Insipid and outrageously expensive.

When it opened (the first time) this was a great restaurant, it was expensive, but worth every penny.
Today Bar Shu (and it's sister restaurant across the street) are just shades of what they pretend to be.

Even the spiciest dishes are medium in heat and do-not do justice to Sichuan cuisine.
The numbing heat, caused by the unique peppercorns, is absent and the rich oily heat of the broths and oils are now absent. Even if you beg, the food will be toned-down to cater for what the restaurant perceives is English ‘taste’; odd as each dish is prepared individually.

Go if you are on an expense account, but if you know Sichuan cuisine, be prepared to be, onbce again, disappointed.