Hǎochī Jiē Xiǎopáidàng

A trip to Food Street, a bustling restaurant strip near Liberation Monument (解放碑; Jiěfàng Bēi), should be done at least once, and this place is one of the liveliest here. It specialises in gānguō (干锅; literally 'dry pot'; Y32 to Y38), a clay pot of herbs and spices plus a main ingredient of your choice – anything from fragrant chicken (飘香鸡; piāoxiāng jī) and spare ribs (排骨; páigǔ) to pig intestine (肥肠; féicháng). The Sìchuān-pepper chicken (花椒鸡; huājiāo jī) is a great dish for those who are starting to become addicted to Chóngqìng's favourite mouth-numbing peppercorn, while plain fried green vegetable dishes such as xiǎobái cài (小白菜; cabbage) or kōngxīn cài (空心菜; water spinach) make good mouth-cooling accompaniments.