Red Chilli Restaurant

Reviews

• Philip S.

  star star star star star_border 5 June 2026

  I love Red Chilli, but my only critique is that the service can be rather slow and inattentive.
  
  The food, on the other hand, is incredible!  Crispy chilli shredded beef is one of my favourite dishes, and that is how it is.  Crispy.  Spicy.  Shredded.  Beefy.  Perfect.  
  
  On my last visit with colleagues for a leaving lunch, I ordered the salt & pepper baby squid for a starter, and it was very tasty.  For my main, I ordered the Gongbao diced chicken.  Again, quite a spicy dish, with the added bonus and flavour of peanuts.  Superb!  
  
  Red Chilli offer a great lunch deal that comes with a starter and main for less than £10, however, in December they add an extra couple of pound on this, despite offering the same food and calling it the "Christmas lunch deal".  Come on guys!  Step it up a gear!
  
  The decor is quite bold, but offers a comfortable setting, with large round tables for groups, dark wood dividers and booths.

• Rich T.

  star star star star star_border 1 June 2026

  One of our favourite restaurants when looking for some excellent chinese food. This restaurant specialises in Szechwan dishes, so do expect that most items on the menu will have a chilli rating next to it!
  
  This is one our favourite places for Peking Duck, hanf carved right in front of you. i would also recommend any variety of their lamb dishes, including the lamb ribs.
  
  If you're feeling adventurous, try the cold spicy platter too.
  
  Only gripe about this place is the lack of available parking. There is a multi storey nearby but its not the cheapest place to park!

• Kelli F.

  star star star star_border star_border 31 May 2026

  I'm actually quite surprised that so many people are a fan of this restaurant. Granted, the sunken dining room and interior design provides an enjoyable dining experience, but the quality of the food is in no way comparable to the gems of China town (again, Chinese food enthusiast here).
  
  I do absolutely give credit to their amazing lunch deal. £8 for a starter, main dish, and choice of rice. £10 for 2! starters, main dish, and choice of rice. For the amount of food you get, it's a great offer.
  
  However, I found the quality of the food to be pretty average. It was also a major bummer when I got the crispy chili beef (for the second time since the first time blew my mind). And there was hardly any beef within the fried bits. I was so sad, my emotions were all over the place. I simply could not recover.
  
  Overall, it's a solid lunch spot but I probably won't be going back due to the mediocrity of the food. You can find me at Happy Seasons or the Rice Bowl instead!

• Penny L.

  star star star star star_border 26 May 2026

  OMG what can I say, I am so glad i walked that extra mile to come here rather  than Portland Street..
  
  On arrival from the bitter wind, this place was huge, with imaginative decorations such a little birds cages for lamp shades , embossed wooden paneling and stone like columns.
  
  We were soon spotted by the point of house, and guided into a naughty corner. To be honest from this point my hopes were dampened , because we were cornered in by other people and there was a unattractive plastic fan near my head. I thought we would be forgotten about, I was wrong.The waitresses were lovely, especially in their black and red garb ;p and were most helpful.
  
  Here the menu offers a selection of lots of Chinese dishes but with extra fiery chili, I  do not normally like photos of the food within a menu but these were helpful/ A good thing to note, is that they do not offer everything on the menu in the Portland Street Red Chili  so come here to avoid disappointment!
  
  For starters we chose prawn and pork dumplings and quarter of a shredded duck.. When the duck came it was really tasty (yes I am a bad pescetarian).. but the buns...wow they were huge! I had to actually share these and leave one behind..
  
  From the chef special menu I decided on the spicy seafood in a clay pot. costing £16. My companion went for the chili beef noodles.. After barely five minutes later they arrived,, and I almost died.. a word of caution..when you order something make sure you are sharing with at least another person! PORTIONS ARE HUGE!! Mine was of full of juicy big scallops, which are not cheap. At this point the waiter laughed at our bewilderment. ..
  
  I honestly felt so guilty that we had hardly made a dent in our food stack, again you really need to come here with a group of people and sit at the round tables bearing a rotated service. A lot of large working groups were sat at these to discuss things over dinner..
  
  After prodding our food for awhile we admitted defeat. The waiter who had kindly laughed at us in jest offered to put everything in a doggy bag.
  I usually decline to do so, but there was so much left over that I didn't want the chef to be insulted. Plus it made a good meal the next day!  My only regret after such a good meal was not having a lot of change to tip appropriately .. I will come back here again with a group. I think I will enjoy the atmosphere better, and try lot of other tasties.

• Ada C.

  star star star star star_border 12 May 2026

  We ordered wrong and didn't manage to get a good enough range of dishes (a few of them tasted too similar) but it was still good.
  
  We had a dish of deep fried beef strips coated in a sweet Cantonese sauce, some chicken dish with dried chillies and peanuts and an aubergine dish with salted fish (not enough salted fish and too much bamboo shoots). Each dish wasn't bad but all three together in the same order wasn't a good idea. Too many similar flavours and colours!
  
  We also had pork belly with preserved veg and greens. I liked this although it needed slightly more seasoning.
  
  I enjoyed the meal but would have liked to have had more adventurous choices. Next time!