried so it doesn’t become mushy and has a nice crunchy bite with the prawns and peanuts. This was one of my favourite dishes for the evening

The next dish was something familiar, the twice-cooked pork, 回鍋肉. A popular Sichuan dish, the pork is simmered, sliced, and then stir-fried in the wok, thus the name returned to the wok. The pork is accompanied by stir-fried vegetables, most commonly garlic sprouts, but often baby leeks, cabbage, bell peppers, onions, or scallions. This dish was mid-spicy as well and has great umami flavour from the golden crispy pork belly and the aromatics from the leek. I personally find it a little bit oily, but the flavours were on point

Last but not least, we ordered some plain stir-fried green vegetables like spinach and morning glory, which helps to balance out the spicy dishes. The vegetables were cooked perfectly without being too soft or overcooked, and there was a nice crunch, which was perfect for me as I dislike limp vegetables. There was no bitter aftertaste as the light garlic seasoning coated the vegetables well

Overall, the meal at Ma Wang Zi Chuan ( Ma’s Kitchen) was quite satisfying and delicious, although most of the dishes are spicy, they are pretty addictive to eat and very authentic in Sichuan flavours. The queue to eat at this restaurant is legit, and I would like to try other dishes the next time by visiting earlier, as some dishes were sold out by the time we got to sit down

Address: China, CN 四川省 成都市 锦江区 东糠市街 1 1号附5 邮政编码: 610023

Opening hours: 11:30 am to 2 pm and 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm