Gouqi

I have written previously about Gouqi, including the background of its head chef and its wine list. The restaurant seats 94 diners including its private dining room and bar, and on this Sunday night was very busy, with tables being turned around us.

The salt and pepper squid was stuffed with minced prawn and served in an edible net basket of rice noodles. The squid was tender and prawns added an extra flavour to make the dish more interesting, with the seafood given a zingy touch from the salt and pepper (15/20). Morel spring rolls were much improved since my first visit here. The coating was extremely light and crisp but this time there was a lot more morel flavour, the mushrooms coming through very well (15/20).

King scallop stuffed with minced prawn came with a teriyaki sauce and was just as good as I remember it. The scallops were tender and sweet, the prawns carefully cooked. The teriyaki sauce is made with mirin, sugar and soy, and is suitably rich with a hint of sweetness. The overall effect is superb, the seafood flavour being lifted beautifully by the sauce (16/20). 

Kung pao prawns with cashew nuts and dried chilli had stir-fried prawns cooked with dried chillies, bell peppers, Sichuan pepper in a sweet and sour sauce. This worked very well, the prawns tender and the balance of sweetness and sour just right, the dish enlivened by a touch of spice from the chillies (15/20). Gai lan with garlic had tender stalks of broccoli lightly fried with garlic; the gai lan could have been a cooked a few seconds less to my taste but this was still a very enjoyable dish (14/20).

Braised yu-xiang aubergine in a clay pot is a Sichaun dish that had aubergine coated in a sticky sweet, sour and spicy sauce. This dish involves fermented spicy bean paste, Chinkiang black vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, chilli peppers, ginger, garlic, and onion. It had a pleasing complex blend of flavours, the aubergine tender and nicely enriched by the spices (14/20). 

Service was very attentive. The bill came to £145 per person with beer and cocktails to drink. This is clearly not cheap, but the high levels of culinary skill on display here are hard to deny. This is some of the very best Chinese cooking to be found in the capital.

Further reviews: 16th May 2024 | 27th Apr 2023