Pleasingly, Sichuan Huiguan is the sort of place where you can get Dalian abalone stew with cordyceps for 680RMB, or a simple boiled cabbage soup for just 10RMB—it seems that all tastes (and wallet sizes) are catered to.

Located in a sleek glass tower on Dongzhimen, Sichuan Huiguan’s décor is modest with contemporary tones. A semi-circular wine rack stands in the centre of the dining area while hand-blown glass ornaments resembling giant chillies hang from the ceiling.

When presented with menu, look for dishes that have the word ‘dama’ in front of them, an endearing term for aunty in the Sichuan dialect. Dama feipian (46RMB)—is a meat platter dressed in sweet, salty, spicy, tangy sauce with even hot and cool flavors that really arouse your senses. Once a humble snack on the streets of Chengdu, now is a ubiquitous appetizer in Sichuan restaurants --the paper thin slices of tender marble beef, crunchy tendon and chewy tripe are topped with crushed peanuts and crunchy celery.

Similarly, jiachang huiguo rou (38RMB), a home style twiced-cooked pork, is not as ordinary as it sounds. Exceptionally delicious belly pork with not a trace of fat, is coated beautifully with the sweet wheaten paste and intertwined with a hint of black bean as well as chili bean paste, while diagonally cut leeks are used instead of suanmiao, or garlic sprouts, giving the dish more flavor. Mapo doufu (22RMB) is a dish once prepared by pocked-marked Old Mother Chen to serve the laborers working in the Chengdu market; it's the perfect example of the Sichuan culinary tradition. The pulverized Sichuan ‘flower pepper’ intensifies the spiciness of the dish, which tingles your lips. The only slight disappointment is that the bean curd was not as tender as expected. But such criticism is more than compensated for by the fantastic dandan noodle (12RMB), which comes with a generous portion of al dente hand-pulled noodles and savoury sauce

2F, Guohua Touzi Daxia, 3 Dongzhimen Nan Dajie, Dongcheng district (tel 5819 9892) Open 11am-9:30pm. Meal for two 150 to 200RMB.Tower B, Di San Zhiye, A1 Shuguang Xi Li, Chaoyang district (tel 5822 2888)

四川会馆 东城区东直门南大街国华投资大厦2层
朝阳区 曙光西里甲1号第三置业B座