Restaurant
Alvin Garden
October 1, 2008
The old Xiang Cuisine restaurant has gotten a re-branding, with the return of the old Crystal Hunan ownership and cooking team. The result is a much-needed upgrade of the décor and even stronger cooking. The underlying blistering heat and clean sharp flavors still abound: celery salad with red chilies, sliced tofu skins, and dark vinegar is elegant in presentation, thumpingly hot on the palate. Beef stir-fried with pickled chilies has the unmistakable smoky wok-seared flavours of high-temperature cooking. But it’s more than just spice—lamb with cumin blossoms has an earthy grassiness as well as heat. Order your food “dai la,” (literally “big heat”) and you’re guaranteed a capsicum buzz. Mercifully, the heat dissipates quickly.
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