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Chi Restaurant opens its 7th restaurant! Located at Quayside, where Teri Aki used to reside, Chi has been expanding rapidly with its offering of what it calls “Pan Asian” cuisine.

For those of you unaware, pan-Asian is a mixture of all things Asian, highlighting the best of what the continent has to offer. Expect Japanese, Indian, Chinese, and even fusion dishes, giving you a bit of everything in one place. If that was not exciting enough, Chi Restaurant offers a tapas experience.

The restaurant

The restaurant is located on the riverside and comes equipped with outdoor seating. This makes it a great place to sit with beer and watch people falling off the punts during the day.

Inside, it has a melodic atmosphere, with a stylish interior. The walls are made of glass,  allowing you to people-watch while appreciating the fountain in the courtyard. It’s a pleasant place to be, spacious, and has a strong Asian theme without being too in your face.

Starters & nibbles

We were lucky enough to be joined by Aidan, the owner of the restaurant. Today he was kind enough to show us literally everything from their menu. This was a rare treat that I was happy to take advantage of (it was also an opportunity for me to interview him for our new Instagram subscription service). 

We started with their house crackers, which come with an assortment of three different sauces – sweet chilli, furikake, and their house sauce. The crackers themselves looked a little ordinary by eye but were surprisingly delicious. They were crispy on the initial bite but slowly melted in your mouth. I found myself picking at them constantly and ended up consuming two sharer portions by myself.

Ribbed for your pleasure

One of the undisputed stars of the show this evening was the short ribs. Everyone at the table was talking about them and were clearly the standout favourites of the evening. The meat fell off the bone with absolutely minimal effort and the ribs were small enough to suck the meat off in one go.

Chicken teriyaki

There was a lot of excitement at the table over the chicken teriyaki. I loved the fact that they were served on wooden lollipop sticks, making them fun and easy to eat. The sweet and savoury flavour makes them a versatile choice while the spring onions and sesame seeds add a very welcome freshness and a crunchy pop.

Pad Thai

The pad Thai was a real winner. This classic dish is made from rice noodles, egg, onion, bean sprouts, and garnished with peanuts and coriander. The king prawns weren’t huge but plentiful, soft and juicy. The generous portion of peanuts really brought this dish to life with a crunchy texture and salty flavour. How many pad Thai’s have you had that have been stingy with the nuts? Not here!

Sides that took the centre show!

The burrata was a modest but surprisingly delicious vegetarian dish that came with grilled plum. This added a vibrant sweetness that worked well with the buttery creaminess of the burrata. The coca bread was the perfect accompaniment, offering a rustic canvas for dipping but I couldn’t help but feel like there should have been an extra slice or two, especially if the dishes are made for sharing.

I was very excited to try the charred padron peppers, which were lightly covered in hot honey for an added sweetness and liberally topped with peanuts for a salty dimension. The peppers came with a dollop of gochujang alioli, a popular Korean sauce that added a mild spicy creaminess, turning the peppers into subtle yet surprisingly complexity flavours and texture.

Ramen

The ramen noodles were served as a full portion and didn’t fit into the tapas theme, but it was great to have it on the menu as an option. I was delighted to see a rib option with this, as stated previously, ribs were one of the highlights of the evening.

I usually find ramen rice noodles to be quite anaemic but when slurping them up it really struck me as to how much flavour they had in them. The chilli oil didn’t stand out much but the spring onions and shredded nori were very well prepared and delicious.

Pork belly that isn’t pretending to be your friend

The pork belly was unapologetically indulgent – these bad boys were square chunks of fatty pork that are covered in char-siu sauce, apple, & celeriac puree.  They are served with red cabbage
& crispy shallots for a colourful presentation and being on skewers made them fun and easy to eat. The pork was VERY fatty but the flavour it added was incredible! Looking for something healthy? Get the hell out of here! 🤣

White crab hash browns

The white crab hash browns aren’t something I would ordinarily order for myself but I am so glad I had the chance.

The Thai red curry mayo gave it a beautiful flavour, which complimented the crab perfectly. The hash browns were crispy and a good size but only came as a two, making them tougher to share between larger groups.

Desserts

Chi Restaurant has four desserts to choose from. My personal favourite was their basque cheesecake which came with berry compote and pistacchio tuile.

Food as good as its variety!

Chi Restaurants has everything you could want from an Asian restaurant and more. Its stylish surroundings make it great for special occasions, while the outdoor seating and glass windows make it ideal for the up and coming summer. Every dish hit the mark, with the ribs and pork belly being especially impressive. I look forward to revisiting in the summer for a pint of Asahi beer and watching the river. 

Thanks for reading.