Last night we walked to midtown to help spur our appetites into high gear before gorging on gobs of flavorful Chinese dishes at the year-old sister location of Queen's SPICY & TASTY - Szechuan Gourmet. The Chinese are not the most creative in naming their restaurants, but thankfully they more than pull through in the food itself, and Szechuan Gourmet offers some of the most unique dishes we've ever had. Sticking with suggestions from the stellar NY Times review that came out not long ago, we happily dove into our Spicy Sesame Noodles appetizer (#20 on the menu) before enjoying a parade of entrees that included Crispy Lamb Filets with Chili Cumin (#50), Double Cooked Sliced Pork Belly with Chili Leeks (#46), Chef's Ma Paul Tofu (#60), Camphor Tea Smoked Duck (#42) and Stir Fried Shredded Potatoes with Napa & Roasted Chili (#59).
Everything was good, particularly the lamb, which had a flavor and texture unlike any Chinese dish I've ever had - it was crisp on the outside and covered in a cumin crust that tied the soft insides together perfectly. Delicious, perfect dish and alone worth the trip there. The rest of the dishes were strong and pretty much on par with NYC's other top Szechuan restaurants (those being Wu Liang Ye on 48th St. & the 24th St. and 9th Ave location of Grand Sichuan), minus the shredded potatoes, which came out looking somewhat like thick spaghetti and are coated in oil. I found them to be not flavorful enough or worth the calories given that they aren't crispy (Matthew & I have an unwritten rule that if a potato product isn't fried to our liking, we have to put it down immediately no matter how badly we want to eat it and save our calories for something that's actually tasty).
Service was another issue I wasn't happy with during our meal - our server didn't seem to care and twice botched our order before finally bringing out something correct with no apology or even a hint of a smile. She also brought Matthew out a bottle of beer that was already opened, had a funny vinegar taste and the bottle was chipped. He sent it back, but not before taking a swig and realizing that the beer wasn't good and then spent the evening wondering if he was going to get sick from it. Thankfully, he didn't, but even if he did, the lousy woman serving our table wouldn't have cared if we all dropped dead after paying the bill. But with all that being said, we didn't come for the service - the food is the real star here.
Szechuan Gourmet gets a B+ for delivering true-to-form Sichuan style cooking and a D for their uncaring service.
Szechuan Gourmet
21 West 39th Street
New York, NY 10018
Phone: 212-921-0233
Hours: Lunch & Dinner everyday from 11:30AM - 1AM
I think the food deserved an A-.
Posted by: Matthew | Saturday, August 02, 2008 at 08:54