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A taste of Chongqing

Lin Zhong Le Laziji (Geleshan original)

林中乐辣子鸡（歌乐山总店）

Up on Geleshan mountain in Shapingba, on the road where 歌乐山辣子鸡 was invented in the 1980s and which is now lined with competitors. Lin Zhong Le is the house usually named as the origin. A whole chicken is chopped small, bones in, deep-fried and then tossed with more dried chilli than chicken; you hunt the meat out of the pile. It is a half-hour taxi from the centre and worth the trip for one of the defining 江湖菜 dishes.

¥88–110 per person≈ US$13Shapingba district, Geleshan (Oujiawan community no. 199 / Sanbaiti Huangjueshu area). No metro; take a taxi or ride-hail. Open roughly 10:00-22:00.
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Why come here

A place worth making time for

Named in China Southern Airlines' official Chongqing guide as the birthplace of Geleshan laziji; no award confirmed from a primary source.

The house favourites

What to order

Point at the Chinese. Staff will understand it even where the menu has no English at all.

  • Geleshan chilli chicken (歌乐山辣子鸡)
  • Stir-fried seasonal mountain greens (时令小菜)
  • Cold sweet-potato jelly noodles (凉粉)

What it actually tastes like

Bones left in throughout - the chicken is chopped through the carcass, so eat carefully and expect to spit bone out. The dish arrives as a mountain of dry fried chilli and whole 花椒; biting a peppercorn by accident will numb your mouth for several minutes. Very dry, very salty, very oily.

Allergens in this kitchen

soygluten/wheatsesamepeanut

This is the kitchen, not one dish. Woks, fryers, blanching water and utensils are shared in almost every Chinese restaurant, so for a serious allergy treat the whole premises as the unit rather than ordering around it.

Get to know the menu

Local specialities to try here

Spicy chicken cubes 辣子鸡Dry-fried, toasty, fragrant chilli heat; crunchy rather than saucy