Spicy & Tasty

[megc]

What a fun dinner! It was really nice to meet everyone (and see those again that I'd met before) and eat such delicious food together. Thank you again, Pan, for organizing this gathering. I really enjoyed the chicken and peanut dish, actually! I liked whatever spice was used, which made it more than simply chicken and peanuts with a spicy sauce. The shredded chicken also was wonderful. I loved how the spicy element had a delicious flavor to it, and wasn't simply spicy to be spicy. Oh, and I also loved the noodles! I would definitely get them again. I got a couple peppers in the fish, but found them to be rather tasty and not too hot at all; perhaps the ones I ate just happened to not be overly spicy to begin with.

The tea room had some very tasty bubble tea, which tasted unlike any I had before; it was especially smooth and creamy. Boy do I love bubble tea! Hadn't had it in so long, I had forgotten just how much I love the stuff.

Lovely again to see everyone and share such a delicious meal. I look forward to my next visit to Spicy & Tasty!

[mascarpone]

It was a great meal with great company and conversation. Even after being spoiled by eating out at great restaurants for the past two weeks (Restaurant week) I was still blown away by Spicy and Tasty.

Edited July 6, 2004 by mascarpone (log)

[Pan]

Yeah, great food doesn't have to be expensive, does it?

[mascarpone]

Great food doesn't have to be expensive ( I hope the management at Spicy and Tasty doesn't raise the price). Although all the dishes were great, my personal favorites were the Beef Tendon app., the Bean Curd and the Lamb. Several years ago Da Sicuan on 24th had a fish dish that was comparable if not better to the Taliapa at Spicy and Tasty. Both are great restaurants. I did not detect a single sicuan peppercorn flower in any of the dishes that we had at Spicy and Tasty while, even in mild dishes at GSI on 51st, I would inevitably bite into one and my mouth would be numb for the night. And, (as I repeat) that both GSI and Spicey and Tasty are great restaurants, I personally feel more comfortable with the spice levels in the dishes at Spicy and Tasty.

Edited July 6, 2004 by mascarpone (log)

[Pan]

My guess is that there will be no significant price increases at Spicy & Tasty for some time to come, because I believe that their clientele would fall off in that event. There's another excellent Sichuan-style restaurant just a couple of blocks away: Sichuan Dynasty, and if there were a significant price differential between the two restaurants, the cheaper one would have a competitive advantage.

[SobaAddict70]

Has anyone been here recently?

Soba

[Pan]

I have. Just as good as ever.

[Pan]

Just a heads-up that a tried a new dish tonight that was incredible! Lamb w. Hot Sauce ($10.95) is actually a dish without sauce. It's dry fried along with sliced garlic, scallions, ginger, lots of hot peppers chopped into small pieces, and Sichuan pepper, and it's redolent of cumin (probably marinated). Really a knockout!

[peter_nyc]

I ate at S&T for the first time this evening...almost ended up in the restaurant that took their old space as I took down the address from an early eG post, but luckily hesitated and checked twice.

Here's what I had:

cold jelly Chengdu style

spicy bamboo shoots

lamb with spicy sauce

sauteed chinese vegetables

cucumbers in vinegar sauce

The cold noodles were really fun for me since the flavor brought me back to a childhood friend's family dinner table--his mother was an excellent cook from Chengdu. The lamb was very good although the cumin was not mixed in very welll, leaving some bits too intensely cumin-flavored. There was also a spice in the lamb dish that I haven't had in years... it's one that I can only describe as "tongue-numbing". Does anybody have any clue as to what spice might be causing this sensation?

All in all, I had a great meal and am looking forward to exploring the menu more thoroughly.

[Pan]

[...]There was also a spice in the lamb dish that I haven't had in years... it's one that I can only describe as "tongue-numbing".  Does anybody have any clue as to what spice might be causing this sensation?[...]

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Sichuan pepper.

[ErinB]

I had lunch here the other day. It was great.

I ordered a dish reviewed above, tofu with mince pork. It was great. I've had a comparable dish at GSIM, and I can say that the spicyness was perfect at Spicy and

Tasty. The dish i had at GSIM did not have pork, but the pork here added an amazing flavor and texture.

Also, had the pork dumplings which were some of the best dumplings I've had in my life.

My dining partner had a pork dish with some type of onion. (they tasted like scallions but were really huge) . I thought the taste of the pork was really good, but I thought the dish need a little something extra.

We got there a little before noon, but they did have a lunch buffet that started later that looked interesting, but many of the things looked very unfamiliar.

[Pan]

[...]My dining partner had a pork dish with some type of onion.  (they tasted like scallions but were really huge) .[...]

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Presumably leeks.

By "lunch buffet," are you referring to the display of cold dishes near the window? That's not a buffet; it's just a large selection of cold dishes to have as part of your meal.

If you haven't been following my blog, you might be interested in looking at pictures and discussion of Spicy & Tasty, starting here.

[ErinB]

Oh ok ... Is that what you order when you say you order cold dishes? Do you just go up and pick out what you want?

I felt a little nervous looking at everything trying to figure out what was what.

I'm definitely going to go back and then go to the buble tea place.

[Pan]

Erin, don't feel nervous looking at everything. I usually order cold dishes off the menu now, but even after having eaten there probably a few dozen times, I still sometimes have questions about items on display in front. They don't mind if you come up and look at the cold dishes, and if my experience is any guide, your waiter or waitress will explain what the cold dishes are to the best of his/her ability to explain things in English.

[bpearis]

Eater reports that Bruni will be reviewing Spicy & Tasty in tomorrow's Dining Section. With no celebs, hotties, or pop music on the soundsystem, I guess he has no choice but to talk about the food. I would be worried the place will be overrun now, but I think the perceived long schlep to Flushing will keep most from checking it out.

Not that the place is hurting for business.

[Nathan]

wow! first Sriph and now S&T.

[Mayur]

Eater reports that Bruni will be reviewing Spicy & Tasty in tomorrow's Dining Section. With no celebs, hotties, or pop music on the soundsystem, I guess he has no choice but to talk about the food. I would be worried the place will be overrun now, but I think the perceived long schlep to Flushing will keep most from checking it out.

Not that the place is hurting for business.

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Exactly. It's full enough of people as is; if it gets whacked with the Bruni two-star treatment, I don't anticipate being able to go there on my designated Queens dining night (Friday). Maybe I'll have to start slacking off early one other day a week...

[bpearis]

Exactly. It's full enough of people as is; if it gets whacked with the Bruni two-star treatment, I don't anticipate being able to go there on my designated Queens dining night (Friday). Maybe I'll have to start slacking off early one other day a week...

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I can't imagine it will truly disrupt the normal flow of diners for longer than two weeks.

[BryanZ]

The good ol' Bruni ethnic/neighborhood eats deuce.

[Pan]

The good ol' Bruni ethnic/neighborhood eats deuce.

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My comments here.

Short version: The restaurant deserves it. And since Bruni emphasized the spiciness so much, maybe that'll be a safeguard against the arrival of numerous clueless (emphasis on the word "clueless") non-Chinese customers and inoculate the restaurant against the risk of it, God forbid, toning things down!

[Nathan]

imo, those who are willing to go out that far for "adventurous ethnic" food -- already know about it. I would doubt that it'll change much.

[slkinsey]

My comments here.

Reproduced here for ease of reading:

Spicy & Tasty gets two stars:

[...]Spicy & Tasty plays lavishly with this fire, which blazed in a riveting dish called shredded lamb in fresh hot pepper. On top of thin slices of lamb and a tangle of herbs and vegetables were swaths of a four-alarm paste made from dried chili flakes. The peppercorns also entered the mix — you could feel them on your lips — and at the bottom of the wide, deep bowl, red chili oil glistened.[...]

But Spicy & Tasty does justice to both sides of the ampersand, providing pleasures away from the heat. The bounciness of the dried bean curd was irresistible, and it exemplified an attentiveness to texture that also distinguished creamy tofu with minced pork and a dish of scallion and egg fried rice whose fluffiness, like its pale green color, was a revelation.[...]

Read the rest of the article:

Where Playing with Fire is not Taboo

Before many of you jump on Bruni for this review, saying he's crazy or misguided or foolish or something, let me be the first to say that he's right: Spicy & Tasty is a great restaurant that deserves two stars. The prices are cheap, but the food is consistently wonderful. I've eaten there over 40 times, I figure, and never once have I had a dish that wasn't delicious. Not one. I can't think of any other restaurant I've eaten at so many times that I can make that statement about. Furthermore, the ground floor of the restaurant actually has quite classy and presumably expensive decor. This is a wonderful restaurant serving Sichuan-style cuisine that I could send my homesick student from Chengdu to and have her come back to me thanking me and telling me that the food was just like the food from her home town, it's got a long, varied menu, and it has classy decor and good service (though, as Bruni accurately indicates, they speak a limited amount of English, and a Chinese-speaker among your group is definitely helpful, though not essential). What's not two-star about that? Purely the price? Too cheap for you? The lack of a wine list? Please!

I thought this was interesting and valuable enough from a lontgime S&T devotee to reproduce here. As always, let's keep star system criticism and metadiscussion on Bruni's reviewing quirks not bearing directly on S&T in the "Bruni and Beyond" thread.

[Dave H]

Well, Sripraphai is filling probably four or five times the seats it had when Bruni bestowed his two stars, but I get the sense that was on its way to happening anyhow--the first phase of the expansion was already underway, and the lines in the original space were getting ridiculous. So my guess is that Spicy & Tasty will stay its normal, crowded but not overthronged self, but then again as big as the place is there's often not much margin to handle even a modest influx on top of the regular crowd.

Anyhow, if you can't get into Spicy & Tasty you might as well go to the much better Xiao La Jiao a.k.a. "Little Pepper" around the corner on Roosevelt (in the original Spicy & Tasty space, as it happens), which is the best Sichuan restaurant in the city. (Yes, I know, I should start a thread. So sue me.) Otherwise, while Bruni was right to focus so much of his review on Spicy & Tasty's cold appetizers, which are indeed amazing and the best of their kind around, its entrees, though superior in breadth and authenticity, are generally not as good as their counterparts at the St. Marks Grand Sichuan or the 39th St. Wu Liang Ye.

Edited November 30, 2006 by Dave H (log)

[Pan]

[...]Otherwise, while Bruni was right to focus so much of his review on Spicy & Tasty's cold appetizers, which are indeed amazing and the best of their kind around, its entrees, though superior in breadth and authenticity, are generally not as good as their counterparts at the St. Marks Grand Sichuan or the 39th St. Wu Liang Ye.

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As one of Grand Sichuan St. Marks' best customers, I couldn't disagree more!

[Mayur]

Ditto.

I do agree with Dave H about the high quality of Little Pepper, though. It was the second thing that occurred to me after hearing about the impending Bruni review (the first being my fear of massive crowds).