Spicy sichuan

Ever done something stupid which turned out to be a blessing in disguise?

Yesterday, my friend and I left work early to go for dinner. We ended up hopping onto the bus...that was going in the opposite direction of where we had intended to go. By the time we realised our mistake (which took a lot longer than either of us would care to admit), we decided to just go along for the ride and ended up in Box Hill.

Once we arrived at our unexpected destination, we went for a bit of a wander, a reconnaissance to suss out our dining options. Thankfully my early childhood mandarin lessons paid off and I spotted two familiar chinese characters which told me that one of the restaurants we were contemplating served 'sichuan' food. My chinese literacy is confined to the recognition of maybe 20 characters so I was extremely proud of my achievement.

Knowing that Sichuan cuisine is known for its spice and that my friend likes all things spicy, we decided to give the restaurant a try. We ordered three dishes between us. All were laced with chilli and sichuan peppercorns and were very, very spicy (and salty and laden with MSG). At one stage, I felt the left side of my tongue go numb from the spice but the dishes were extremely tasty (probably due to the MSG). It was definitely an unforgettable dining experience. And yes, I am suffering for it this morning but I reckon it was worth it.