You can practically hear the place – the roaring conversation, the beer bottles clinking and the metal plates clanking – before stepping inside and through a portal to some bustling food street in China.

Welcome to the cumin- chilli- and garlic-forward world of chuan’r, where you order barbecued meat and seafood skewers from a piece of paper while Googling anatomical terms like larynx, aorta, and soft and hard tendons. Sneak in some lapi – mung bean noodle salad with creamy sesame dressing and acidic kick – or chilli-oil noodles with frilly edges like mafaldine pasta.

Pipis and vermicelli cooked with black vinegar pack a punch despite being served in an aluminium foil tray, while garlic chives are painstakingly threaded, strand by strand, onto a skewer. Neutralise the heat with house-made yoghurt and cheap beer. Bring a hungry crew and definitely book – it’s usually packed.

Best for: A lairy group night out at a turbo Northern Chinese version of an izakaya.

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