Toren's Resto Rants Volume 8: New Spicy Chili

From the restaurant reviewer who can’t handle spicy food comes…

New Spicy Chili interior
New Spicy Chili interior

New Spicy Chili Restaurant

Their blurb: No website. No blurb. No fun.

No Online Menu Available

Address: 4200 No 3 Rd #160, Richmond, BC V6X 2C2
Phone: (604) 273-3388
Open 11:30am to 9:30pm except Fri, Sat, Sun open until 10pm.
Booths? No
Noisy? Nope. Not even any music.
Candies with your bill? Negative.
When I dined: Sunday afternoon.

What a facade!
What a facade!

Do you like menus that have giant photos of the food? Photos that are so big you can only fit 3 to 5 items on a page? This might be the restaurant for you!

My date chose this restaurant because we were in Richmond and she was craving dandan noodles. Almost everything in the menu had at least one little chili icon beside it, sometimes up to 3 of them. Since I can’t handle capsaicin spice, it was a challenge to find something that wasn’t scary to me. I also wanted to order a dish that was under $16 (all of the items on the menu had little stickers for prices – they had obviously altered the original menu prices). Also, some items on the menu had prices only in Chinese, which I cannot read. The food seemed overly expensive but I managed to find a noodle dish for about ten bucks that had no chili icon and I verbally confirmed with the server was not spicy.

We did not wait long for our food, and it was actually quite tasty. My co-eater (a term of endearment) also enjoyed her spicy noodles. I had very low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. If I enjoyed spicy food I think I would have had a better experience.

As expected, there are no smiles or pleasantness in the service here. Also the server’s phone was constantly going off in her pocket. I read a review on another site that the server chased down someone trying to leave because they didn’t leave a big enough tip. I guess that’s one way to run a successful business?

I did appreciate the dearth of disposable chopsticks. Hooray future of planet Earth!

Biggest Rave: At no time during our dining experience were was there more than three tables occupied. Apart from the obnoxious phone ringer in the server’s pocket it was very peaceful.

Biggest Rant: This place is cash only, unless your bill is $60 or more. Which, if you order more than three items is likely. Since most of my friends don’t carry cash, this is a huge drawback. Might return to try some other dish. Maybe. Probably not.

Fun stuffed chilis hanging in the corner.
Fun stuffed chilis hanging in the corner.

Enjoyed this review? Check out all my Vancouver restaurant reviews at http://www.thickets.net/toren/category/resto-rants/