Bar Shu

So, is the food at Bar Shu good enough to make up for the unfriendly service?

First off, the service is no way as bad as other reviewers have said. Sure, there's not a lot of love here for the customers but they do try.

The food did arrive very quickly, cramming plates onto the table before we'd finished the previous ones (is this normal?) but there was no effort to push us out in a hurry.

Although this could be because the place started to thin out at around 10pm. I'd arrive at around 8 to make the best of the busy and exciting atmosphere.

And people here are genuinely excited - the full colour menu is amazing and the food is incredible - even better than it looks on paper. However, for someone with a British palate, the food is extremely hot giving me 3-4 minute waves of endorphin-releasing pleasure/pain. Until you climb to the next level and the food tastes mild again. Then, BAM!! It happens again. You have to experience this!

Overall a very enjoyable experience. A bit of a novelty restaurant that’s worth paying extra for.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Monday, April 21, 2008

I come here again and again and think this is one of the best Chinese restuarants in London. I've been happy everytime and do not understand some of the poor reviews below.

First some reasons not to go to Bar Shu:

1) Do not go if a low price is important to you. There are many restaurants in Chinatown either cheaper or much cheaper than Bar Shu. This is at the premium end for quality, and you pay accordingly. (Cheaper main courses around £9, going up to £28 for things like whole sea bass).

2) Do not go if you don't like spicy food. Not everything in the menu has chilli, and the menu marks each item out of 0-3 on heat ,so you can order gentle dishes and needn't be suprised. However, if you don't like chilli, garlic and sichuan pepper, then there is probably little point in going: Sichuan food will not be for you.

3) Do not go if you "have what I always have in a Chinese restuarant". If you have a mental ticklist of favourites -- chicken & sweetcorn soup, crispy duck with pancakes, sweet & sour chicken, beef with black bean sauce -- and order them everytime, then look elsewhere. Bar Shu does not have the standard Chinese restaurant menu because it only does dishes from Sichuan province.

Do go if you like trying new dishes, like robustly flavoured food and are prepared to pay a premium (over average Chinatown) for a different experience.

The service is similar to service everywhere in Chinatown (which I think is fine, if not outstanding). Like at many other restaurants, the staff are all chinese, and sometimes can come across abruptly. People used to western nuance and attentiveness may (and clearly do in the reviews below) find this off-putting.

Atmosphere better than average for Chinatown.
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IH - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Saturday, March 22, 2008

Another happy visit . This time just 2 of us. Attentive service, excellent recommendations and tasty food - and plentiful. I do not know why there are so many 'anti' reviews and I shall certainly continue to use tis restaurant.
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Jackie Worrow
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Monday, March 10, 2008

Bar Shu has been lauded by the press but I'm a journalist myself and I must say it's possibly one of the most disappointing meals I've ever had. This Soho restaurant looks funky and fresh inside and maybe some reviewers have been seduced by this but everything from the service down to the food sparks of a get-rich-quick outfit. Our starter of deep-fried beef slathered in a spicy sauce was more like beef jerky but cost an exorbitant eight pounds. Main dishes arrived very quickly afterwards at such speed that stuff is obviously prepared in huge vats in the kitchen and just heated up. My chicken and peanut was passable but the meat was rubbery and cheap, poor quality for a dish that cost nine pounds or more. My partner could not eat his tofu dish. The poor food was accompanied by appallingly rude service and the bill weighed in at over 50 pounds. I will never go here again. How this ever made it onto The Times' top 10 list best Chinese restaurants in London, I'll never know.
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Robin Newbold
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Monday, February 11, 2008

4 of us went to Bar Shu last Thursday. I sat with our friends upstairs while my wife was stuck in traffice. She arrived on her own and entered the resturant by the entrance on Frith Street. A waiter charged towards her and literally shouted at her in Mandarin as she "should have use the other entrance". To start off with, if the entrance is not to be used, they should lock it or at least have a sign outside - I entered through the same entrance myself though I did not get abused. In any case, this is no way of treating any customer. She stayed for dinner only because we were meeting friends and we were already upstairs. All of us were unaware of the incident until I was told about this after the evening was over.

I have been to Bar Shu a few times and the food was OK but not exceptional. Everything tends to taste very similar. The service is generally poor though.

We will never return to Bar Shu.
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TT
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 0
Friday, February 01, 2008

We went to Bar Shu yesterday evening as a party of 6 and had one of the best Chinese meals out side of the Orient that we had ever had. In fact it was the best. The waitress was attantive, but not intrusive, the food totally delicious. We also appreciated the 'pictures' on the menu of the various dishes as some of the names were a little puzzling. We ate the way the Chinese do with all of the dishes on the table, which we shared. A wonderful experience which I am confident that we will repeat - we will certainly recommend it to others.
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Jackie Worrow
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, January 17, 2008

We arrived at Bar Shu at 7.15 for a 7.30 booking, hoping to get the most from our allotted 1 1/2 hours, having been politely told on making the reservation that the restaurant would need the table back by 9.00. The table was free, so we took our seats in the stylish downstairs restaurant.

What followed was more akin to speed eating contest than a relaxing and pleasurable meal. As soon as we sat down we were asked for our drink orders; we asked for 5 minutes to consider the wine list. 5 minutes later the waiter was back for our drink and food order. Feeling a little harried, we opted for a selection of the tempting Szechuan appetisers and mains, and a bottle of red.

By 7.30 the drinks had arrived, along with the appetisers and mains courses. At 8.00 a waiter came over and began to clear away the dishes, despite the fact we hadn't finished eating. 8.05, the bill arrived, unasked. 2 minutes later, one of the army of waiting staff who had been progressively hassling us throughout the evening came over to check if we had paid. At this point I complained. After brief mutterings behind me, the floor manager sauntered up, apologised, and offered us a complimentary glass of rose and box of tea each. Apology accepted, we left Bar Shu at 8.45, 15 minutes before our 9.00 deadline.

There's no disputing the quality of the food at Bar Shu, although a much cheaper and possibly more authentic taste of Szechuan cuisine can be had at the excellent Angeles in Kilburn. But while harrying service may be par of the course in neighbouring Gerrard Street, it is not what you expect from a restaurant charging upwards of £25 for many main dishes. We won't be going back, despite the box of darjeeling.
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MarkD - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Friday, December 21, 2007

The food at Bar Shu is really very good for the normal standards that you can get in London. The service I thought was excellent, although that may be because we spoke the language. The spices used were very authentic, although the level of spiciness was obviously adapted for local taste. The price was a bit on the high side (£107 for 3 for a Saturday lunch), but understandable as the quality of the food was quite impressive. I am unsure why there were so many negative reviews, but perhaps we were lucky that we went there for a Saturday lunch, and the restaurant was not full at all.
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Twentycents - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, December 05, 2007

I've been to Bar Shu few times and I love the food. It's "Sichuanese food", very different to Cantonese, you have to know what to order there. But it's far less spicy than if you try the same dishes in Sichuan, I guess it's for marketing.

The Service isn't great, like most Chinese restaurants in China Town, but for the price they charge... they should do much better. And the most annoying thing is they pretend to be popular & busy... which was never the case from my previous visits.

I will go back for the food!
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Camden13
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Saturday, December 01, 2007

Like the previous reviewer very disappointed. Very expensive (£174 for five people) for not great food and poor unfriendly service .

Although we were a party of five we were not warned when we sat down down at 7.30pm we would have to be out by 9pm. At 9pm sharp the bill was slapped on the table and we were told that the table was needed despite the fact that we had ordered a last bottle of wine some 10 minutes previously which was still half full.

There are many better, cheaper Chines restaurants in London.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 1
Saturday, December 01, 2007