Top Chinese restaurants with spicy regional dishes

The poet T.S. Eliot famously wrote that “April is the cruelest month,” but I could make a strong case for January.

With the holiday season concluded, we’re left with relatively few fun diversions from the cold, hard reality of cold, hard January — the coldest month of the year in Columbus, on average, according to numerous weather websites and my gas bill.

There’s no real cure for such weather (though, with respect to Mr. Eliot, April might qualify as a cure). That said, I’ve discovered a surefire activity that cheers me up during dull, cold and cruel January days: eating endorphin-releasing, flavor-bomb food from restaurants offering chile-detonated regional Chinese cuisines.

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You’ve likely noticed that, over the last decade or so, many Chinese restaurants have featured more varied, sophisticated, regionally specific and spicier fare. This is a great trend for diners seeking something other than dishes that, while they might taste good, aren’t really eaten in China — I’m looking at you crab rangoon, orange chicken and fortune cookie.

Related rule of thumb: Columbus Chinese restaurants that offer spicy regional dishes are usually among the best local Chinese restaurants. The following places definitely qualify.

Xin Wei Kitchen

1932 Henderson Road, 614-824-3347, xinweikitchen.com

The bold flavors of Sichuan — a province in Southwest China — are showcased here, but if you’re presented with a menu advertising General Tso’s chicken, you’ll have to ask for the “Chinese menu” to get the authentic stuff (this isn’t an uncommon scenario at restaurants offering both American-Chinese and regional Chinese cuisines). Armed with the right menu in this narrow little Northwest Side eatery, you can access culinary fireworks ignited by, in telltale Sichuan style, chiles coupled with citrusy, tongue-tingling Sichuan peppercorns.

“Sichuan 101” dishes like Chongqing spicy chicken (popcorn chicken that pops) and mapo tofu (here called “braised bean curd with minced pork”) are expertly prepared, but so are rarified delights like: sliced beef in sour soup — Philly-steak-like meat, cucumber, celery and wood ear fungus in a gurgling-hot piquant broth; “Szechuan style mouthwatering chicken” — hacked, bone-in, succulent chilled meat with peanuts, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns and a chile-oil-based gravy with undertones of peanut butter, pepper and honey.

N.E. Chinese

2620 N. High St., 614-725-0880, nechinese.com

As the name of this unassuming but excellent, frequently busy Old North mom-and-pop shop suggests, it highlights the food of Northeast China. Formerly known as “Manchuria,” the region is officially called Dongbei nowadays. Dongbei’s proximity to Korea and Russia is reflected in Dongbei dishes made with vinegar, garlic, wheat, chiles and potatoes.

NE’s spicy twice-cooked fish is a must: crinkly and light, oversized nuggets containing juicy, tender seafood amid a kicky sauce with dried chiles, onions, peppers and carrots. Several cold dishes are hot, too, like: fiery and addictive, garlic-and-vinegar-spiked black fern noodles; the vibrant and outstanding “mixed vegetable salad” (includes tofu and noodles); and a Chinese-style spicy potato salad assembled with firm potato matchsticks, chile oil and jalapenos.

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Jiu Thai Asian Cafe

787 Bethel Road, 614-732-5939, jiuthaius.com

Despite Jiu Thai’s name, it's a Chinese restaurant (the titular “Thai” references a Chinese mountain range). In fact, it's a terrific Chinese restaurant — upbeat, inexpensive, speedy and with great food — that features the cuisine of Shaanxi, a province in Northwest/North-central China.

Fiery dishes aren’t necessarily its norm, but Jiu Thai brings the heat with lively creations like: Biang Biang noodles (the eatery’s dumplings and noodles are scratch-made and it shows) — a smoke-scented, explosively flavored mound of comforting wide pasta, beef strips, cabbage, bok choy and bean sprouts accented with sesame seeds, cilantro, chile oil and black vinegar; Xi'an steamed cold noodles — a dynamic salad containing delightful fat noodle ribbons, bean sprouts, garlic, amusingly chewy dumpling nubs plus flourishes of chile oil, vinegar, sesame seeds and cilantro.

ChiliSpot

1178 Kenny Centre Mall, 614-929-5565, chilispotcolumbus.com

Playing “what’s in a name” before visiting the modern, spare and tasteful space of this hot spot in the Kenny Center Mall yields obvious results. When it premiered a couple years ago, though, few people knew much else about ChiliSpot due, in part, to a reticent website and menu. Word of fired-up mouths eventually spread that it’s a destination-worthy Sichuan specialist.

ChiliSpot nails entry-level classics like Sichuan wontons and Chengdu dan dan noodles, but also excels at more esoteric fare such as: vermicelli with spicy minced pork — a tangy, fragrant, complex and incendiary thrill-ride colloquially called “ants climbing a tree”; and ginger-kissed, pork-belly-fortified dry pot organic cauliflower.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Top Columbus Chinese restaurants offering spicy regional dishes