Harden's survey result
Summary
“Exactly what dining in an authentic restaurant in a town in Sichuan would be like” – down to the “cheap furniture and cheap tableware, and service of the silent just-point-at-the-menu variety”. On the food front it’s “really exciting”...“expect lots of garlic and chilli and offal (plus “squishy textures”) and enjoy!”
Summary
“No gastronomical trip to Oxford should miss My Sichuan” – an “old-school building just by the bus station”, whose food is “unashamedly what it says on the can” (“fiery” and “robust”, with unusual meats like tripe and tongue). As a result it “attracts a lot of Chinese diners” – others may “need help with the menu”.
Summary
“Go once and – if you like Sichuan cooking – you’ll be hooked” on this “really interesting”, if “slightly Spartan” old schoolhouse, near the Ashmolean, which is “always bursting with diners”. “It’s not for the faint of heart” – “dishes are heavy on grease (as in China), and definitely heavy on chillies too”, and include “unusual” ingredients (duck tongues, pig tripe, frogs legs), but if you can take it, results are “brilliant and exciting”.
Summary
“For taste, wow… just wow!” – “amazing” dishes “with lots of exotic items like frogs’ legs and ducks’ tongues” are all part of the “unabashedly in-yer-face” culinary style (“some stuff you’ll need to pluck up courage for”) of this centrally located, former school house, next to the bus station. “It’s not a good option if you don’t appreciate chilli heat”, but “it’s the closest thing to Chinese food, outside of China” and “the clientele are nearly always over 50% Chinese”. Top Menu Tip – “the cumin ribs are really, really good”.
Restaurant details
The Old School, Gloucester Grn, Oxford, OX1 2DA
Opening hours
Last orders: 11 pm
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