The eve of Lunar New Year was the perfect day to try out Erie Boulevard’s new restaurant, Red Chili, because I felt positive energy bouncing off every table as diners and staff both celebrated the holiday.

Red Chili, a restaurant that just opened in January, offers a wide variety of options. You can get your favorite Chinese dish there, but the real specialty at this new restaurant is its hot pot dining service. Every table has a mini electric stove built into the glass surface that cooks your food right in front of you.

If you’re not into cooking your own food, then I suggest you stick to your usual go-to Chinese dish such as sesame chicken or shrimp fried rice. If you’re in for the hot pot experience, however, you should arrive with a fat wallet.

I was instantly mesmerized by the heavy red décor accenting the restaurant when I first arrived. The waiter brought me tea right after she guided me to my table. The tea was comforting after a long winter day. I tasted the lightly-fused jasmine pearl, which tells me it was freshly brewed, whereas an old pot would taste stale and bitter.

I already knew I wanted a spicy hot pot, so I ordered the Sichuan hot pot. I was happily surprised that the pot started to boil in less than 30 seconds. I’ve been to many hot pot restaurants before, and usually I have to wait at least five minutes for the broth to boil. Five minutes tends to be too long for a hungry person.

The hot pot, which costs $10, came with a starter dish of raw ingredients: two wedges of beef steak, tomatoes, a small bundle of bean thread noodles, an egg, a few baby bok choy and a couple leaves of napa cabbage.

The starter plate of vegetables was small compared to other hot pot restaurants I’ve been to outside of Syracuse. However, I didn’t mind at all. I was simply happy to find out that Syracuse finally has a restaurant specializing in hot pot.

Obviously the starter dish was small and was meant for me to buy more, so I did.  I ordered three additional raw sides: nine pieces of thinly sliced beef, $6.95; eight pieces of fish fillet, $5.95; and eight pieces of thick tofu slices, $2.95.

Raw fish on sushi can look appetizing, but the raw fish on my plate didn’t look appealing at all. It was a pink dull color tossed in a tendering agent that might have been cornstarch or flour. However, the fish tasted extremely delicious and tender, after it had been cooked and soaked in the spicy Sichuan broth.

Like all my side dishes, the beef slices were presented on white rectangular plates over green leaves for presentation. Unlike other dishes, the red beef slices were more eye-catching against the green leaf background. It also tasted delicious after I cooked it to medium rare in my Sichuan hot pot.

I also ordered sesame chicken for $9.50. The chicken was hot and tender on the inside, and crispy on the outside. It was tossed in a savory glaze that wasn’t too salty or too sweet.

However, I expected better chopsticks from a restaurant as authentic as Red Chili. Chopsticks are an essential type of utensil for the style of dining this restaurant offers, and they weren’t up to par.

Although it can easily get pricey, the food is worth it. The authentic dish options are huge. Next time I eat there, I plan on trying their “pork blood, intestines and bean sprout in hot sauce” and their “ginger with duck silk.”

Published on February 2, 2014 at 8:59 pm

Contact Vekonda: vluangap@syr.edu