Ba Shan

Press Reviews (8)

• Matthew Norman (8th March 2010)
  
  Especially considering he has to eat two Sichuan-style meals in the same lunchtime, the critic is impressed by the food at this eminent Soho spot.
• AA Gill (1st June 2009)
  0/5 stars
  
  The service is the only part of the operation at this Soho newcomer which the critic actually likes, finding it “unusually friendly for an oriental gaff: fast, precise, helpful and anticipatory.” The design here is from “that particular Chinese school of gratuitous undesign”, and “[t]his one had been turned inside out so that its insides looked like an outside with fake eaves and tiles and stuff.” More offensive than the décor is the “awful” food: “[b]adly seasoned, viciously oversalted, with flavours that elided into a Pot Noodle brownness.”
• Giles Coren (4th May 2009)
  8/10
  
  With the exception of John Walsh’s unenthusiastic review in the Independent, this Soho Chinese tapas bar is emerging as one of the ‘raves’ of 2009. “The point is new and exciting stodge-packaged protein mouthfuls, friendly service, cute decor, mellow environment and a fresh new way to enjoy the most exciting food in the world.”
• Terry Durack (4th May 2009)
  15/20
  
  “[J]ust sit back and enjoy a gastronomic tour of the provinces of China that Chinatown forgot” – the raves for this ‘tapas’-style Soho newcomer continue.
• John Walsh (27th April 2009)
  Food 2/5 stars, Ambience 3/5 stars, Service 3/5 stars
  
  Perhaps because of the rave reviews elsehwere, this Soho Chinese newcomer was “insanely crowded” when the critic visited. His experience, however, was of: “listless cooking, underspiced, everyday-lunch-in-the-canteen cooking”.
• Richard Vines (23rd April 2009)
  3/4 stars
  
  The man from the finanical news service is swept away by this “understated” Chinese ‘tapas’ bar, which is emerging as one of the critical raves of recent times. The food “is delicious and isn’t expensive”.
• Charmaine Mok (2nd April 2009)
  5/6 stars
  
  “It arrived by stealth, but created a tempest of interest. Ba Shan is the third opening by the same team who launched Sichuanese and northern Chinese cuisine into the spotlight, first via Bar Shu (currently closed for a refurb), then Baozi Inn – already two of the top spots for Chinese food in London.” This is one of those reviews which, right from the beginning, you know is going to end well. The food is indeed “exquisite”, and service is “impossibly cheery” too. “[I]t might not hold a candle to xiao chi restaurants in Chengdu where dozens of small dishes are presented to diners for the price equivalent of a pound” – well, obviously – “but this is likely to be the closest we’ll find in London”.
• Fay Maschler (2nd April 2009)
  3/5 stars
  
  “At Ba Shan, which roughly translates as “little Chinese town”, the aim is to celebrate the wealth of xiao chi (“small eats”) within Chinese regional cooking”, we are told. Problems with the credit card machine aside, she concludes this is “a charming little world apart in the middle of Soho”.