PrintAnother Manhattan Sichuan Restaurant Worth the Sweat
Every Chinese food lover I know in New York has been decrying the decline of Chinese restaurants in Manhattan. You have to go to Flushing or Sunset Park to get a good Chinese meal, they all say.
Well, stop the fortune cookie presses. A couple of weeks ago I got a tip from a friend touting a great Sichuan restaurant in a most unlikely location, West 39th Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues. I went with a chef buddy last week the day before Thanksgiving, and, boy, were we blown away.
Szechuan Gourmet, a Manhattan branch of a Flushing restaurant of the same name (I don't even know if the Queens branch is still open), serves some mighty fine Sichuan food. Everything we had was at least a solid B-plus and most dishes were much better than that. The Dan Dan Noodles With Chile-Minced Pork were merely very good, but the Chef's Ma Paul Tofu was sensational, cloud light and fiery hot. Double Cooked Sliced Pork Belly With Chile Leeks was divinely porky and meaty, and the Stir Fried Chicken With Roasted Chile had me wanting to return the next day.
Szechuan Gourmet joins a short list of fine Sichuan restaurants in Manhattan:
Szechuan Gourmet
Address: 21 West 39th Street, New York NY 10018 (b/n Fifth and Sixth; map)
Phone: 212-921-0233
Grand Sichuan International
Address: 229 Ninth Avenue, New York NY 10001 (b/n 25th and 24th; map)
Phone: 212-620-5200
Grand Sichuan Eastern
Address: 1049 Second Avenue, New York NY 10022 (b/n 55th and 56th; map)
Phone: 212-355-5855
Wu Liang Ye
Address: 36 West 48th Street, New York NY 10036 (b/n Fifth and Sixth; map)
Phone: 212-398-2308
It has been so long since I've been to the other Wu Liang Ye locations (215 East 86th Street or 338 Lexington Avenue) that I can't comment on them. The newest Grand Sichuan location (19-23 St. Marks Place) has been well-reviewed by the New York Times.
Has any serious eater been to any of these locations lately?
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7 Comments:
Is the stir-fried chicken with roasted chile the same thing as chon qing dry and spicy chicken at GS? (Chicken buried in a mountain of whole dried chiles.) One of my favorite Sichuan dishes. I've been hearing a lot about Szechuan Gormet in the last couple weeks... must try soon.
SoundBitesNYC at 1:23PM on 11/27/07
I went a couple weeks ago for the first time, a day after going to Grand Sichuan and still not feeling fully sated (because who can have enough Sichuan?). Here's what I ordered:
Szechuan wontons: fat, undercooked, dough-y bricks. Sauce was good,
but peanutty, maybe better on dan-dan noodles. The pork was very pink, made me worry about intestinal worms.
Chicken with spicy miso and celery lunch special: very very good.
Spicy, flavorful, and a good deal for under $7. Came with a rather mediocre hot & sour soup.
hotkate at 2:15PM on 11/27/07
Gui Zhou Chicken at grand sichuan is one of the greatest things I have had the pleasure to eat. I've been trying to find a recipie for this online somewhere, but everything I've tried doesn't even come close to the deliciousness of grand sichuan. if anyone knows how to make this (specifically in the GS style) please post it (or a link) somewhere on here.
the whole fish, dan dan noodle and dry/spicy chicken are also great
Soup_Dumpling at 3:25PM on 11/27/07
I must agree on the Gui Zhou Chicken at GS- definitely a favorite of mine. I also love the soup dumplings there.
After reading Ed's review, I decided to give Szechuan Gourmet a try. I picked the Szechuan pork dumplings, the double-cooked pork (that Ed ordered), and the stir-fried baby bok choy. Overall I was NOT impressed. If "Even More New York Eats" ever comes out, this better not be included! The dumplings were, as described by hotkate, undercooked doughy bricks, in an unremarkable bland sauce. Not as bad as those from the Cottage, but not far off either. The pork dish was meaty and porky, as Ed described, but was dry, and of low quality. The baby bok choy was drowned in a soup of garlic sauce, and seemed overcooked.
I'll stick to Grand Sichuan for my Szechuan cravings in Manhattan.
This is off-topic, but on a happier note, I've been going pie-crazy this past week- thanks to Ed's obsession. I was never really into pie before, but now... I deliberately skimp on breakfast, and eat a small salad for lunch to make room for the 'fruits' of my pie quest. So far it's going well. I love those little apple pies from Trois Pomme, and the sour cream, apple, walnut pie from Little Pie Co. The apple pie from Bubby's was okay, but I didn't like their sour cherry. On Thanksgiving I served Two Little Red Hen's cranberry-pear, and winter medley pies. The former had a good filling- I didn't like the ginger in the latter, and overall the crust was not to my taste, although others liked it.
powermd at 8:20PM on 11/28/07
i like szechuan gourmet, wu liang ye, and the grand szechuan on st. marks and the one by the manhattan bridge.
foodinmouth at 3:03PM on 11/30/07
oh man, got the ma po tofu and smoked tofu with celery for lunch today. tofu in ma po is extra fresh and whole dish is really good and savory. if i hadn't already tried smoked tofu at spicy & tasty, i would probably be a bit more wowed by it. as is, very worth not having to travel to flushing.
hotkate at 1:58PM on 12/20/07
Good to hear. I think the restaurant is good enough to save all of us trips to Flushing.
Ed Levine at 2:26PM on 12/20/07