Chengdu 23
“We got broiled spicy eel, sautéed kidney with peppers, sliced beef and chili peppers, diced chicken and peanuts and soup dumplings / xiao long bao.”
“Try the Sea Bass casserole, Triple Pepper Chicken, or Firehouse Chicken!”
“Clean, polite environment with great food (especially if you're a fan of spicy food!).”
Chengdu 23
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Do this:
Spicy baby wontons to start (keep the saus for later dishes and rice)
Sautéed green pea shoots (tastier than Chinese broccoli)
Double cooked pork (greasy as he!i but delicious)
Chicken with peppers (ask for without szechuan peppercorns b/c our dish made our mouths numb – like novocaine at dentist)
The hot tea and orange wedges at the end were nice compliments to our meal.
The ambiance here will make you feel like you're eating in chengdu. The fact that most of the patrons were of the Asian ilk (hey, I can say that b/c I am one) added to the authentic feel.
Rounding up from 3.5 stars
This place is pretty darn good if you're looking for Szechuan food– it is NOT Americanized Chinese from what I have experienced (and I am thankful for that). I came with my dad and two family friends, ordered a bunch of things and ate family style. I was very happy with all the food.
FOOD: Ordered the appetizer A9 "pork dumplings", which are better known as spicy baby wantons. They're delicious, they come in a yummy sauce that's sweet and spicy. My dad always orders the ox tongue, AC7, which is surprisingly good considering how weird of a dish it sounds like. It's definitely oily and spicy, so you've been warned. For entrees, we got the Sauteed Snow Pea Leaf (CS20), Mapo Tofu (on the menu as CH21 "Soft tofu with mined pork"), Fried Tofu with Cumin Powder & Dried Chili (CH8), and the Tea Smoked Duck (C3). The snow pea leaf was my absolute favorite– it's in a delicious garlicy sauce. Mapo tofu is always good, only a little bit spicy, and oily but that's how it's supposed to be. Fried Tofu with Cumin Powder & Dried Chili was really good too, not very hot because the tofu calms it down. The smoked duck was good, but not really my favorite. It's crispy and flavorful though.
SERVICE: It's not really a "service with a smile" sort of place. They're not rude, but it does seem they're trying to get you in and out as soon as they can. They're definitely hard working though. Service was decent overall.
AMBIANCE: They have a fish tank! It's a roomy place. Pretty classic Chinese food place, simple decor, but looks pleasant.
I grew up on the Canadian border in upstate NY. To this day, the best Chinese I've ever had is a place called Dragon Garden in Prescott, Ontario. (See my 5 star review).
Because I grew up eating at Dragon Garden and because I've probably had Chinese in at least half of the dozen or so countries I've visited (excluding China), Dragon Garden serves as my measuring stick.
Chendu 23 stacked up impressively well. Gordon Ramsay says to be skeptical of restaurants in strip malls and ones with pictures of their food in the menu. This place is both in a strip mall and has pictures of the food, but is an exception to the Ramsay rule.
I went here with a large group, which gave me a chance to try just about everything the menu had of offer. The star of the entire smorgasbord was the whole pan fried bass, which is normally not on the menu. I assume this was a substitute for what would otherwise be the flounder. Delicious, and not overcooked and dry, as is often the case in other Asian restaurants.
The ambience is rather psychedelic. Not quite like Lee's Hawaiian Islander, but a few notches below.
We were treated like royalty, so you should expect top notch service.
Plus they're BYOB!
Located in a strip mall, this place is one of the authentic Chinese gems of north Jersey. I had spicy chicken poppers, sun roasted pork, and Fu Qi Fei Pian (夫妻肺片), which is beef and beef tripe in a spicy peppery sauce. All classic southern Chinese food, all done perfectly and nowhere near grimy salty takeout. Great staff.
This has become our favorite sechuan restaurant. I am a big fan of "Han Dynasty" in NYC. This really matches up to that standard. Its a huge place with nice ambiance.The service is just great. We were happy with the food that we ordered. My favorite was fish in hot sauce. It was just awesome. One of the best !
Ok ok.. I have to admit, this place's service was spectacular this Sunday so I had to update their rating. We came in at around 8:00 instead of 9:00pm and the waiter was gem. Food was fabulous as always. See my previous review for more food yumminess details! I'm glad I gave Chengdu 23 another shot. 🙂 You might have a new regular!
Torn between a 3 star and 4 star. True rating is 3.5 but didn't feel right to bump up to a 4.
Food –
App: Split the Sichuan Pork Dumplings w/ roasted chili vinaigrette with my dad. These were really good and the portion was big, 6 big dumplings, plenty to share for two (or more) people. It definitely has a fire kick to it but I loved it.
Entrée: I had the General Tsos chicken entrée and the meal itself was very delicious and fresh, plenty of chicken. It came with a small side of rice (brown or white, your choice) and broccoli, 3 measly pieces of broccoli. The meal was $13, not cheap…cough up the veggies, Chengdu 23!
Service – not the best, I had to ask 2 times for water, we wanted chop sticks and they weren't provided as no one came to our table after the food was served, it took a while to get the check also. If they tighten up their service, i think this place could be 4 stars worthy. And if they are more generous with their veggies, I think it could be 5 star worthy.
They do give you complimentary hot tea in a tea pot, which I think is nice.
pretty decent to good, and authentic Chinese food. took takeout twice, had dimsum here once. For dimsum, items were not pushed around in a cart in traditional dim sum places, but you order off a menu. Everything was very good, but the Xiao long bao was the standout. For takeout, I sampled a lot of the recommended items, such as heavenly chicken to beef with scallions and onions. Dishes were overly oily and a bit on the bland side. There was also definitely a language barrier at times which made ordering very frustrating. Service was ok. If I'm around the area and want something more authentic than the typical take out joint, I might give them another shot.