Arthur M.
Yelp
Been waiting at least a few years to try the DAN DAN Noodles, delay due to Muni construction, Mr Szechuan being closed on a regular/irregular basis if you know what I mean, and just plain out of the noodles. And parking has always been very problematic in this area if not impossible. I'm disabled and it's always a hassle to find parking, walk to the restaurant and see that they are closed during their regurlar hoars.
ORDERED Dan Dan noodles "Super hot & Super spicy" to go. Never got what I ordered. Noodles came in a two tier bowl with noodles and a few measly pieces of bok choy on the bottom and tastless ground pork on the top tier, pathetic. The Noodles were soggy and covered in a clear spicy oil which I have never seen before and have not been able to identify. Somewhat spicy but not what I expected.
Inside the portion cup was more ground pork, skin on roasted peanuts and a smaller portion cup with red chili/chili oil, the kind you see on every Chinese Restaurant table in THE CITY. Totally TASTELESS. I mean, how many years was this stuff sitting around on a table before I came along?
All the oil had ponded in the bottom of my bowl, disgusting! I soaked much of it out with several pieces of Kleenex. I ate another mouthful then tossed what remained. Why so much oil?
BOTTOM LINE: None of the components pulled this dish together. I'm convinced Mr Szechuan does not know what they are doing, so I'm DONE with them.
I've been eating at Z & Y for several years. I think Z & Y does a far better job and their menu is way more diverse and interesting. I'm staying with Z & Y, a much better choice. FYI their menu is newly revised so CHECK IT OUT! I mean if Z & Y is good enough for BARAK it's good enough for me.
And by the way, I am sensitive to MSG in that it gives me dry mouth. The Dan Dan noodles I ate gave me a good case of dry mouth for several hoars and then some. I've tried other items on the menu, same reaction. Why do you use so much MSG, there is no good sensible reason for it, and it's not good for your health (sodium among the worst). Thao P. of Turtle Tower fame said they only used very small amounts of MSG just enough to "bring the flavors together" and no more. TT's use of MSG never caused me any dry mouth except when they hired new cooks who didn't know better. I was always a good MSG gage for Thao P. When I said there's too much MSG she took care of it right away. For that reason alone I ate there for at least 15 years or so before they closed. Been looking for a TT replacement ever since, I'm convinced there is none. The restaurants I've tried use way too much MSG and the food is usually boring and tasteless. Try Pho 2000 if you don't believe me. Bac Lieu does a pretty good job in their MSG usage and the food is tasty but nothing like TT. Sad to see TT go, pray they return soon.