Gigi Gao's favorite authentic Chinese, Swansea: 'A fabulous creation' - restaurant review
Gigi Gao's Favorite Authentic Chinese, 23 Anchor Court, Victoria Quay, Maritime Quarter, Swansea SA1 3XA. Starters £4.98-£8.98, larger mains £6.98-£13.98, wines from £19.98
Gigi Gao is her own special creation, and what a fabulous creation it is. She serves us dressed in a long fitted dress with silver sequins and a veil of golden tassels. It becomes clear, when the house wine arrives, that this is a choice of fashion rather than culture; on the label of the bespoke wine bottle, she is depicted, unveiled, raising a glass. Another waiter is in a rainbow sequin dress, and a third has a black sequin dress with a dashing opera cape. Rightly so, they pair these outfits with sensible looking sneakers. The brilliant thing about this whole dress is that it suits the decor. It's the best kind of walnut.
The floors and many of the walls are painted tangerine orange, except for those pieces decorated with enlarged images of the Willow pattern , among other things. The ceiling is hung with light garlands and large rolls of red, diaphanous fabric. In one corner there is a huge soft panda and in another a small deer. The stuffed animal looks completely scared. I can very well understand why. For no apparent reason, a silver garland reading “Happy 50th Birthday” hangs on our side of the dining room. Never mind. It's bound to be someone's 50th at some point. The tablecloths, under thick transparent covers that your bare arms might later cling to, are decorated with Chinese stories and legends, and wine is served less in glasses than in tumblers, with swirling, filigree multicolored metal stems. Outside, overlooking the marina, are bright red tables under a large, sprawling tree adorned with numerous lanterns. The laminated menu is an equally garish riot of images and fonts. dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class=" dcr-10khgmf">
All this spectacle and joy would just be boring if the food served at Gigi Gao's favorite authentic Chinese restaurant wasn't up to a lot, but it's a lot up to it all. Aside from two fried seafood dishes early on, which had been allowed to wallow in the deep fryer for too long, the heavily Sichuan-accented food here is a big old shot of flavor and intention and just plain good. bloody things.
Gigi arrived in Swansea almost 20 years ago to study law at university and was apparently hit by the shortage of good Chinese restaurants. So in 2014 she opened this one in a location further out of town, before moving it here in 2019 and letting her idiosyncratic eye for design run wild. By necessity, the lengthy menu has a few standard Anglo-Chinese delights, particularly amongst the starters. Yes, you can have crispy duck and sp...
Gigi Gao's Favorite Authentic Chinese, 23 Anchor Court, Victoria Quay, Maritime Quarter, Swansea SA1 3XA. Starters £4.98-£8.98, larger mains £6.98-£13.98, wines from £19.98
Gigi Gao is her own special creation, and what a fabulous creation it is. She serves us dressed in a long fitted dress with silver sequins and a veil of golden tassels. It becomes clear, when the house wine arrives, that this is a choice of fashion rather than culture; on the label of the bespoke wine bottle, she is depicted, unveiled, raising a glass. Another waiter is in a rainbow sequin dress, and a third has a black sequin dress with a dashing opera cape. Rightly so, they pair these outfits with sensible looking sneakers. The brilliant thing about this whole dress is that it suits the decor. It's the best kind of walnut.
The floors and many of the walls are painted tangerine orange, except for those pieces decorated with enlarged images of the Willow pattern , among other things. The ceiling is hung with light garlands and large rolls of red, diaphanous fabric. In one corner there is a huge soft panda and in another a small deer. The stuffed animal looks completely scared. I can very well understand why. For no apparent reason, a silver garland reading “Happy 50th Birthday” hangs on our side of the dining room. Never mind. It's bound to be someone's 50th at some point. The tablecloths, under thick transparent covers that your bare arms might later cling to, are decorated with Chinese stories and legends, and wine is served less in glasses than in tumblers, with swirling, filigree multicolored metal stems. Outside, overlooking the marina, are bright red tables under a large, sprawling tree adorned with numerous lanterns. The laminated menu is an equally garish riot of images and fonts. dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class=" dcr-10khgmf">
All this spectacle and joy would just be boring if the food served at Gigi Gao's favorite authentic Chinese restaurant wasn't up to a lot, but it's a lot up to it all. Aside from two fried seafood dishes early on, which had been allowed to wallow in the deep fryer for too long, the heavily Sichuan-accented food here is a big old shot of flavor and intention and just plain good. bloody things.
Gigi arrived in Swansea almost 20 years ago to study law at university and was apparently hit by the shortage of good Chinese restaurants. So in 2014 she opened this one in a location further out of town, before moving it here in 2019 and letting her idiosyncratic eye for design run wild. By necessity, the lengthy menu has a few standard Anglo-Chinese delights, particularly amongst the starters. Yes, you can have crispy duck and sp...
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