Szechuan Gourmet - W. 39th St.

[kathryn]

Photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/kathryn/tags/szechuangourmet

[ratgirlny]

We were in Chongqing last winter and fell in love with the cuisine, especially the Chongqing style hotpot. Now that I have had the real thing, I can't eat at the local Chinese takeout joints any more, and am on a constant quest for real Sichuan food. We've been to Grand Sichuan a number of times and have found the food there pretty good. So after I saw the buzz on this forum about this restaurant, I really wanted to give it a try.

I went with my husband, a friend who travels a lot to China (married to a Chinese ancestry guy with family in Shanghai), and my 3 kids - a 7 year old, a 5 year old, and a toddler. We showed up at 6:45 on Saturday, not realizing that you really need reservations for this place. We looked so pitiful when they tried to turn us away (my kids were really looking forwards to it and also didn't want to walk another step) that they found a booth for all of us, and we crammed in. Since we were sitting up front, we saw them turn lots of parties away after us - so at least on a Saturday night, you need a reservation.

I didn't carefully note the names of all our dishes, but I remember we had Dan Dan noodles and the Sichuan pickled vegetables to start. The pickled vegetables are great. Dan Dan noodles were OK. We then had ma paul tofu (never seen that spelling before), a dish with fish, fried tofu, and minced chiles, another dish with shrimp, asparagus, and minced chiles and pork. And some nice plain braised bok choy for balance, and a plate of good ol' lo mein for the little ones. The ma paul tofu was wonderful - very fragrant underneath the heat. My 7 year old pronounced it the best tofu he ever ate, even as the tears streamed down his face and he frantically grabbed for his Sprite in between bites. My toddler, who is adopted from Chongqing, enjoyed the lo mein as well as the Dan Dan noodles.

The waitress and the person at the door (the owner perhaps?) were very very nice to us, and kept coming over to joke around with my 5 year old and flirt with the toddler. I think they were amused by the Westerners with the baby from Chongqing. They told us that they are getting lots of Westerners who speak Mandarin and want authentic Chinese food. We told them that our 7 year old is learning Mandarin and likes authentic Chinese food, and they all laughed.

I noticed several parties in the back enjoying what was clearly Chongqing style hotpot, with the broth all dark and red from chiles and spices. It wasn't on the menu. I asked the waitress and she said that it needs to be ordered in advance. Has anyone here tried it?

Overall, it was a good restaurant with friendly people.

[kathryn]

My part of 4 walked in at 7pm without a problem on Friday night, as a reference point. There was a short wait for folks following us.

[Fat Guy]

I had another terrific meal today at Szechuan Gourmet. They were out of razor clams, but we survived.

3. Diced rabbit and peanuts with chili garlic black bean jam. This is an astoundingly good dish, flavor-wise. It suffers from a severe lack of eating convenience, though. You've really got to deal with a lot of little bones. Still, a must-have. Served cold.

6. Thin sliced beef tendon with roasted chili vinaigrette. This is the best rendition I've had of this dish, though it's still not something I'm a huge fan of. I guess I can see how the texture is interesting to some folks, but to me it's just cartilaginous and flavorless. The dish itself has great flavor on account of the roasted chili vinaigrette, but the tendon itself tastes pretty much like nothing. It's a texture food, and I don't love the texture. Served cold.

23. Szechuan pork dumplings with roasted chili soy. As noted above, plump and wonderful.

4. Sliced pork belly with chili garlic soy. Terrific dish, better than other versions I've had -- and a ton of it. We were warned that it would be served cold, but it was served warm-ish.

40. Braised whole bass with "spicy hot hot" chili and scallion. This is not only a great fish dish but also an unbelievable value. A whole, good-quality, moist bass for $18.95? Luckily one of the friends I ate with is a chef and he was able to serve up the fish with no bones and little meat loss.

50. Crispy lamb filets with chili cumin. I loved this dish. It's kind of like salt-and-pepper shrimp, but with lamb instead of shrimp -- and the addition of cumin.

52. Shredded beef with spicy Asian green chili leeks. This was a repeat of a dish I'd had before, but it wasn't as good today. It was good, but the leeks were more bitter and less fresh-crispy than before.

154. Young chow fried rice. An excellent rendition of fried rice, no soy sauce, very mild -- this is a good thing to order to offset all the spicy food.

[BryanZ]

Just thought I'd quickly chime in regarding SG. SG was the first stop of an evening that would also include El Quinto Pino and B Flat and PDT and Yakitori Taisho so needless to say there was lots of food and drink consumed. With this said, I knew I would love this place from the first bite.

After waiting a few minutes past our obscenely early 6:15 reservation--they sat us about about 6:25--we perused the menu. The place was very busy on this early Thursday evening, but it seemed like the crowds were already beginning to thin when we left at 7:30, or at least the first rush had passed. Service throughout was generally efficient if a bit utilitarian. Our food arrived quickly which was nice given our full schedule.

Between two of us we had conch with roasted chili vinaigrette, ox tongue and tripe, and Szechuan pork dumplings as appetizers. All three were pretty killer. The conch was the most unadulterated. Pleasantly chewy texture with a gloss of chili oil that was at once salty, spicy, and rich with umami. So evocative of the balance in Szechuan cooking. The tongue/trip dish was also incredibly pleasing, faintly offally and balanced with the herbs and peanuts. The dumpling dish tended toward the sweet, but again I loved the balance exhibited by combining the oil and sweet soy. Perhaps my favorite part of Szechuan dining, and one I got to experience here, is when one takes a sip of water or tea to tone down the spice and is left with that quintessential numbness on the tongue and lips. Love it, it's like a drug.

For mains we had the braised fish fillets with napa and chili, the crispy lamb with cumin, and double-cooked pork belly with leeks. I thought these were perhaps marginally less successful than the appetizers but each was sufficiently different to present a truly diverse meal. The fish is spicy but, honestly, not that spicy given the hype here and the fact that our waiter warned us about at least three times during the ordering process. I have a pretty high tolerance for spice and love the capsicum buzz, but even my dining companion was able to get it down and enjoy it. The lamb and pork belly dishes were also more dominated by other other flavors than chili alone, a good thing by me. The lamb dish is really about spiced, toasted, almost burnt flavors. The gamey lamb works well here and was particularly tender. The pork belly dish is the opposite, relying more on sweetness and rich fermented bean-like flavors. My companion enjoyed this the most. I think I preferred the fish. The lamb was very interesting--in a good way--but I don't feel the need to order it again. I would happily eat it if presented to me, however.

Really, really liked this place. Not somewhere I'd ever think to stop by and definitely unpretentious. A great meal.

ETA: The conch was chosen on recommendation of our waiter after it was discovered that the razor clams were unavailable. I think I may have enjoyed the clams even more. Bastards. Oh well.

Edited December 28, 2007 by BryanZ (log)

[Fat Guy]

Anybody have thoughts on the best non-spicy dishes on the menu? I need to put together an order that accommodates a range of palates.

[Fat Guy]

Another excellent meal at Szechuan Gourmet tonight. For the non-spicy-food/unadventurous eaters we got unimpressive scallion pancakes, the very good young chow fried rice, and sesame chicken that was a better rendition of sesame chicken than I'd have thought possible. The one new (to me dish) we tried was the "Chef's Sichuan pickles" appetizer, number 18 and yes for this particular dish it's spelled Sichuan on the menu even though the restaurant is called Szechuan Gourmet and, as best I can tell, uses the Szechuan spelling everywhere else on the menu. Also had the fish filets with napa, the crispy tofu with pork, and the crispy lamb with cumin. All terrific. I wonder how they make the lamb. It seems like it may be velveted, then dredged in cumin and other stuff and deep fried, then stir-fried with peppers and such. Does that even make sense?

[Kent Wang]

The razor clams with the green sauce, how much Sichuan pepper was in it? I've had versions of this sauce that had so much that it made my mouth way too numb and I couldn't finish the dish. I like Sichuan pepper, but not in such extremes.

[Fat Guy]

It's not one of the more heavily seasoned dishes on the menu. But with most of the dishes at Szechuan Gourmet you can just ask for it to be made with more or less. Even if you don't ask, the levels vary from visit to visit. The first time I had the fish filets with Napa it was insanely hot, but last night it was pretty tolerable (though still quite hot).

[Greystreet]

Another excellent meal at Szechuan Gourmet tonight. For the non-spicy-food/unadventurous eaters we got unimpressive scallion pancakes, the very good young chow fried rice, and sesame chicken that was a better rendition of sesame chicken than I'd have thought possible. The one new (to me dish) we tried was the "Chef's Sichuan pickles" appetizer, number 18 and yes for this particular dish it's spelled Sichuan on the menu even though the restaurant is called Szechuan Gourmet and, as best I can tell, uses the Szechuan spelling everywhere else on the menu. Also had the fish filets with napa, the crispy tofu with pork, and the crispy lamb with cumin. All terrific. I wonder how they make the lamb. It seems like it may be velveted, then dredged in cumin and other stuff and deep fried, then stir-fried with peppers and such. Does that even make sense?

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Fatguy, you are quite correct in the cooking technique of the lamb dish. It's basically, sliced lamb dredged in a mixture of flour, cornstarch, cumin and seasonings, flash fried until medium to crispy, rested afterwards to drain the oil, then stir-fried on a dry wok with chili and scallions. Delicious!

[Chris Amirault]

Piling on with the SG props. I liked the pickles more than anyone else at the table -- quick, 24 brine, I think, with a liberal dose of chili oil -- and agree about the lamb, the favorite dish of the table. The dan dan noodles, Sichuan dumplings, ma po tofu, and braised fish fillets with Napa and roasted chili all were excellent. The "Napa" includes baby bamboo shoots and, I think, young Chinese celery. Can anyone confirm? Of course, that may change each day.

[ratgirlny]

The one new (to me dish) we tried was the "Chef's Sichuan pickles" appetizer, number 18 and yes for this particular dish it's spelled Sichuan on the menu even though the restaurant is called Szechuan Gourmet and, as best I can tell, uses the Szechuan spelling everywhere else on the menu.

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We had those pickles too. They were really good. Very addictive. Everyone at the table was going after them.

[Pan]

mascarpone and I had a great dinner at Szechuan Gourmet last night. We got:

Smoked Tofu Shreds w. Asian Celery, which unlike a similar dish at Spicy & Tasty, had hot oil and the ma-la effect going. I noticed how fresh and good the celery was.

Thin Sliced Beef Tendon w. Roasted Chili Vinaigrette, which mascarpone found very peppery, but I found more watery and vinagery and not very spicy. The texture was firmer than the comparable dish at my local Grand Sichuan. We both liked this dish.

Braised Eel w. Napa, Bamboo, Tofu, in Spiced Chili Broth. This dish was a knockout, wonderfully tasty, and we were supplied with a meshed spoon, perfect for serving this kind of soupy dish.

Goat in Casserole. This dish was a special on the board. It was just as good as the eel, but in a different way.

My verdict on my first meal at Szechuan Gourmet is that this restaurant has a much longer Sichuan-style menu than Grand Sichuan St. Marks, though not as long as Spicy & Tasty's, that it's a serious restaurant that is making real Chinese food for Chinese people (the waiter said after serving the eel to us that he hoped it wasn't too hot for us, which is exactly the right attitude -- serve the real stuff to the patrons and hope they like it; don't dumb it down), and that in quality, it's clearly better than Grand Sichuan St. Marks and comparable to Spicy & Tasty. It also costs much more - some $60 including tip for an admittedly large meal (there were leftovers to take home), as compared to around $40 for a meal of comparable size at Spicy & Tasty. But this place's location is much more convenient for me and most of my friends. I look forward to eating my way through the menu!

[Fat Guy]

Frank Bruni has just reviewed Szechuan Gourmet in the New York Times and given it two stars. He makes a number of comparisons to Spicy & Tasty, including:

My own theory is that it’s too convenient for cult status and adulation. For food pilgrims who don’t live in Queens, a meal at Spicy & Tasty is a shinier badge of honor; proof of a willingness to invest travel time and head in unglamorous directions for great food.

A meal at Szechuan Gourmet, situated within a few blocks of about a dozen different subway lines that converge around Times Square, doesn’t feel as much like a reward for a sacrifice.

[Chris Amirault]

But I drove from Providence to eat there, so it's even better than some place in Queens, right? I mean, in the Bruniverse.

[TongoRad]

But I drove from Providence to eat there, so it's even better than some place in Queens, right? I mean, in the Bruniverse.

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And you no doubt zipped right past the Whitestone Bridge on your way, so double points there

Me- I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. When I was working in Flushing it was great to have access to these great Szechuan places, but now I'm in midtown so Szechuan Gourmet is the place to be. My strategy is pretty much the same, though- get 4 or 5 dishes for takeout and try to make it last for the better part of a week. To be honest I'd give the slight edge to Little Pepper for the things that I usually get ( greatest hits, I suppose- ma po dofu, dan dan noodles, pork dumplings, some of the pickled items), but not enough to make me head for the 7 train.

This review came as a real surprise to me- good thing I was there today to 'stock up' for the week. I wonder if there will be larger crowds from now on?

[Nathan]

it was absolutely packed last night. over an hour wait. apparently Bruni's review had an effect.

bamboo shoots were great and every bit the equal of the S&T cold dishes.

duck tongue (really jaw) just didn't work for me....like chicken feet...couldn't find any flavor. the sauce was good.

their version of "enhanced pork" (bacon) suffered from a salt overload.

whole bass featured perfectly cooked fish but the sauce needed more...something...

sesame noodles were the best version of that dish I've had. refreshing with a decent kick.

fried lamb with cumin and peppers was good.

as we were leaving I noticed a chalkboard with specials...oops...the goat and beef tendon dishes looked especially interesting...

[Fat Guy]

it was absolutely packed last night.  over an hour wait.  apparently Bruni's review had an effect.

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In my experience, having been there about a dozen times now between lunch and dinner visits, showing up at Szechaun Gourmet without a reservation (you can make reservations no problem) during the dinner rush has always been a recipe for a 30-60 minute wait. That's not to say Bruni's review has had no effect, but the observation you're reporting isn't uniquely post-Bruni.

[Nathan]

ah...ok...we got there at around 8:15 and I was quite surprised to not be eating until close to 9:30..

[ratgirlny]

it was absolutely packed last night.  over an hour wait.  apparently Bruni's review had an effect.

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In my experience, having been there about a dozen times now between lunch and dinner visits, showing up at Szechaun Gourmet without a reservation (you can make reservations no problem) during the dinner rush has always been a recipe for a 30-60 minute wait. That's not to say Bruni's review has had no effect, but the observation you're reporting isn't uniquely post-Bruni.

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We bring out of town friends here all the time, and always, always make reservations. They have tended to be crowded on weekends for months now.

[Fat Guy]

One of my many objections to Frank Bruni's review is that he presents this straw man of an unacknowledged restaurant. Yet every time I've been to Szechuan Gourmet -- at least 10 times before he reviewed it -- it has been completely packed. Indeed, for the past almost-a-year (we started this in November or December of 2007), my agent and I have been eating there about once a month together and complaining about how packed it is at lunchtime. We have taken to coming either very early or very late -- because if you arrive at 12:30 or 1pm you can easily get stuck waiting half an hour. If I didn't find the practice so annoying I'd quote from our emails (no mention of wolverine, though). Dinner has required reservations at least since I started going.

There has also been plenty of online commentary on the restaurant over the past year. I imagine that's how Bruni got to Szechuan Gourmet, though it's also very close to the New York Times's offices, so anybody there could have brought him. But either way I think it's incredible that he's positioned this review as a discovery when it was already hard to get in and that he has the temerity to lecture the foodie community about its shortcomings and motives when plenty of people in the foodie community had already embraced the place. (Where is this hypothetical foodie who's saying it's not cool to go to Szechuan Gourmet because it's in Manhattan?). At least with Momofuku Ssam Bar he had the sense to acknowledge that he was simply reporting a trend.

Another problem I had with the review is that his appreciation of Sichuan cuisine comes down to a one-dimensional experience of spice. Sure, Sichuan food is on the whole spicy -- we get it -- but there's so much more to it than that. He could have at least taken a Chinese-food authority there with him on one visit in order to be able to pretend he knew what he was talking about.

He also misses some of the best dishes (though he grasps a few), particularly the razor clams (dish number 1, even, and a good example of a dish that, while spicy, isn't really about the spice). He protests that there are more than 100 dishes on the menu but many of those are variants of one another (X protein with Y vegetable) and others are Chinese-American stuff that doesn't need to be ordered. Once you adjust downwards for that you get a situation where, with the unlimited budget of the Times and four or five visits with groups of four and six people, you can easily go through all the dishes. That's what Bruni could have contributed to the conversation.

Not exactly related to the Bruni review, though he does refer to it repeatedly, I went to Spicy & Tasty in Flushing last night -- my first opportunity for a close-in-time comparison to Szechuan Gourmet. I believe Szechuan Gourmet is much better than Spicy & Tasty. The subset of dishes that we ordered where direct comparison was possible (dan dan noodles, Sichuan wontons, the "in fresh hot pepper" dishes that roughly correspond to the "with Napa" dishes, the shredded potatoes that Bruni doesn't seem to realize are common on Sichuan menus) were superior at Szechuan Gourmet.

[Nathan]

So far I've found S&T to be better. But, admittedly, NY Sichuan restaurants are a bit like pizza.

I'd say that Bruni was referring to the Chowhound crowd. They're not hypothetical.

[Sneakeater]

I would think the Chowhound crowd are pricisely the people who know about this place. Is that wrong?

I have to say that out of the innumerable times over the last several years I tried to get into SG for lunch, I succeeded precisely once.

[Nathan]

considering the location...one would expect lunch to be difficult.

[Sneakeater]

Of course you're right about that.