Shanghai Restaurant Review: Ben Zhen Sichuan Cuisine

By Betty Richardson, January 15, 2018

The Place

Following the viral success of Sichuan restaurant Ben Lai on Shaanxi Lu, a bigger, shinier has opened in Hubin Dao mall.

Like the original, Ben Zhen cooks a roster of classics, like bullfrog with ginger and peppers and Zigong-style dishes, a branch of Sichuan cuisine from a city of the same name. Contrary to its sterile, glitzy setting, which suggests might Ben Zhen offer a lite interpretation of Sichuan tastes, the kitchen’s spice dial is turned up to 11.

The Food

You’d think delicately julienned baby Napa cabbage salad would be safe port in a storm, but with fiery chili oil dressing and heaps of dried peppers on top it is anything but docile.

Tender rolls of pork belly with cucumber batons swim in a lava-like moat of garlicky chili sauce. Even an innocuous plate of Sichuan pickles register on the Scoville scale – nothing is safe.

If you are a card-carrying member of the masochists that enjoy constantly smoldering during dinner, you will enjoy this food. It’s the same, all-out spice, salt and oil offensive that seemed to characterize the newer restaurants we ate at on a recent trip to Chengdu. For some, this style of dining is a judgment-free expression of flavor. For others, it’s a palate-killing exercise that slowly robs you of your taste buds.

Whatever. We fall into the former camp on this issue, and revel in Ben Zhen's heaping portion of dry noodles with chili sauce.

After a buzz killing wet and tough stir-fried rabbit, and fragrant but unbalanced filet of sole with ginger pepper sauce that literally swam in a pond of oil, the best comes in the form of mapo tofu.

Sprinkled with fresh and still-pungent Sichuan pepper that reverberates around your mouth long after eating, it is the ultimate companion to white rice.

Food verdict: 2/3

The Vibe

With its approachable mall appearance, (hilariously typo-filled) English menus and service, Ben Zhen is a starting point for fans of Sichuan food who are ready to graduate to the next level. It won’t wow you with its subtlety, but the food is an exciting joyride that will leave you energized and possibly quite proud of yourself.