Li's Chengdu Kitchen ~ Chinese, Burwood

We heart Chengdu noodles and snacks at Li's Chengdu Kitchen in Burwood.

Fitouts in hole-in-the-wall restos are getting fancier and schmancier. As long as the food is good we don't care where we are. There's a nice balance here of clean wooden lines, panda and bamboo ink style images and exposed brick, a style . Simple wooden tables with condiments and water handy that feels pretty welcoming.

 

Sichuan Spicy Noodle with Pork Intestine - $15.50. We have been really digging on intestines lately, the mix of the 'what's that funky smell' with the OTT chilli sauce works fabulously. The broth has that oily slick that holds the heat while you eat the noodles and polish off the rest of the soup later, even though you promised yourself you wouldn't eat it all.

Hot and Sour Potato Noodle with pork mince - $13.80. As a little difference to the wheat noodles, the potato noodles and clear and chumpy. They are nicely cut short and manageable so you don't have to try and slurp them while concurrently streaming red soup all over yourself. The raft of pork mince is an intense meaty flavour, a little goes a long way in a spoonful, and the crisp soybean give a textural crunch.

Spicy deep fried potato chips - $5.80. We just had to get the chips. This version were soft and not so crinkled and very well coated in a chilli crisp sauce. A Chengdu street snack we loved when we went there (feels like a hundred years ago) where the potatoes were still a bit crisp, probably fried in the pan rather than deep fried.

Steamed pork meat ball with sticky rice - $8.80. A smaller version of lions mane meatballs, these tasty little golf ball sized meaty snacks were soft to the bite. A bit of chilli sauce for dippage would have been a perfect addition but we ate them too quickly to think of doing that.

Fungus in homemade sauce - $5.80. Crisp wood ear fungus, almost squeaky when bitten through, mixed with slices of raw onion. The onion softened a little in the vinegar based sauce and this acted almost like a dressing.

Steamed seasonal vegetables with soy sauce - $6.80. Gotta get your veg in, we love it. A simple steamed bunch of greens for healths sake.

Kung Pao chicken with rice - $14.80. Kung Pao chicken is one of those dishes that is a little different in every resto we try it. We quite like this one, it's not drowning in sugary sauce, like some others we've had, and the chooken is stir fried rather than deep fried.

Li's Chengdu Kitchen menu.

Li's Chengdu Kitchen menu

Li's Chengdu Kitchen is at 45 Burwood Road, Burwood.