Ethnic restaurants Trenton

[brescd01]

I tried Szechuan House in Trenton and even one meal revealed it to serve the most refined Szechuan food I have ever enjoyed. So, I would like to know, is there any other restaurant on this level in the Trenton area?

[Exit157]

I think that might depend on what cuisine interests you most, but if you love pizza, please head to DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies on Hudson Street. There are also DeLorenzo's on Hamilton Avenue in Trenton (which plenty of people say is just as good) and on Route 33 in Robbinsville. DeLorenzo's has been discussed extensively on other threads here, so search the forum if you want more info.

Just be forewarned that the Hudson Street location predates the requirement that establishments which serve food must have bathrooms, so there is no restroom!

Where is Szechuan House in Trenton?

[brescd01]

2022 Nottingham Way. It has been lauded here as (incorrectly) Szechuan Garden.

[Jeff L]

2022 Nottingham Way. It has been lauded here as (incorrectly) Szechuan Garden.

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OK, so I'm going here next Monday with a business colleague for lunch. Is there anything I should look out for to order and do you think they have the same chef as for dinner?

I'm one of those who really loves Szechuan Tasty House in Philly so I'm looking forward to this place. I'll report back.

[BeeZee]

They have duck tongues, if that is your interest...table next to us seemed to enjoy them. I've never had the pleasure.

[brescd01]

I don't know, everything I had was wonderful, and much better than STH.

[Jeff L]

I enjoyed lunch yesterday. I found the szechuan dumplings to be excellent in both taste and texture. The usual crap available in the suburbs tend to be thick and starchy. These on the other hand were extremely light and tender, excellent. I did feel the sauce they were bathed in could have been hotter. I suppose I could have asked prior to ordering but I wasn't sure how their standard dumplings would register on the heat scale. We shared an entre our waiter suggested, chicken and peanuts in a nice albeit unremarkable sauce. I forget the name of the dish. It was good but nothing special. As I was on a business lunch, I deferred to my guest but when I return, I will seek out the more traditional chinese dishes I noticed several asians in the room were enjoyig.

Based on my one lunch, I wouldn't agree that this is better than STH. I will however be back with my wife to try other stuff.

We met the owner, Sonia who is a charming hostess. She mentioned the resaurant just won best restaurant in the US awarded by a chinese newspaper in Las Vegas. She then showed us a picture of her with Martin Yan. Oh and her chef formerly cooked for the President of China.

[jsfein]

I happened by SH for the first time recently for a quick lunch. I was by myself and ordered off the lunch menu. They modified shredded beef with hot pepper to shredded pork with hot pepper for me. The dish was really good, but could have used some more heat even with the hot peppers. Not too many interesting choices on the lunch menu ... mostly standard take-out stuff. Next time I plan on returning with a group so that I can sample some of the regular menu.

[Jeff L]

That's really funny because the chicken dish we had was loaded with dry red peppers and really didn't have much of a bite either.

[brescd01]

Your comparisons to STH are unfair. First of all, though I like Szechuan Tasty House, I can easily have terrible food there (and have). Their menu of Szechuan dishes is in fact very small. So if you ordered mediocre Chinese-American dishes at Szechuan House, I am sure that is what you got. I recommend introducing yourself as a sophisticate (which I did) and promising that you relish Chinese food and not Chinese-American. The maitre d' will help you order.

Another thing, since when is quality of food determined by heat? Anyone can dump pepper on something. I love hot Szechuan as much as the next guy but this is just a matter of requesting more heat. Szechuan House is several times better than STH. For that matter, so is Chung King across the street from STH. I think everyone loves STH because they deliver and they were Philadelphia's first taste of Szechuan (after 4 Rivers of course).

[Jeff L]

Based on my one lunch, I wouldn't agree that this is better than STH. I will however be back with my wife to try other stuff.

I'm not sure how this can be interpreted as unfair as I just had one meal there, hence the caveat.

As it was a business lunch (as stated in my post) and we were sharing an appetizer and entree I felt the proper thing to do was to ask my guest what she would like to order. I would clearly have gone for some of the more adventurous items on the menu if I were alone or with my wife, also stated in my post.

In any event, it's pretty unlikely that I would ever introduce myself as a sophisticate.. seems a bit pompous.

As to the heat issue, I just prefer szechuan dishes with some nice heat and there was very little of it there. I didn't say that food quality was determined by it.

[BeeZee]

The chicken with chilis that I ordered was plenty spicy yet still flavorful. It had sauteed jalapenos along with the chicken, little skinny red peppers, and some other kind of chiles crushed into the saute mixture. The hostess who was really nice actually came back to the table a couple of times to check up on me because I guess she thought I wouldn't enjoy it. Nice after-tingle.

[brescd01]

(in Kissinger-ian voice) "I AM NOT POMPOUS!"

Obviously you are being very concrete. I introduced myself as preferring Chinese food to Chinese-American food. I did not call myself a "sophisticate." But do you think asking the maitre d' to kiss my ring was too much?

[Jeff L]

I recommend introducing yourself as a sophisticate (which I did)

Call me crazy but that seemed pretty clear to me

As to the ring, by all means you should have asked the maitre d' to kiss it. I do it quite often in restaurants.

[Kim WB]

Nottingham Way is in Hamilton Twp , with a trenton mail address. is this the one near Quakerbridge Rd?

[BeeZee]

Sure is, there's that intersection called "5 points", if you're coming from the Quakerbridge Mall on Quakerbridge Road, you'd make a right onto Nottingham. I think Bill's Olde Tavern is on the corner.