We chose Crab Spicy Pot (108 yuan/500g) and ratcheted up the taste to the hottest. It was a very impressive dish, not only in color but also its heavy flavor. Sixty species of chili out of a possible 1,000 have been chosen to strengthen the flavor, giving a complex feeling of spiciness and inducing perspiration.

All the ingredients are fried before being mixed together which enables them to deeply absorb the spices, resulting in a rich collision of pepper, garlic and shallots. Ordering a cup of the restaurant's Special Plum Syrup (12 yuan a cup /38 yuan a draft) is smart to quell the hot chili and minimize tongue paralysis.

The boiled fish with chili and numbing hot peppers (Jin Pai Shui Zhu Yu, 66-88 yuan/500 grams) is another must try, offering five different options -- organic grass carp (caoyu), catfish (nianyu), snake head fish (heiyu), jiangtuan fish and longsnout fish. These can be the basis for tailoring a meal to your liking, adding various vegetables -- lettuce, mushroom, cucumber, potato or lotus root -- and spices to suit personal taste.

We still prefer the traditional grass carp, but the slightly firmer and less slippery snake head fish makes a nice change. Some people consider the fish too oily but I think its tender flesh and saltiness works so well with a little hot spice that you overlook the oil. Actually, the whole flavor of this dish is dominated more by peppers than chili. Also, the waiter will provide bread, not to eat, but to absorb the extra oil on the fish and vegetables.

Spicy Spirit Assorted Beef Tripe and Duck Blood in Chili Sauce (38 small/48 medium/68 big) is another recommended dish. I think the secret of Spice Spirit's success is that each dish has an individual spicy taste, something not common as is reflected with Indian food's sometime sameness.

For the beef dish, the materials' freshness were evident and were further enhanced by the sauce.

It is sensible to order something light to balance the spice, such as the Cold Celery (18 yuan), crisp celery sticks with a little salt, Fruit Salad (28 yuan), seasonal fruits mixed with mayonnaise and Honey Glazed Tomato (16 yuan), small peeled tomato pickled in honey and chilled before being served. Cold, sweet, simple but tasty.

The servings are large and adequate for a party of family or friends and the value is good.

Dishes in the pictures:

1. Jin Pai Shui Zhu Yu

2. Cold Celery

3. Crab Spicy Pot

4. Spicy Spirit Assorted Beef Tripe and Duck Blood in Chili Sauce

(Shanghai Daily July 13, 2009)