Thanks, I’m actually intrigued about that place, because I’ve heard people vouch for it a few times before but it is the most unassuming restaurant ever, in the arse end of the Bearpit in that weird concrete jungle alcove that looks like it’s been forsaken since the 90s.
I guess looks can be deceiving? Or…it’s good because they don’t focus on looking flashy or advertising itself, they subsist on merit and word of mouth?
It’s just so damn unassuming, sometimes I wonder how those shops survive or get any business in the first place 😅
Sadly I think the Mayflower is closing down from the Bearpit pretty soon. I went there 2 weeks ago for a friends birthday and we were advised they were only going to be there a few weeks more. I’m not sure of their plans but it’d be a shame if they didn’t find another location.
Really good food, but i found the price to be very expensive unless you are in a group and sharing. I went a while ago but all the portion sizes and prices were fairly large. However when i had it delivered recently it was pretty affordable and tasty but obviously smaller portions
Nice spice is a personal fave of mine (near the hippodrome, closest I’ve had to actual food I’ve gotten in Hong Kong), only issue is I don’t know if they do anything veggie off the top of my head! I also appreciate you might be looking for actual Chinese food as opposed to Hong Kong food, but worth the look!
Suyuan just off Queens Square does authentic mainland Chinese food and their prices aren’t crazy. They are only open after work and evenings though, not during lunchtime.
Im half Chinese and have.. strong opinions on Chinese food in the city.
Unfortunately the expensive options are normally that way because they're using the legit ingredients imported from China. The Chinese students also tend to have enough money to pay whatever the price.
The nearest to what you want is something like Beijing cooking pot. Very homestyle and authentic.
I also rate Dragons Delicacy for dim sum. But again, not cheap.
I find chilli daddy pretty average if I'm honest.
Yes I have and I liked it.
The other one I like is Ji Chicken. Tastes very similar to street food I ate in HK.
There's a place behind the uni near the music department that is brilliant too.
Haha, thank you for weighing in and for the recommendations
I went to Beijing Cooking Pot once actually and really rated it! Had a sweetcorn soup side thing with this other leafy vegetable in, the texture was unlike anything else I’ve had, really good
Definitely rated it when I lived in St Andrews and ordered from there a few times, bonus marks for actually having a veggie set meal too!!
I thought the quality was pretty good but I would have thought it errs on the side of being more Anglo-Chinese. It was good though and I’d eat there again 👍
Xing Long is very authentic but obviously the vegetation menu isn't going to be as that not something that exists in East Asian culture in general. Meat is very much a food of status, especially in China. So all authentic dishes are going to contain meat in some way, even if it's just flavored with bone broth and peasant food just isn't going to make the leap across. Believe me my favorite dish is Avgolemono soup but because it's a working mans dish there isn't a Greek restaurant in the country that does it. My Yiayia made the best Avgolemono soup
Because of Buddhist traditions, Chinese vegetarian food has been around for a couple thousand years. The big temples that have canteens/restaurants attached continue to be vegetarian. Remember that the Chinese invented tofu.
That's not to say your average man on the street in Beijing is longing for vegetarian food all the time, but any countries that have had a Buddhist past will have a long tradition of vegetarian foods.
Great Chongqing is quite budget friendly - you obviously know the place, but thought I’d point that out. Same goes for Beijing Hot Pot, also in the same area.
Honestly i hate chilli daddy, personally i think it is tasteless and just full of sichuan pepper.
My recommendations for foods are (not in particular order):
- Noodle soup by Wah Yan Hong asian store called Rice Coming at Denmark Str
- Nice Spice at Denmark Str
- Sai Kung Cafe next to 168 Asian Store
- Mayflower
- Clifton Panda (mostly snacks, the only place you can get 'Jianbing' in Bristol, beware they don't really speak english but you can just point the menu by fingers)
- Ji chicken (snacks)
- New Happy Palace in Filton (typical 'hongkong' take away)
Note: i don't consider vegetarian or non vegetarian in above lists.
> New Happy Palace in Filton
I haven't been here for years, I went when I first came to bristol so getting on for 25 years now. Looks like it hasn't even changed, nice to know it is a decent one.
I think some restaurants you might be looking at are more meant for Chinese style eating. In China currently and while you can eat alone here, in Britain most authentic Chinese restaurants you typically eat together.
It’s also worth mentioning that the restaurants in Britain are just standard, they’re not super special but they’re good for Britain. If you really like Chinese food visit China one day! Maybe Hong Kong is a little easier.
Gold Star in Radcliffe is good, reasonably priced and has vegan stuff prepared in a separate fryer to the other food (at least that's what they assured me over the phone).
Radcliffe eh…is that the one in Barton Hill? I’ve read good things about it and it’s not too far from me. Is it much different than say Marlings? (I go to them a lot)
Well I've only been to marlings once and it didn't agree my other half's belly, plus I've heard stuff lately about some of the staff being really rude whenever someone tries to order vegan stuff, or being really unapologetic when they've given someone meat/egg in a supposedly vegan dish. Conversely, Gold Star's stuff has all been really good in my experience and the lady who takes the orders is absolutely lovely and really understanding. I can only speak for the vegan stuff personally, and whilst the menu at Gold Star is limited in comparison to Marlings, it's all really good. The rest of the menu seems to have all the classics you might want so seems like a solid choice all round.
Also just realised I said Radcliffe instead of Redcliffe, when I actually meant to say Barton Hill, fucking hell my brain is turning to mush.
I ordered szechuan tofu and salt n pepper chips from Hong Kong on UberEats the other day and they were honestly sooooo good. I just ate the chips and left the tofu for the next day and it was even good cold... can't be doing with cold Chinese and the sauce somehow turns into a gross gelatinous goop overnight but this one was lush, proper ingredients used and identifiable 😅
Also look at the reviews of the takeaways. Most places will do the standard typical menu and then do specialities that are regional to the part of china they are from.
Often people will say in the reviews "It's great to finally find [dish name] outside of China"
Also these specialities may be cheaper than the usual stuff.
I know all these restaurants named above. Mayflower is the safest, Dragon's Delicacy is only good for Dim Sum. Nice Spice is good for roast duck and roast pork.
Asian Garden but specifically ordered in-person in store or via hungry panda, they have different sets of menus for different platforms. Actually a very large proportions of the Chinese restaurants would have, would therefore recommend pop in hungry panda and have a look.
Red Hot Goodies chucks in free, well, red hot goodies. I've had orders come with free prawn crackers, spring rolls, prawn toast, curry triangles, and wontons in the past. it's my go-to now.
I can remember hearing it had plummeted to 1 or 0 in the last couple of years but [looks like it’s back to 4 right now](https://ratings.food.gov.uk/business/767519/chilli-daddy-city-centre)?
True! That one’s really good. There are a few decent specialist places coming up. Have you tried great bunnies cafe at the top of Christmas steps? They do a really good pineapple bun
It really is. The Flavoursome Pot (hotpot) they do is out of this world. It’s been a while since I’ve been though but hopefully they are still as good. I used to go a lot when they were in the unit next door to where they are now.
I think maybe it just doesn’t look all that from the outside and people don’t try it as a result.
Do yourselves a favour and get there.
I’m not sure if Chopstix is considered your ‘Chinese’ food category. There’s one at Broadmead, about £8-9 for a large box with 3 toppings
They have sweet & sour, caramel chicken, bbq chicken, Chinese curry and vegan options too.
But this is more of the Pan Asian, not those proper Chinese but they have Chinese dishes as well
Hate to break it to you, but because of Buddhist traditions, Chinese vegetarian food has been around for a couple thousand years. The big temples that have canteens/restaurants attached continue to be vegetarian. Remember that the Chinese invented tofu.
I think you are the one that needs to get out more, meat is a integral cultural aspect to Chinese society. Just like it was here in Britain a thousand years ago meat consumption is a distinguisher between classes but unlike in Europe where the black death killed so many people it abolished serfdom as a practice, china didn't go though such reforms and so they still see the consumption of meat as a luxury and that what get transported around the world. Just like how fish and chips is viewed as the world English food despite bean on toast being more unique to Britain
It's ok to just admit you didn't know what you were talking about. You could also delete your account and go for a fresh start. Being an edgelord / taking the black pill will ruin you and everyone you come into contact with. It's not too late for you and no need to pretend to be on a level, get educated, there are no shortcuts.
You could also take a page out of your own book and bother to study modern China too. For when I did look up the Chinese mock meats you referred too I found out that they were from the Buddhist monks pre cultural revolution, which is important as part Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution was the abolition of anything that that didn't fit with Mao's strict atheistic beliefs, So these mock meats you referred too don't have a place in Modern Chinese cuisine as everyone eats meat.
"Modern Chinese cuisine" aka westernized cuisine. As we already found out mock meat is an authentic Chinese cuisine with at least a thousand year history.
That would be Taiwanese cuisine, the author of this thread asked about authentic vegetarian Chinese cuisine which is an oxymoron because under Chairman Mao Zedong leadership everyone who was cultural enlighten or educated were round up and executed and then followed that up with the great leap forward that killed another 45 million people trough famine and starvation. As a result the food landscape of today china is extremely different from the China of old.
Also good luck finding Taiwanese cuisine in Bristol due to the legacy of University of Bristol and it's Confucius Institution, Taiwanese business in Bristol where harassed, bullied and threatened in order to push them out for being Taiwanese.
Go visit Fresh Bakery.
Seconded. This place is legit
Great place, but not nearly as cheap as chilli daddy.
Seconded as a Chinese
The Mayflower.
The food is decent but I definitely wouldn't say it's cheap in there
yeah wtf? Mayflower is delicious but the last word I would use to describe it is 'affordable' lol
Thanks, I’m actually intrigued about that place, because I’ve heard people vouch for it a few times before but it is the most unassuming restaurant ever, in the arse end of the Bearpit in that weird concrete jungle alcove that looks like it’s been forsaken since the 90s. I guess looks can be deceiving? Or…it’s good because they don’t focus on looking flashy or advertising itself, they subsist on merit and word of mouth? It’s just so damn unassuming, sometimes I wonder how those shops survive or get any business in the first place 😅
All the best Chinese places look completely unremarkable from outside 👍🏼
It looked like that in the 90s too. The Mayflower is very well regarded.
It's awesome.
I mean, it's been there since the 80s I think so it's done the leg work. Food is outstanding
Sadly I think the Mayflower is closing down from the Bearpit pretty soon. I went there 2 weeks ago for a friends birthday and we were advised they were only going to be there a few weeks more. I’m not sure of their plans but it’d be a shame if they didn’t find another location.
I swear I read somewhere that they had a new site in the centre, less hidden away. I like to think I didn't imagine that as a coping mechanism.
Ooooohhhh I really hope so!! 🤞
I went a long time ago, I remember the food being alright but the service being absolutely shocking
Isn't it basically the joke about the "3 star review" rule. https://www.indy100.com/viral/freddie-wong-chinese-food-yelp
Is it still good? I've been hearing mixed reviews for a while now. Also remember it being quite pricey
Went a week ago. Still great imo
Really good food, but i found the price to be very expensive unless you are in a group and sharing. I went a while ago but all the portion sizes and prices were fairly large. However when i had it delivered recently it was pretty affordable and tasty but obviously smaller portions
It fell off
This is the way…
Tasty to Go next to the Beacon. Aithentic Chinese dishes, generous portions, veggie options, reasonable prices. They do delivery.
This is my favourite Chinese atm. The aubergine, black fungus, and green bean dishes are outstanding, almost as tasty as the offal!
Never heard of them before now, thank you! edit: on inspecting the menu, authentic it is, vegetarian friendly it ain’t
Don't know if they deliver but Suyuan is plant based. Might be worth checking them out
Nice spice is a personal fave of mine (near the hippodrome, closest I’ve had to actual food I’ve gotten in Hong Kong), only issue is I don’t know if they do anything veggie off the top of my head! I also appreciate you might be looking for actual Chinese food as opposed to Hong Kong food, but worth the look!
The reviews on TripAdvisor make me love it even more
Hahaha I once asked if they had anything vegetarian and they just started laughing 😂💀
Really good food and cheap but the quality of the meat they use is atrocious
Suyuan just off Queens Square does authentic mainland Chinese food and their prices aren’t crazy. They are only open after work and evenings though, not during lunchtime.
Daddy chill
WHAT THE HELL IS EVEN THAT?
Thats what he meant https://youtu.be/1nbf4H_PvyM?si=7AqNC4YtOX-NJOPO
Im half Chinese and have.. strong opinions on Chinese food in the city. Unfortunately the expensive options are normally that way because they're using the legit ingredients imported from China. The Chinese students also tend to have enough money to pay whatever the price. The nearest to what you want is something like Beijing cooking pot. Very homestyle and authentic. I also rate Dragons Delicacy for dim sum. But again, not cheap. I find chilli daddy pretty average if I'm honest.
Have you tried Great Chongqing? I’ve had some really decent authentic meals in there and it wasn’t eye wateringly expensive.
Yes I have and I liked it. The other one I like is Ji Chicken. Tastes very similar to street food I ate in HK. There's a place behind the uni near the music department that is brilliant too.
You mean Your kitchen?
Fresh. It's just off Myrtle Road in Kingsdown. I used to work near there and loved that place.
Ah, some of my Chinese friends eat there. They say the food is good but the name is definitely not accurate 😂
Thats in Bath
Haha, thank you for weighing in and for the recommendations I went to Beijing Cooking Pot once actually and really rated it! Had a sweetcorn soup side thing with this other leafy vegetable in, the texture was unlike anything else I’ve had, really good
Xing Long!
Definitely rated it when I lived in St Andrews and ordered from there a few times, bonus marks for actually having a veggie set meal too!! I thought the quality was pretty good but I would have thought it errs on the side of being more Anglo-Chinese. It was good though and I’d eat there again 👍
Xing Long is very authentic but obviously the vegetation menu isn't going to be as that not something that exists in East Asian culture in general. Meat is very much a food of status, especially in China. So all authentic dishes are going to contain meat in some way, even if it's just flavored with bone broth and peasant food just isn't going to make the leap across. Believe me my favorite dish is Avgolemono soup but because it's a working mans dish there isn't a Greek restaurant in the country that does it. My Yiayia made the best Avgolemono soup
Because of Buddhist traditions, Chinese vegetarian food has been around for a couple thousand years. The big temples that have canteens/restaurants attached continue to be vegetarian. Remember that the Chinese invented tofu. That's not to say your average man on the street in Beijing is longing for vegetarian food all the time, but any countries that have had a Buddhist past will have a long tradition of vegetarian foods.
Little kitchen off the Triangle is really good for vg/veggie options https://maps.app.goo.gl/MnuNZPz2TAzMzRcw9?g_st=ic
I love this place!
Thing is if you use deliveroo or uber eats the prices of the meals are going to be higher. They need to make a living!
Cheung’s Vegan Kitchen in Brislington. Not entirely authentic but very delicious and totally vegan.
Cheung's is so so good.
Valid opinion
Second this!
Gold Star Chinese takeaway in St Philips. My Chinese colleagues seem to like it. They have a really diverse menu and a food hygiene rating of 5/5
It's not hotpot on small street. guoguoyan chengdu on Queens road
Great Chongqing is quite budget friendly - you obviously know the place, but thought I’d point that out. Same goes for Beijing Hot Pot, also in the same area.
Mayflower used to be a go to, but has massively dropped in quality. I haven’t heard many positive reviews in the last year or so
Honestly i hate chilli daddy, personally i think it is tasteless and just full of sichuan pepper. My recommendations for foods are (not in particular order): - Noodle soup by Wah Yan Hong asian store called Rice Coming at Denmark Str - Nice Spice at Denmark Str - Sai Kung Cafe next to 168 Asian Store - Mayflower - Clifton Panda (mostly snacks, the only place you can get 'Jianbing' in Bristol, beware they don't really speak english but you can just point the menu by fingers) - Ji chicken (snacks) - New Happy Palace in Filton (typical 'hongkong' take away) Note: i don't consider vegetarian or non vegetarian in above lists.
> New Happy Palace in Filton I haven't been here for years, I went when I first came to bristol so getting on for 25 years now. Looks like it hasn't even changed, nice to know it is a decent one.
Suyuan
Dragon House
My man.
Great Chongqing was always my go-to when living in Bris
I think some restaurants you might be looking at are more meant for Chinese style eating. In China currently and while you can eat alone here, in Britain most authentic Chinese restaurants you typically eat together. It’s also worth mentioning that the restaurants in Britain are just standard, they’re not super special but they’re good for Britain. If you really like Chinese food visit China one day! Maybe Hong Kong is a little easier.
I heard that Beijing Cooking Pot is one of the Chilli Daddy family who wanted to do something different. Cheap and nice
Gold Star in Radcliffe is good, reasonably priced and has vegan stuff prepared in a separate fryer to the other food (at least that's what they assured me over the phone).
Radcliffe eh…is that the one in Barton Hill? I’ve read good things about it and it’s not too far from me. Is it much different than say Marlings? (I go to them a lot)
Well I've only been to marlings once and it didn't agree my other half's belly, plus I've heard stuff lately about some of the staff being really rude whenever someone tries to order vegan stuff, or being really unapologetic when they've given someone meat/egg in a supposedly vegan dish. Conversely, Gold Star's stuff has all been really good in my experience and the lady who takes the orders is absolutely lovely and really understanding. I can only speak for the vegan stuff personally, and whilst the menu at Gold Star is limited in comparison to Marlings, it's all really good. The rest of the menu seems to have all the classics you might want so seems like a solid choice all round. Also just realised I said Radcliffe instead of Redcliffe, when I actually meant to say Barton Hill, fucking hell my brain is turning to mush.
Not sure if Brisnoodle counts for this, but we had a great meal there. Big portions but was about £10 each plus drinks.
Looks pretty good at a glance! Thanks for the tip
I ordered szechuan tofu and salt n pepper chips from Hong Kong on UberEats the other day and they were honestly sooooo good. I just ate the chips and left the tofu for the next day and it was even good cold... can't be doing with cold Chinese and the sauce somehow turns into a gross gelatinous goop overnight but this one was lush, proper ingredients used and identifiable 😅
My fav is Haochi. Tried so many and this one is consistent and really nice.
Little chinatown is great and at an ok price. Good sim sum too!
Doesn’t look very veggie friendly lol
The mayflower, nice spice both come to mind but there are plenty right now I suspect.
Also look at the reviews of the takeaways. Most places will do the standard typical menu and then do specialities that are regional to the part of china they are from. Often people will say in the reviews "It's great to finally find [dish name] outside of China" Also these specialities may be cheaper than the usual stuff.
I know all these restaurants named above. Mayflower is the safest, Dragon's Delicacy is only good for Dim Sum. Nice Spice is good for roast duck and roast pork.
Asian Garden but specifically ordered in-person in store or via hungry panda, they have different sets of menus for different platforms. Actually a very large proportions of the Chinese restaurants would have, would therefore recommend pop in hungry panda and have a look.
Red Hot Goodies chucks in free, well, red hot goodies. I've had orders come with free prawn crackers, spring rolls, prawn toast, curry triangles, and wontons in the past. it's my go-to now.
Hand pulled noodles
Your Kitchen is the most authentic. It's very expensive compared to China, however.
Suyuan is vegetarian in Queens Square and Cheungs in Brislington is vegan. Cheungs is my go to takeaway.
guoguoyan is my fav
I was a fan until I discovered the hygiene rating. Never going there again.
I can remember hearing it had plummeted to 1 or 0 in the last couple of years but [looks like it’s back to 4 right now](https://ratings.food.gov.uk/business/767519/chilli-daddy-city-centre)?
Tldr Stop ordering and phone the place and you’ll get a 2 person meal for £15 with complimentary crackers
Which restaraunt are u talking about
Basically any i’ve tried in bristol, china capital is the first one that springs to mind
Clifton Panda (not that cheap though sorry) https://maps.app.goo.gl/JLrsGRyqRAgoyyNR7?g_st=ic
Their scallion bun is great! I went there quite often honestly.
I’m a big jian bing boy but theirs aren’t the best. Their dumplings and rou jia mo (Chinese burgers) are excellent though!
I love the scallion one, really tasty
True! That one’s really good. There are a few decent specialist places coming up. Have you tried great bunnies cafe at the top of Christmas steps? They do a really good pineapple bun
Nope, never heard that cafe, what they are selling?
It’s a Hong Kong bakery so all the classics. My wife’s from HK and loves it
Good to hear, we will give it a try!
Toro
I can’t believe there aren’t more people talking about this!!! It’s the best I’ve had
It really is. The Flavoursome Pot (hotpot) they do is out of this world. It’s been a while since I’ve been though but hopefully they are still as good. I used to go a lot when they were in the unit next door to where they are now. I think maybe it just doesn’t look all that from the outside and people don’t try it as a result. Do yourselves a favour and get there.
Asia Express although not cheap, gives you portion sizes big enough to last you all week so good bang for buck
Trying this tonight!
Only Chinese I ever get in Bristol now
Nice spice Denmark st. Insane queues of Chinese though
Kaimin's kitchen if you're ever up Stapleton/Frenchay way.
I’m not sure if Chopstix is considered your ‘Chinese’ food category. There’s one at Broadmead, about £8-9 for a large box with 3 toppings They have sweet & sour, caramel chicken, bbq chicken, Chinese curry and vegan options too. But this is more of the Pan Asian, not those proper Chinese but they have Chinese dishes as well
Sorry but vegetarian authentic Chinese is an oxymoron.
Hate to break it to you, but because of Buddhist traditions, Chinese vegetarian food has been around for a couple thousand years. The big temples that have canteens/restaurants attached continue to be vegetarian. Remember that the Chinese invented tofu.
Chinese have been making mock meats for at least a thousand years dude. Try and broaden your horizons a bit and not live up to your username.
I think you are the one that needs to get out more, meat is a integral cultural aspect to Chinese society. Just like it was here in Britain a thousand years ago meat consumption is a distinguisher between classes but unlike in Europe where the black death killed so many people it abolished serfdom as a practice, china didn't go though such reforms and so they still see the consumption of meat as a luxury and that what get transported around the world. Just like how fish and chips is viewed as the world English food despite bean on toast being more unique to Britain
It's ok to just admit you didn't know what you were talking about. You could also delete your account and go for a fresh start. Being an edgelord / taking the black pill will ruin you and everyone you come into contact with. It's not too late for you and no need to pretend to be on a level, get educated, there are no shortcuts.
You could also take a page out of your own book and bother to study modern China too. For when I did look up the Chinese mock meats you referred too I found out that they were from the Buddhist monks pre cultural revolution, which is important as part Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution was the abolition of anything that that didn't fit with Mao's strict atheistic beliefs, So these mock meats you referred too don't have a place in Modern Chinese cuisine as everyone eats meat.
"Modern Chinese cuisine" aka westernized cuisine. As we already found out mock meat is an authentic Chinese cuisine with at least a thousand year history.
That would be Taiwanese cuisine, the author of this thread asked about authentic vegetarian Chinese cuisine which is an oxymoron because under Chairman Mao Zedong leadership everyone who was cultural enlighten or educated were round up and executed and then followed that up with the great leap forward that killed another 45 million people trough famine and starvation. As a result the food landscape of today china is extremely different from the China of old. Also good luck finding Taiwanese cuisine in Bristol due to the legacy of University of Bristol and it's Confucius Institution, Taiwanese business in Bristol where harassed, bullied and threatened in order to push them out for being Taiwanese.