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Szechuan Gourmet - W. 39th St.


JosephB

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I was just at SG for lunch and the same old strategy still works: show up at about 11:55am and the place is basically empty.

I asked the manager if there had been an uptick in business since the Times review and he said yes, definitely. In particular, he noted, the dinner rush is now starting earlier and running all the way through closing. So reservations are essential at all times of the evening.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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That's good to know. I haven't been there since the review but I typically get there around 11:45 and place an order. By the time I leave it really starts to get busy.

aka Michael

Chi mangia bene, vive bene!

"...And bring us the finest food you've got, stuffed with the second finest."

"Excellent, sir. Lobster stuffed with tacos."

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

The restaurant is in Midtown, yes, but it's on a forgotten block where I've never seen a lot of foot traffic. Indeed, before coming to SG, I think in a lifetime of living in Manhattan (and years of working in Midtown) I'd never been on West 39th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. I think the restaurant's business may be facilitated by location -- for example, were it in New Jersey it would not be busy at lunch -- but I get the sense that it's a destination place for a lot of folks eating there.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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For the dinner crowd, I've noticed a lot of groups of Asian people with shopping bags. For me, it's a convenient after-work meeting location since friends who work all over the city can find at least one train that drops them off in that part of Midtown.

"I'll put anything in my mouth twice." -- Ulterior Epicure
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Had at SG this past weekend and it remains really, really solid. Didn't branch out too much so I can't speak to its strength across its rather broad menu but the staples I had a few days ago were delicious as ever. The only disappointment was that they were out of the razor clam app I've wanted to try again. Also, the dandan noodles were fine but definitely a step down from the other dishes.

The owner turned away numerous parties who tried to walk in at 9:30 and after. He's very serious about the 10 pm closing, as others have noted. By the time we left at about 9:45 or so the entire kitchen staff was already sitting around a big table in the big, eating their meal.

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The only disappointment was that they were out of the razor clam app I've wanted to try again. 

About half the time I'm there they claim to be out of it. I think, however, what they actually do is ration it. Because I've seen them reverse the claim upon cross examination and I've seen some people get it while others are told it's 86d.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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Asking the manager/owner guy is a good start, as is asking your server to double-check with the kitchen. Being a regular helps too. I don't think they much care about language or race. If you're white and a regular you outrank an Asian newbie.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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  • 1 month later...

I am by no means an expert on Sichuan Food. i have eaten at a few Sichuan Restaurants in China, a few in the US, and read a couple of books on the cuisine. From my experiences and understanding. Sichuan Food is spicy. Not hints of spice, or subtle flavors, but mouth burning intense flavors.. Sour, salty, spicy, its not something that should be mundane..

Often times at my meal tonight I was left bored, unsatisfied, waiting for the meal to start.. The heat was missing, the intense flavors hadnt shown, where were the Sichuan Peppercorns.

Best dish of the night:

Cold Spicy Rabbit- The meat was delicious, large pieces, not dried out at all. Had the most respectable heat of the night.

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Tendon: The best part and strongest flavors were provided by a fresh celery garnish. Something is wrong with that.

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Cold Sesame Noodles:

Skip worthy.. I dont think these were really sesame noodles. The must have given us the wrong dish. No sesame.

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Conch grew on us. The fresh carrots were not the strongest component of the dish but, brought out the sweetness .. Mild heat that slowly intensified.

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Miss K got these. She loved them. They are truly inedible. Sweet as a Luden's Cough Drop. The color is really that shocking color. She is 8, this dish is a disgrace.

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Cumin Lamb shows the crappiness of the kitchen. Maybe something happened after the Times Review or something.. We ordered this as an after thought.. We got this and the potatoes after miss A read the Bruni review.. The review was on the front counter photocopied so every customer could take one.

So we order the lamb and no less the 3 minutes later we are served.. There was no way possible that they could have cooked the lamb in this time.. The meat was kind of dry, definitely kept heated somewhere, and gently sprinkled with cumin..

By a show of hands, who thinks deep fried lamb covered in cumin shouldnt be excellent? U.E LIttle Pepper takes Sichuan Gourmet out in an alley and beats it like they owe them money..

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The potato dish that Bruni went gaga over was bad. Not all that uncommon though, he suggested otherwise. Again it was boring. I asked for Black Vinegar which pepper it up.

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I think Bruni should leave slumming to Sietsema ..

This place gets a C.

Edited by Daniel (log)
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Passing by the corner of 39th and 5th, I remembered this thread and ducked into Szechuan Gourmet for a first try....

The restaurant was fairly quiet at 4:30 PM- maybe 3 tables occupied. I set a to-go order of the razor clams with scallion pesto and the braised fish fillets with roasted chilies and napa. Their new menus do not list the razor clams- according to the person who took my order, their supply is not always consistent, so they decided not to put it on the printed menu. She seemed pleasantly surprised that I knew about it and she said it was no problem....

I wish I could say that the razor clams were enjoyable to me, but alas, they were not. (and quite frankly, I figure it as my own damn fault :hmmm: ) I'd forgotten that the pesto was not just a scallion pesto, but a scallion- SZECHUAN PEPPERCORN pesto. I am particularly sensitive to 'ma la' sensation of szechuan peppercorns, and the amount used in this particular preparation overwhelmed me. The razor clams had a lovely, faintly chewy texture and looked beautiful even in a takeout container....but if you are very sensitive to that numbing sensation, I would caution you. (might seem kind of like a 'duh', but I like to state the obvious. :raz: )

The braised fish, though......good gracious. It's a huge portion, a quart container filled to the brim with fresh-tasting fish, shards of vegetables and a deliciously spicy sludge (as a person who LOVES spicy food, I was slightly intimidated by appearance). But spooned sparingly over rice (thank goodness there are 2 containers of rice to dissipate the heat of that humongous dish).....that sauce has an amazing, roasty, intense heat. One of the most delicious Chinese preparations I've had in a LONG time. Even better when I took a bit more for a second helping ....the flavors seemed to have melded even better.

I also ended up with a small container of what I guess were sesame noodles? Whatever they were, they were awfully tasty....nutty, spicy and slightly sweet. Not sure why they were included- I just ate them solo.

It was just refreshing to get Chinese food on par with what I used to get when I lived in the Maryland outskirts of DC, not overly-sweet Chinese American dishes.....

ETA: Daniel, if you and Miss K ate after 4:30 on 9/16, there's the possibility that the Szechuan peppercorn supply had dwindled after they prepared my razor clams...... :wink: I'd trade the clams for your sesame noodles if it was the same prep I found in my take-out bag.....

Oh, and I just read on the menu that the sesame noodles (or wontons or hot and sour vegetables) are included with a min $20 takeout at dinner.

Edited by Sony (log)
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Often times at my meal tonight I was left bored, unsatisfied, waiting for the meal to start.. The heat was missing, the intense flavors hadnt shown, where were the Sichuan Peppercorns.

Cold Sesame Noodles:

Skip worthy.. I dont think these were really sesame noodles. The must have given us the wrong dish. No sesame.

I think Bruni should leave slumming to Sietsema ..

This place gets a C.

ducked into Szechuan Gourmet for a first try....

The razor clams had a lovely, faintly chewy texture and looked beautiful even in a takeout container....but if you are very sensitive to that numbing sensation, I would caution you. (might seem kind of like a 'duh', but I like to state the obvious.  :raz: )

The braised fish, though......that sauce has an amazing, roasty, intense heat. One of the most delicious Chinese preparations I've had in a LONG time.

sesame noodles? Whatever they were, they were awfully tasty....nutty, spicy and slightly sweet.

Wow, maybe Daniel and Sony ought to dine here together...

Or, maybe restaurants just shouldn't be graded after one meal, on a Monday night, after sampling less than 5% of the menu?

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

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I dont really understand what you are saying here weino.. I have been to the restaurant before and also have had food brought home from there.. My write up was about one experience.. I am not the end all be all here..I happen to not like the restaurant, this is just one guy's opinion.. If I had loved the place after trying "5 percent" of the menu would you have said anything.. If a place takes fried lamb and reheats it and serves it dry and tasteless should I explore the other 95 percent of the menu?

Edited by Daniel (log)
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I am by no means an expert on Sichuan Food. i have eaten at a few Sichuan Restaurants in China, a few in the US, and read a couple of books on the cuisine. From my experiences and understanding. Sichuan Food is spicy. Not hints of spice, or subtle flavors, but mouth burning intense flavors.. Sour, salty, spicy, its not something that should be mundane..

This place gets a C.

I dont really understand what you are saying here weino.. If I had loved the place after trying "5 percent" of the menu would you have said anything.. If a place takes fried lamb and reheats it and serves it dry and tasteless should I explore the other 95 percent of the menu?

Certainly don't be offended, because that's not the intention. However, Funschia Dunlop, in her seminal book about Sichuan food, land of plenty, writes:

Despite the emphasis on chiles in Sichuan's gastronomic reputation, hot and spicy food certainly isn't all the region has to offer. 

In terms of grading, I'd certainly sounds like your meal earned a C grade, but many others have had what appear to be B+ or even A grade meals at SG.

So, when reviews are posted about specific meals, I take it to mean that that review, based on about 5% of the menu, might be less than characteristic of what the restaurant is capable of doing.

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

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So, 4 of us went last night (sorry you couldnt join us, Daniel) and had a good meal. Probably a B, maybe B+. This was certainly better than a recent meal on 9th Ave in Chelsea, which I would have rated C. The lamb with cumin was well done... not dried out but certainly dry, meaning no grease or any liquid. Very nice taste to it. The dan dan noodles were the only thing I thought 9th Ave does better (as do most places)... they were not very silky &, while okay, nothing to write home about. Eh. The cold cucumbers were very good, cut into larger pieces than most others do. Refreshing, with good spicing. Pork belly was, as usual, well prepared and the fish with Napa cabbage was similarly good. Although it looked like it would be fire-y with a full crust of peppers, it wasnt. As a matter of fact, my major impression of this meal was that they managed very well to serve food that had spice that was integrated into the taste of the dish but wasnt the main aspect of the dish. This often isnt the case when heavily spiced food is ordered... the "hot" can easily outweigh the fish or the pork in too many places. We ordered the tea smoked duck as well & it was very smoked... I liked it but it was heavy on the smoke.... the opposite of what I liked about the other dishes.

Overall, I continue to think that this place is someplace to keep on the rotation when in the mood for Szech. food and, overall, better than 9th Ave's food (which can be downright mediocre). But I've liked the place on 2nd Ave in the 50s better and certainly think that, if travel isnt a major concern, the Bay Ridge Szech. place (5th Ave and 88th St) is better as well, right up there with Flushing's Little Pepper and Spicy & Tasty.

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I think their ma paul tofu (aka mapo tofu) is the best example of where spice is integrated into the taste of the dish but only as a component. For me, the spiciness doesn't hit until the very end of my first taste.

"I'll put anything in my mouth twice." -- Ulterior Epicure
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I think they handle the chile elements very well; they certainly aren't shy with them and the flavors definitely work well within the overall composition of the dish. Maybe it's the variety of pepper that has something to do with it, hot but not agressively so. They do seem to have a lighter hand with the szechuan peppercorns, though. Some dishes at Little Pepper will literally numb your mouth, and that really hasn't happened to me yet at Szechuan Gourmet. The amount used on the dan dan noodles comes and goes- yesterday's was actually a lot better for me than in the past but it may have been a fluke.

One of the things that has become addictive to me (off of the lunch menu) is the Stir Fried Chicken with Roasted Chili and Green Chili- it's not just the interplay between the dried and fresh chiles, but there's also a ton of well cooked and caramelized sliced garlic and ginger. Don't forget the breath mints...

aka Michael

Chi mangia bene, vive bene!

"...And bring us the finest food you've got, stuffed with the second finest."

"Excellent, sir. Lobster stuffed with tacos."

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Had my first less than stellar meal here ever today. Well, that description might be pushing it. SG just used to be #1 with a bullet on my list. Today's meal was merely good instead of amazing and excellent.

The heat has definitely been toned down. The mapo tofu portion size has gotten smaller and it is no longer NUCLEAR spicy. But at least now it's edible. The braised goat (special) was a little cold when it reached the table, and too full of bones and tendons. The cumin lamb was not crispy enough or spicy enough and kind of lukewarm. Like it may have been sitting out a while.

But the sauteed pea shoots with garlic (also a special) were great, though, as were the dan dan noodles as well as pork dumplings with roasted chili soy. Maybe I'll do more appetizers next time. It's a shame about the spice factor being toned down, though. I used to get waitresses at SG saying, "Are you sure? Are you sure? It's spicy!" Tonight the guy just took the order, nodded, and left.

"I'll put anything in my mouth twice." -- Ulterior Epicure
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Assuming there's a pattern to be discerned here, it sounds like in response to increased popularity the restaurant is cooking pr par-cooking more dishes in advance, and also reducing the default spice level.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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They do seem to have a lighter hand with the szechuan peppercorns, though. Some dishes at Little Pepper will literally numb your mouth, and that really hasn't happened to me yet at Szechuan Gourmet.

I'm wondering if there's been a change in the szechuan peppercorns that are now being used. Hasn't there been a change in the rules recently about the importation of the peppercorns - are they being irradiated?

What I'm taking away from this topic is that it appears that while consistency and deliciousness used to be a given at this restaurant, that doesn't appear to be the case any more. Whether it's the constant crowds and/or the review, changes in the kitchen or front of the house, whatever...look at Daniel's review of the lamb, Kathryn's and then Steve R's...everyone seems to have had a different dish.

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

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