Glenn C.
Yelp
Added menu/website.
I was at this newcomer Szechuan restaurant with one of my usual groups though with a bit less people compared to normal. It's too bad because the food here was good enough that we definitely wanted to order more but we were quite full at the end. The place is currently in their soft opening as I think they've only been open for a month or something similar so that could potentially excuse some woes but there wasn't really any woes anyway outside of them being out of the Tea Smoked Duck. The service was friendly and I liked the atmosphere. They're listed as a cocktail bar in here and while there is a nice selection of alcohol, I wouldn't exactly call them a cocktail bar as they only have the traditional stuff but they appear to be adding more craft cocktails later according to a BK magazine article. Didn't try anything but other people at other tables were enjoying their drinks.
As an extra as it sounded delicious, I first started off with the Thousand-Year Egg and Tofu Roll/剁椒皮蛋豆腐 for $10 consisting of preserved egg, roasted chili sauce, tofu, cucumber, and scallion. This was their fun spin on the silken tofu with century egg salad but presented in a dim sum form. Consisting of four separate pieces consisting of a large block of tofu topped with said century egg, and then the chili sauce wrapped in cucumber; this was cumbersome but delicious. It kind of fell apart when being picked up but it was a good mix. The chili oil had a very strong spice hit with plenty of umami and it paired perfectly with the century egg with the cucumber adding crunch. This was delicious and among the favorite things I had and the others enjoyed it as well.
I also liked their take on Spicy and Sour Fish Stew/雙椒魚片 for $24 consisting of snake fish fillet, pickled chili, red chili pepper, peppercorn, scallion. This version also had plenty of flavor with the broth being quite spicy. The fish fillet was delicate. I liked the addition of enoki mushrooms for some added crunch in some other spots but I'm not sure if that's traditional.
Also excellent were the Dry Pot Baby Rib with Potato Slice/幹鍋排骨土豆片 for $22 with baby pork rib, potato slice, onion, and red bell pepper. The fried pork ribs were super tender in the middle with a light crunchy batter and the potato slices cut into thin pieces had a fun texture as well with a good crispiness.
Similarly excellent was their take on Diced Chicken with Chili Pepper/辣子雞丁 for $24 with onion, green chili pepper, and dry chili pepper. Their take on La Zi Ji/Mala Chicken had noticeably tender chicken with not too much batter. It wasn't also entirely dried chili and the onion in there was tender as well. I slightly preferred the dry pot but both were excellent.
There was also Crab Tofu/蟹粉豆腐 for $22 with tofu, salted duck egg yolk, and crabmeat. This was essentially a stew with plenty of salted egg yolk and the tofu was soft. There wasn't much crab meat and honestly this could be transformed into a vegetarian dish with just salted egg and tofu and it would be a delicious vegetarian dish (would offer that for a few bucks less or just change it entirely.)
Finally in terms of mains, there was the Spicy Cumin Lamb/香辣孜然羊 for $26 with lamb, onion, green chili pepper, dry chili pepper. I'd repeat about the meat being tender but I think I have said that enough already. It was also tasty like everything else but I've had better in terms of smokiness from the lamb from spots such as Hupo. This was probably the weakest dish but it wasn't bad in any way.
As the rice costs extra, we decided to go with the Fried Rice with Minced Pork/芽菜臊子炒飯 for $12 with minced pork, mustard green, and egg. They also offer a vegetarian option and this was a wise choice. The pork was tender and there was a bit of sourness from the mustard greens. I'd recommend it also like just about everything else.
It's hard for me to find much complaints about this spot. Normally, some newcomers have some woes with either a dish being not prepared right as they are new or some service issues but nothing here. This is an outstanding Szechuan restaurant and I would go back to try more dishes or perhaps just for some dim sum. Mid 4