As with Moon, we have been to Chedi twice for dinner, the first time in 2019, and most recently in mid-October 2022. Thus, while our experience and knowledge of Chedi is quite limited, we enjoyed excellent food and drinks both times, all served in a very comfortable and stylish environment by friendly staff. Therefore, we highly recommend Chedi to people looking to enjoy refined Szechuan food in Tallinn, especially those looking for a great dog-friendly option.
The food at Chedi is extremely high quality and offers a fine dining experience that many do not always associate with Chinese restaurants. We would put Chedi on par with some of our favourite Chinese restaurants, in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore (and surprisingly, Milan – review to come).
While we have been here twice, in terms of food and drinks, this review will mainly deal with our latest visit (October 2022), but we will describe the service based on both visits (see below for reasons why).
First, the menu offers a fairly extensive list of delicious options, but luckily not as many as you would find in the average ‘run of the mill’ Chinese restaurant. The menu is divided into the following sections: Small Eats, Soups, Fish and Seafood, Meat and Poultry, Vegetables, Desserts, and there are many vegetarian options available, not just vegetables!
To start with, we shared the Dim sum platter with prawn-bamboo and prawn-scallop filling (€15) and the Baked venison puff (€12). The dim sum were delicate and delicious, with wonderful flavour and texture. The venison puffs, while not overly Asian tasting, were also delectable little treats; crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, with the filling consisting of a wonderfully black peppery venison stew. The only reason we will not order these items again is that there are other equally mouthwatering ‘small eats’ that we wish to try.
Next, as a middle course, we shared the halibut with Szechuan pepper and chilli (€25) which was an excellent dish even though halibut is not our favourite white fish. The sauce and chillis were to die for, the coating on the fish crispy and light, and the fish was fresh and flavoursome, but as with all halibut, a little soft for our liking. Based on how good this dish was, we will definitely be trying the Taiwanese style pike perch in San Bei sauce next time (€27).
After the fish, along with two other dishes, we shared one of our favourite Szechuan dishes; Spicy chicken with cashew nuts (€17) and were not disappointed! The dish was everything you want it to be in terms of taste and texture, but we did wish we had saved some of the amazingly tasty dried chillis from the fish dish to give it a little extra kick. As noted, Sichuan fried chicken is one of our favourite dishes, and as such we have had different versions in various places including an excellent one at Spicy Temptation in Rotterdam. In addition, we have created what we think is a very easy and good version, so try it out and let us know what you think.
We also had the Pi Pa duck (€21) and Stir fried vegetables with mock abalone and crispy lotus root (€15). The duck was one of the most delicious dishes we have ever had in a Chinese restaurant and made us thankful we did not go for our usual favourite; Crispy aromatic duck with pancakes (€18), which we did thoroughly enjoy on our first visit to Chedi in 2019. The duck skin was amazingly thin and tasty, the meat was perfectly cooked and surprisingly tender and moist, and the sauce was just lovely. I will not describe it any further; just have it and enjoy it yourself! The vegetable were also very good; nice and al dente with a tasty sauce, and the crispy lotus root added a nice crunch to the dish. On our first visit, we thoroughly enjoyed the Stir-fried water chestnut, sugar snap peas and cloud ear mushroom dish (€16), so this also comes highly recommended. All in all, we were extremely satisfied with all of the food, and even though the portions are not so large, we were suitably full by the end, thus we did not opt for desserts.
In terms of drinks, I stared with an excellent gin and tonic (about €10), but other than that, we stuck to beers (about €5). The beer was a very pleasing and well-served version of A la Coq, but I cannot remember the name.
As for the service, while on both visits the staff were very friendly and nice, we had slightly different experiences in terms of efficiency each time. On our first visit, everything was perfectly efficient, where we were able to order easily and received our food and drinks just when we wanted them. However, on our last visit, there was occasional difficulty in attracting the attention of (or even seeing) a service member, and there was a very long wait between the starters and the fish course. To be fair, there were only two staff members working out front, and it may have been busier than the average random Monday, but it did spoil our visit a little. Nevertheless, as everyone has a bad night, and given that the service was perfect the first time and very friendly the second, and the food excellent on both occasions, we will definitely be going back.
The total bill was a reasonable €154, and overall, we highly recommend Chedi to anyone (with or without a furry friend) looking for elevated and delicious Szechuan food in Tallinn.
| Number of Visits | 2 |
| Last Visit | October 2022 |
| Dog Policy | All dogs welcome |
| Websites | http://chedi.ee/en/ https://www.facebook.com/chedirestaurant/ |
