Five Spices House

Apr 2024: Family style dining with a nice open environment to enjoy a meal independently or with a big group. The spicy food feels good and not too overbearing but be prepared. Appetizers are quite delicious and had crispy crab rangoon with a yummy dipping sauce.

Food here is pretty amazing! The spicy pot was really good, we ordered a medium spicy and it was delicious. The things we think they need improvement are the service and cleanliness. Server was a bit rude and unfriendly. Having some kind of attitude to us. We also found that the glass of water has some unpleasant smell and not clean. The look from outside is reasonable clean but from what we see from the inside, plates and stains, I think they need to work on the cleanliness for the customer. It is a very tasty food, unfortunately the service and cleanliness are some things to work on. That’s the reason of my two stars.

I ordered the sweet and sour fish and the fish came dry and breaded with no sauce. I ordered a bowl of chicken and all the chicken was barely there and mostly bony. This place is a complete rip off, you want Chinese keep looking guys.

Great restaurant for Sichuan spicy chinese food. Recommend Hot and spicy fish fillet, Mopo tofu or eggplant with garlic sauce. Vegeterian options are many. Its on the mass ave and some street parkings are available by chance.

We got the lunch special and it was solid. Hot and sour soup, 1 over rice dish for $12 without tip and tax is a pretty solid deal. We also got the pan fried bao which was delicious. The twice cooked pork was delicious and the salt and pepper chicken was crunchy but not super flavourful. We also deeply enjoyed the mid-2000s pop music blasting through the restaurant. Nothing like a bit of Britney Spears.

We ordered four dishes. The Chilled Chicken In Red Chili Sauce (口水鸡) was the best one. It's flavorful and not too salty. It's chicken with bone in. Pea Pod Stem With Garlic (蒜炒豆苗) was very light and you could taste the natural flavor of the pea stem. Definitely one of my favorite dishes. The reason I give it a four star is the other two dishes and the price. The Tea Smoked Duck (樟茶鸭) was too salty and the Clam With Black Bean Sauce (豆豉炒花蜆) was too sweet. The price is definitely on the higher side. Three of us barely had enough to eat and it's about $87 before tips.

Can't believe I am just finding this place. A true authentic Chinese gem in Cambridge, conveniently located on Massachusetts Ave. I will be coming here again on the weekend! Great food, just like being in Chinatown in my opinion. I love how each dish has plenty of chili peppers and Szechuan peppercorns. Delicious!

Best dry hotpot I have had in a while. The hot and spicy fish fillet is also really good.

Some of the best Szechuan food I ever had! And I live in the New York area. Place is casual. We got the spicy Szechuan fish, vegetarian MaPo Tofu, and chicken fried rice. Everything was fantastic!

Ok I just realized the one for all photo I posted didn't save. Also it is limited to 140 words. I can't possibly name all the dishes in a single photo. Anyway a review without a photo is fine with this one. I have been here a couple of times and it's average. Let's start with what I love, I love their string bean! And that is what I ordered the first time I was at the place. That is what also gets me to come back a few more times. Because the string bean was soooo good, I thought others would be great! But it turns out some of them were average and some of them were "trap" dishes what that means is dishes that shouldn't exist in the menu or simply exist to make the menu look full. It just happened that most of the dishes were average and few of them were trap dishes. Ironically the only good were the string beans The service was OK, the ambiance was ok, and the space was on the slightly larger side. The price is a bit expensive. I feel like most of the dishes aren't worth the price. Only if they cut down $5 for each dish...

Very good food and service. I've been several times and have not been disappointed. I appreciate that the food is not overly salty and they don't use excessive oil.

The make your own spicy dry pot was yummy but the portion size was incredibly small. The chicken with scallion was pretty standard. I placed an online takeout order on a Friday night and it was ready for pickup within 20 minutes.

We have eaten at the restaurant here once before but typically order delivery from this restaurant which we love! We like the chili dried popcorn chicken, the pork fried rice and the dry hot pot! The Dry hot pot is our favorite and we typically get the pork fried rice and the dry pot together. Delicious and never disappoints! Service is okay, we prefer to just do delivery since we typically always get the same thing anyways and can eat comfort food in the comfort of our own food. Will continue to order from here!

The masses seem to love this place and I cannot figure out why. Put a knife to my throat and I still could not think of a reason to give 5 Spices House five stars. I guess my throat shall be slit and my carcass tossed in the Charles. Anyways. I've had food from here several times--several times too many, if I can venture to say. The food I've tried is fine. Nothing exceptional. Most recently I ordered Hot and Spicy Chicken. Generally a good Sichuan dish. The flavors at 5 Spices House were decent--again, nothing exceptional. But let me tell you. This venue has the gall to charge innocent and unassuming guests nearly $20 for a measly plate of Hot and Spicy Chicken that is more "hot and spicy" (i.e. peppers) than chicken. Not only this, that price does not include rice. Imagine the gall and imagine the shamelessness: $20 for a measly plate of Hot and Spicy Chicken that does not deign to include even a single grain of rice. What a disgrace. Service is fine and ambience is fine. But I would return to 5 Spices House if and only if someone else is paying.

This is the best Chinese place I've found in the Boston/Cambridge area! The dishes here all had their distinct flavors, with combinations of spicy, sour, smoky, and tangy. We got the Shredded Pork with Pickled Cabbage Soup, the Szechuan style cold jelly appetizer, and the double cooked pork. Each one knocked it out of the park. They also have a make your own dry pot bar, which I haven't tried but have heard good things about.

I had an out-of-town friend whom I haven't seen in years and he brought along his family, who I'd be meeting for the first time. Him being from the mid-west, he told me that the closest Chinese food his kids have ever gotten to was P.F. Changs. Therefore, I wanted to delight them in authentic Sichuan Chinese food. I did my research and I wanted to ensure that their taste buds would dance to many different flavors. I ordered up wantons in chili oil to wake up their palate. I personally find that it is sweet to me, mildly spicy for others. Afterwards with quick service flair, spicy fragrant dishes filled up our table: cumin lamb, boiled white fish filet in spicy broth (my favorite), and a cool sliced potato with green peppers dish, to bring down the spiciness of dinner. To say the least, their appetites were whetted by the selection of Chinese food they have never tasted before. They loved the cumin lamb because when I went to get some, all the lamb was gone! The boiled white fish is delicious when served atop a bowl of white rice, as each rice becomes infused with the spicy flavor. The staff and service was very friendly. It's important that in order to really enjoy the flavors, order up as many authentic Sichuan dishes as possible. Enjoy!

Well here it goes, my first yelp review. We decided to give this place a try and after the first bite, it's easy to say we won't return. The General Tso and Orange Chicken were delivered in small portions, had little flavor, and the chicken tasted a bit off. Keep in mind that this portion is $20 and does not conclude rice, but you can add it for another $3. In total, $57 for 2 to-go containers of subpar chicken. Best of luck to 5 Spices House.

Legit Sichuan food! For true fans of ma la. If you can't handle spicy, beware... The hot chili fish was perfection--I only wished there were more chunks of fish. It was mostly veggies in the oily soup. The few pieces of white fish fillet were BOMB. The spicy cucumbers were crispy and fresh, and the perfect accompaniment. For a non-spicy option, try the bokchoy. You'll want to have plenty of rice to go with your meal. The service was great. On a Monday around 7:30pm, there were plenty of tables, no reservation needed. I'll be back for more authentic bites!

Elite Chinese and Szechuan food. It was packed on a Friday night but they sat 4 of us in 5 minutes. We ordered multiple plates and split it. The food also came back in 10 minutes. Highly recommend. Plates are around $20 a piece but high quality and good service.

We order our drinks minutes later the full entire order the food arrived. I've never seen something so fast the food tasted really good specially the steak sesame. Our server was really nice. She was always checking up on us. We also ordered sweet and sour chicken, which it was awesome. The ambience on the restaurant was nice. It was a small hole on the wall but those are the best. Overall we recommend. Review was written by my 11-year-old and 10-year-old kids.

If I can put 0 star, I would do it. I and my friends went to this place many time for lunch break. But this time, the service was awful. The restaurant had the customer only one table. A waitress took a long time to take my order. Once I finished my food, I was walking through the counter for pay my food which I always did it because it was a lunch time and there was a cashier stand there. However, one of the waitress (i guess she is a new waitress because I had never seen her before). She shouted out loud like I will run away without pay my food. I wont come here anymore. This was terrible experience I have never met.

I was told to come here specifically for their dry sauteed Chinese eggplant ($14.95). It is truly incredible! The eggplant slices are fried to a perfection where the outside is super crispy while the inside is soft and cooked through. The seasoning on them is amazing, too-- lightly garlicky with lots of white pepper, cumin, and sichuan peppercorns. It reminds me of salt and pepper shrimp, but it's vegetarian. The portion is very big as well. I wanted to try some of their other dishes so I also got the home style spare ribs with potatoes ($16.95). The dish came with a large portion of ribs and potatoes. The meat was super tender and the potatoes soaked up the sauce. However, the dish seemed a little boring to me because the sauce was mostly just soy sauce without any other flavor. The sauce was also extremely salty. I regretted not ordering another spicy dish. I will continue to come back just for their dry sauteed Chinese eggplant! That dish alone definitely deserves 5 stars. The other dish brings it down to a 4.

Came here for lunch right at opening on a Friday late morning and we were seated quite quickly. We were the only ones in the restaurant which led to pretty speedy service which was really convenient. The soup was really great - I would honestly order just the soup next time as it was really well made in my opinion. We got four entrees for lunch to share between two people and it was plenty of food. The lunch deal I thought was very solid as it's a soup, rice, and one option as your entree which I felt was more than enough for a good price. The scallion pancake was deliciously crispy, the squid was well seasoned, the tofu was really yummy, and the chicken was spicy as well as tasty. I probably wouldn't get the chicken again honestly, but I'm glad I tried it. We couldn't finish everything and when we asked for it to get packed, we asked for the two bowls of rice and two soups that we didn't get served and they happily packed that away for us as well. Good service, great food. I'll definitely be coming back - thanks 5 Spices House! I've been to both their sister restaurants in Malden and Chinatown respectively and found both great alongside this one!

Oh my Gawd. Fried rice with invisible scallion, spicy sweet and sour potato, spicy grilled peppers, cumin chicken...heaven on earth.

Didn't eat here, 4 stars on the name of this dish. Next time I'm ordering it to go. Cheers!

This is one of the few authentic Chinese restaurants that I enjoy going and it never disappoints. I highly suggest getting the steamed pork and garlic as appetizer 10/10!!! We also got the fried chili beef, mala tang ( you pick your own ingredients, spice level and cooking method- dry or soup) and Dan Dan noodles ( so starchy, so yummy). They' also feature an extensive menu with many options to choose from. The interior is like a normal Chinese restaurant and it's clean. The service was quick and waiters were friendly. Food: 9/10 Service: 8/10 Experience: 8/10 Value: 8.5/10

I was visiting from out of town and staying at a hotel in Cambridge. I hopped a bus and walked around for a while and happened upon this restaurant so I went inside. I had the General Gau's tofu. It's a good thing I hadn't eaten anything all day because I think my portion was an entire block of tofu!. It was delicious but I was a little disappointed it wasn't spicier.

Really great food! I always get the dry fish pot and its a great sized portion with lots of veggies. I do take out or eat at the restaurant. If you get delivery, you will be disappointed as the portion and quality are bad.

it's a shame that this place is ~25% more expensive than dumpling house. but it's also ~25% better. I WILL NOT BLAME THE CURRENT INFLATIONARY CRISIS ON THIS RESTAURANT. WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY! 5 stars for 5 spices. here's what you need to know: *egg drop soup will warm your soul *mapo tofu melts in your mouth and packs a sufficient kick *string beanz are delicious and nutritious *cucumbies are to die for. must order. and maybe even save the sauce. *high presentation value on the sizzling beef, but not a need-to-have i will be back to do more recon, as this is my first visit. looking around at other tables, i expect every other new dish that i get will only further support this 5 spot. 5 spiced is BOMB.

I have been to the 5spices house in Chinatown quite a few times and wanted to visit the Cambridge one. We went on a Saturday night and the place was empty although there were a lot of pick up orders. We ordered 3 drinks and none of them were available. We then ordered Sapporo and pineapple passion. Sapporo was good. Pineapple one was not strong at all (felt like pineapple juice). We also ordered scallion pancakes and loved it. Our mains were Lo Mein Vegetable, it was too good. And sSpicy Dry Pot Mix Vegetable with a side of rice. It was delicious. A few things that were different from the Chinatown one - the quantity here was less. And the Dry Pot had different veggies (sadly did not have mushrooms, potato, lotus stem - had lot of cauliflower). Overall it was good, But i would prefer to go the Chinatown one.

Demands 18% tips with no reason and bad service. I have the right to give any tips or no tips as I wish. Forcing a demanding tip is an unreasonable thing. Never come again.

Excellent: - Sichuan Diced Chicken with Chili Pepper is crispy, spicy and yummy! At $20, a little higher price than other Chinese restaurants, but good quality. Good: - tea smoked duck is tasty though little dry - hot and spicy fish fillet has big chunks of fish in flavorful spice Skip: - chicken dumplings are small, thick skin with small fillings, lack taste even with accompanying bland sauce. Frozen dumplings from H mart taste better.

This place is stellar. I've been here twice now and have yet to be disappointed by any of their dishes. The portion sizes are quite large--I've always ended up with leftovers afterwards--and the quality is excellent as well. The service is also super fast--the second time I came, the first few dishes came out in what felt like a few minutes. Some of my favorites dishes here are the cumin spiced lamb and the baby bok choy, which is so garlicky and delicious. I could eat a whole big plate of the bok choy by myself honestly.

Upping my review after a lot more trips to 5 spices. I am a regular now that I have found my favorite dishes. I highly recommend sticking to their Szechuan because that is their bread and butter (or should I say - peppercorns and spices). I recommend their dry sauteed string beans (ask for it to be spicy), mapo tofu, and boiled fish fillet. I've found their dry pot, appetizers (pan-fried pork buns, wonton in chili oil, cucumber), and noodle soups to be pretty inconsistent. Their dan dan and beef stew is not spicy enough for me, but you can ask them to turn it up a notch. Service can be pretty awful, even when it's not that busy. Prices are pretty steep as well, but it's my favorite Chinese spot within the area.

You can never go wrong with 5 Spices House! Everything I have eaten here is such a hit. We ordered - dry pot vegetables - sesame chicken - greens - Szechuan peppercorn chicken - fried rice

I got takeout here twice and it was lousy both times. Undercooked scallion pancakes that were wet. Dumplings tasted old. I gave it two stars because I didn't get sick but it's not worth it. I won't be back there are too many other good choices. Inside did look clean at least and the waiter was nice.

On a cold winter's day, I was craving some Sichuan food and boy, this place delivered! Got some classic dishes like string beans and eggplant - these were really well done, perhaps the best I've had. We decided to take the plunge and splurge on a huge bowl of fish fillet with pickled vegetables. The flavor was great, but we didn't realize the fish would be served basically whole (with bones inside)... it probably wasn't worth it for the price so next time will get the spicy fish filets instead. We had quite a bit leftover and I appreciated that they boxed them up very neatly. We will be back!

I really enjoyed my meal today here! As a Chinese American, I often crave for good Chinese eats and this place hit the spot. I always order yuxiangqiezi no matter what Chinese restaurant I'm at, and today's version was a tasty one for sure. The ganguo yupian fish dish was exceptional, though! The fish pieces were crispy and the dish came with quite a few veggies such as onions. I also got the pumpkin pancakes and they were fresh and chewy. I am very pleased with my experience here and recommend. Very authentic as well!

Came here with co-workers for lunch and shared bunch of dishes. Everything was good, but not amazing. Fish soup was the best among the dishes. Desert (pumpkin fries) was not good. The serving speed was quick and good.

I hate to rate this restaurant so poorly but after my experience I had to leave some words. I ordered through Uber eats and the food came nice and hot which is the only positive I can really give. Everything was either tasteless, horribly over cooked to a point of being inedible or slathered/drowning in just the oil from the chilli oil. Foods that I am familiar with like orange chicken and beef and broccoli were unrecognizable from either the quality or the way in which it was prepared. I did enjoy the appetizers of crab Rangoon and beef skewers but unfortunately didn't order enough of those to make up for the rest of the meal. I spent a good amount of money at this restaurant for this meal and can wholeheartedly say I regret it. I can't speak to their in person service or ambiance just the food and how I received it.

I ordered beef-scallion from the lunch menu. It came with a small bowl of hot and sour soup, which was tasty, and a small bowl of rice. The beef, surrounded with lots of red onions, was a bit tough, the scallions were barely cooked, and the dish was oily. I left with a strong, unpleasant taste in my mouth. The waitress needs to learn basic courtesy: hello, please, thank you, and to deliver the main dish after the customer has eaten the soup. It would have been nice if she dropped by my table to ask if I wanted anything else. Pleasantries and attentive service count.

A busy Chinese food spot that is usually packed on peak hours. Their lunch specials are a good deal, and there is more than enough food in each meal to justify the higher than average prices (we usually make it work for two meals). Some standouts: Sweet and Sour Chicken, scallion rice.

This place is on a slightly more expensive side of Chinese restaurants (about $10-$20 a dish) but the portion is fair and the dishes taste really good, so I think it was worth it. It's not a typical American Chinese food that you are used, too..but they actually use spices (e.g. cumin, mala, etc) that are more common in Chinese cuisine to make the dishes taste more authentic, too. I had a chance to try their Sichuan Spicy Crispy Shrimps and their House Special fried rice. I love their shrimp dish. There were many shrimps in the dish (10+) and the shrimp size was large. It was spicy and super flavorful (albeit slightly oily...but hey...lots of Sichuan cuisine can be like that). The house special fried rice is slightly oily, but came in a large portion as well. I'd say, from Asian fried rice stand point, there's nothing much about this dish that distinguished it apart from other Asian fried rice that I was used to, except the fact that there were more ingredients mixed into it (e.g. bits of bacons, veggies, eggs) vs. fried rice at cheaper place, where the dishes really consisted 95%+ of rice...and maybe..rare bits of egg or onions. The place could be crowded. I stopped by after 8pm on a weekday night and the restaurant was pretty much near full, with maybe 1 table left empty (customers constantly came in to pick up their orders to go, too). I'd say, if you'd like more authentic Sichuan chinese cuisines (with spice!), definitely worth checking this place out. I have yet to try the dry pot (where you get to pick the ingredients in the dish making and priced by weight yourself), but I will be back to try it for sure!

Easily the worst mapo tofu ive ever had, and the chicken and broccoli had no spice even though I requested extra spicy. Prices are also high. Not sure if I'll be able to do takeout Chinese again for a long time in Boston

The food is good. Unbelievably expensive. They do the lunch/dinner switcheroo. I paid 21 dollars for chicken with peanuts.

I LITERALLY HATE THIS PLACE. so I am visiting boston w some friends and I come across this place because one of my friends told me that the MaLa is good here. I agree, the food wasn't bad but it is SO EXPENSIVE, which I am not complaining about but their service SUCKS and I literally was so angry. Not to mention the slowness of these waiters and how they will literally never come check on your table until you call them, but when we paid and tipped them only 10% because we already thought the food was a bit overpriced and the service was bad... the women had the AUDACITY to speak to me in mandarin and day "诶，小姐。你才给我们10%都不到，我们这里有suggested tips(circles the part that says the suggested tips)，你好好想想你是不是给的太少了" which basically translates to "ay, maam. You only gave us around 10% isn't that too little, we have suggested tips right here(circles the area where it has the tips like literally with her pen) and then she tells me "you should think again because I think you gave too little." Not too mention she said it in such a rude way pretty much yelling at us. The lady was probably around 50 years old literally older than my parents, and was raising her voice demanding tips from 4 college students. The reason why I thought this was messed up in so many ways is because: 1. I can tip her however much I want 2. The way she asked for extra tips was rude as fuck. Literally raising her voice at me... like you expect me to give you more after that? 3. She literally started slamming the plates and stormed off angry 4. My friends didn't even understand chinese, it was only me so I thought it was pretty rude of her and I felt pretty targeted. Honestly I have never been to such an overpriced place with HORRIBLE SERVICE. Just avoid this place at ALL COST. Like if she literally asked me kindly and was like "is there a reason why we received only 10%?" I would've probably felt bad and given her more but she was literally like *give me more fucking tips, and EVEN CIRCLED THE SUGGESTED TIPS BOX* and told me that they have suggested tips on the bottom like GIRL we spent 90$ already and we didn't even mean to order that much like the guy kept adding food into the MaLa even thought we said "little bit" and honestly OVERRATED, OVERPRICED, RUDE AND HORRIBLE SERVICE, DEMANDED ME FOR TIPS, NOT WORTH YOUR TIME OR MONEY. FUCK THIS RESTAURANT. 不要来这里吃，这里的服务员有病，没给18%的tips还跟我和我的朋友们生气，说他们下面有suggested tips完了好用她的笔圈了一下，菜很贵还没那么好吃（点个回锅肉：18$）

Love the variety of meat and veggies available for dry pot, got takeout twice and was a hit!

Pretty delicious! Came here for lunch around 1pm on a weekday. Lots of space to sit. Also a lot of people eating alone and we were probably the only table making conversation - was a bit weird when the music cut out (which was modern US pop, also felt like a strange fit but no complaints!). We got two apps to share - cold jelly and spicy edamame. Cold jelly was delicious, never had it before. It has a bit of a sour tang which was nice for the flavor balance. The spicy edamame was pretty addictive spicy. Not sure it was worth the cost and might get something other than spicy edamame next time, but loved the cold jelly dish. For the main we shared a customized stir fry, which you walk up to a counter and order from. For veggies or meat, you must select up to 3 items which then are paid for by weight. We got woodear mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, and bokchoy for veggies, and tripe, lamb, and squid for the meat. Excellent taste on the stir fry and the ingredients were really nicely cooked. We ate everything with two bowls of rice and a large bottle of tap water. Now about the spice. Came here because wanted to be blown away by spice. We asked for the spiciest level on the stir fry. Didn't really feel it was spicy, but I could actually taste the spice (which sadly is saying something bc I was recently at a restaurant that served me something w undetectable hotness when advertised otherwise...). Still tasted really good though. Left very full and had leftovers :) Just one complaint. Service was kinda spotty - weird considering the ratio of staff to customers. We got way too much attention before we were ready to order and then basically no attention when we were trying to get the check. Also if I'm gonna nitpick I wish there was complementary tea Overall though - wonderful Szechuan place. I recommend it.

I was excited to come to this new location of 5 spices house. I used to live in Chiantown and went to the five spices in that location frequently. We ordered the usual dishes for dinner- - cumin lamb - chose yourself dry hot pot -home style tofu I was not impressed by the size of the dishes. They were probably half the portion of what I expected and regularly get from mala in Allston. The flavors of the dishes were run of the mill szechwan cuisine and did not disappoint.

My friends had taken to calling this place "the creepy restaurant" - during their fitout, it was never quite clear if they were opening or closing, and somehow the facade just appeared a bit foreboding... In any case we finally ventured in upon the recommendation of my friend from Xi'an, and the quality of the food was indeed very good. I had the cumin tofu, which was a battered and fried tofu then tossed with a variety of spices (including a ton of cumin, naturally). This was clearly a dish with origins in China's Muslim community, and I would definitely order it again. They have some Americanised dishes on the menu, which my friends seemed to regret ordering (read: chicken lo mein, sesame chicken). The flat noodles were delicious. Doesn't hurt that they have a full bar as well.

Very tasty. A little pricy for a Chinese restaurant but might be reasonable consider its location. I love their fried vegetables.

I ordered food from here one night while staying at a hotel here in Boston. The food came cold, which is not surprising but not necessarily the fault of the restaurant. I ordered: 1) bittermelon with salted egg. This looked and tasted nothing like it's supposed to in traditional Chinese cooking. I actually inspected this closely because I thought they gave me a bowl of French fries at first. 2) chicken fried rice: barely any chicken and barely any vegetables. Mostly just rice. I paid over $40 for these two dishes to be delivered to my hotel. What a disappointment and waste. Fool me once...

Ordered out via Uber Eats and the orange chicken was pretty bad. Heavy batter with not great chicken inside, and the sauce was oddly not very orange or sweet.

This review is only for the dry pot/mala xiangguo. I keep coming back to 5 Spices because it's the closest restaurant that can satisfy my mala dry pot cravings. While the dry pot hits the spot, unfortunately it can get pretty expensive because it's priced by weight. It usually comes to around $15-20 for a to-go dry pot for me.

I ordered 1.5 lb make your own Spicy Dry Pot 麻辣香锅 online. After I arrived home and opened the bag, I can't believe it comes with 1.5 lb food. I took my weighing scale to weigh it. To my surprise, it contained only 1lb2oz with the container. See pic here. I tried to call the restaurant and explained the situation. The lady at another side kept telling me that food would loss weight during cooking. IT is vey funny to hear this. Also I was told that the owner was not onsite to communicate. No sorry no apologies for half pound loss.

I wanted delicious authentic Chinese food in Chinatown Boston and I found it here. My experiences taught me that you won't find them in trendy restaurants with a great drink list and bar. That's the trade off. I walked in to the restaurant filled with local Chinese which is a strong confirmation that I've found authentic Chinese. I ordered Hot & Sour Soup , which is my litmus taste for their level of quality cooking. The soup looked superb. Every component was distinguishable and it wasn't blended as what you'd see in a bad hot sour soup. It was delicious and the texture was right on with its viscosity. Couldn't take a photo at the time, phone was out of power. I also had spicy cucumber as appetizer. Once again the food looked great and the cucumbers were fresh. I didn't know what to expect from the Lamb Cumin dish which is listed as a Chef Specialty and . It looked amazing!!! Keep in mind that good Chinese food takes pride in the appearance with its colors and how it's presented. It's important to Chinese cooking. As you can see from the pictures, the meat and vegetables aren't heavily drenched with its sauce. The sauce is to compliment and bring out the ingredients flavors especially the meat. I don't mind some gamey taste in lamb meat but this wasn't gamey at all. The meat nor the vegetables were burnt at all or overcooked. The meat was tender and delicious. The cumin spice was subtle not overwhelming in the food. They definitely have mastered the use of spices in their cooking. I would definitely come back here again. I also ordered hot tea and a bottle of beer for a total of less than $37.

I have been here three times since the restaurant opened in Central Square a year ago. It offers Spicy Dry Pot where you pick your own selections of meats, veggies, tofu and seafood. The Sichuan cuisine seems authentic too. I had a couple of different styles of fish here and both were excellent. By the way, Google says that in the Chinese cuisine 5 spices typically includes Sichuan pepper, star anise, fennel seeds, cinnamon and cloves.

Finally found a place I like enough to make it my go-to place for Chinese take out food in Central Square when I don't want to hop on the red line and quickly head to Chinatown. While the place is known for Szechuan food they still have a pretty diverse menu for those of us that aren't fans of spicy food. I have not tried their location in Chinatown so can't tell how similar they are. While many people were picking up takeout orders there are plenty of tables and several people were eating-in during the evening. Their beef chow fun was delicious and the serving size was decent for the price. Bring cash if only buying one item as they only take cards for charges of $15 and above.