If you haven’t taken the escalator to Spicy Joint’s noisy but dignified dining room in Haymarket you may have eaten at one of the chain’s offshoots in Burwood, Chatswood or Rhodes. Perhaps you’ve even visited the original location in Shanghai, where Spicy Joint launched in 2004 and is better known as Xin Xiang Hui.

A similar menu of Sichuan favourites is available at all restaurants, headlined by the signature poached, chilled and sliced chicken in a viscous combination of chilli oil and sesame paste. Dan dan noodles topped with a rubble of pork in dusky red broth are excellent value, as is boneless white fish in a Sichuan pepper-spiked broth of potent flavour and eye-popping size (come with a group).

Nubs of deep-fried chook covered in lustrous blood-red dried chillies are less intense, but you’ll still want more Tsingtao or super-garlicky smashed cucumber to temper the spice.

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