Shu Han Ju
“I've only ordered delivery from here so far, but it's been incredible every time!”
“No place has more delicious Dan Dan noodles or Chengdu wantons or a better Chong Qing Spicy Chicken.”
“The decor is bright with carved, wooden screens in the windows and carved wooden boats and figurines placed on shelves and window sills.”
Shu Han Ju
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: 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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This small little place is located in a corner serving authentic Szechuan or Sichuan food. It has a bar and about 12 tables with white table cloth.
This is not your usual saucy Sichuan food. There spicy and some non spicy food.
The fried fish with peppers and Szechuan peppers was good. I like it better than the small chicken pieces done in similar way. This chicken version makes a good appetizer with some beer.
The bitter melon was actually not bitter. It's cooked with egg that got mixed in it. I could eat the entire plate and that could be my meal right there.
A nice find in the West Village.
Don't be deterred by the cheap, plastic tablecloth signage outside. Enter and you are guaranteed an exquisite dining experience in Szechuan food and service. About the service first because it's often rare to find in NYC Chinese restaurants–genuinely welcoming, efficient staff work here! One time the candy bowl was low and the young gentleman saw me fishing for a mint and came out with a whole bag and I never asked. The staff greet you with a big smile and serve you with a big smile–no throwing chopsticks at the clients here. And the décor is in such contrast to the tacky sign outside. Inside you get openwork wooden screens, dim lighting with lantern lamps–it's nice enough to take a date here or someone who squeamish about eating at some typical Chinatown dive.
Now about the food. It's Szechuan but not as incendiary as say the food at Mapo Tofu or Gourmet Szechuan. But for those of you with friends or family who can't tolerate excessive levels of heat, Shu Han Ju is the place to bring them to as nothing here really has a heat level beyond two chilis. But the food is well seasoned by a chef who understands five element theory as relates to his cooking. When you eat the Eggplant with Garlic Sauce here, it's salty, slight vinegary, slightly sweet, pungent and mildly spicy. There's a subtle melding of the flavors and at the same time, a deft hand to ensure that you can taste each individual flavor. I know one Yelper said the eggplant was greasier than most places. This is true Szechuan style, and you will get dishes swimming in a chili oil that you are not supposed to drink. If you want a vegetable flash fried but with less oil, order the Sautéed String Beans. We had that one night and I actually considered a chopstick fight to get the last string bean. You can ask for it without pork if you don't want meat as we did. The hot and sour soup is one of the best I've tasted, lighter, and less starchy then other places and with the right amount of vinegar and numbing peppercorns to make it pop. It has enough tree ears and mushroom slivers and water chestnuts unlike other poorly made renditions I've had elsewhere. I've also had the Kung Pao Shrimp, which rewards you with the occasional numbing sting of Szechuan peppercorns and it wasn't greasy as what is served in many Americanized Chinese restaurants. On another occasion, I've had the Braised Sliced Fish in Chili Sauce, which was more a chili bean sauce than the chili oil I was expecting. Nevertheless, it was delicious. The food here is presented well and depending on what you order, made prettier by a creative chef who like to decorate his dishes with animals carved from carrots and daikon. The lunch specials are a value and the portions, lunch or dinner, or good. If I had one critique of Shu Han Ju, it's that I do wish the chef would be more adventurous and dare to offer the 3 and 4 chili items. So I would have deducted half a star for that if I could have but the service here brings it back to five stars . I have gone a few times already and still can't seem to find the braised fish in napa that I have at other Szechuan restaurants. But this is definitely a restaurant that will endear itself to you and anyone you bring here to eat.
I was in the mood for some spicy Chinese food that night. After Whitney museum , it seems to be the best Chinese food choice around.
The service was ok, it's not a busy Friday night, most of the tables were empty, but the lady seems really rush us to order food.
We got Kong bao chx, spicy braised beef. As a Chinese, I can tell you the food isn't authentic. BUT truly delicious! If you are expecting to have the authentic taste that you miss from Chinese food, you may
get disappointed. But if you are just looking for some good price, decent, delish Chinese food, I'd def recommend this restaurant. My bf rated it as the best Chinese restaurant he had so far. Lol
The interior of the restaurant is really nice. The service is friendly and prompt. The food is, unfortunately, mediocre.
I ordered Shanghai noodles, spicy beef with cumin sauce, and pan-seared tofu in spicy sauce. The noodles were pretty bland. The spicy beef was indeed pretty spicy. My husband loved it, but I didn't care for it so much. The pan-seared tofu tasted good, but it was covered in oil.
I think this place is fine for a quick bite to eat if you're in the neighborhood.
3.5-4 stars. Ordered delivery via DoorDash. Since this is a Szechuan place, I had to opt for the braised fish with cabbage in chili oil. Also got the egg drop soup as an appetizer, which tasted pretty standard (thought the egg pieces were chunkier than most but not necessarily bad). Was impressed that the packaging did not create a mess (usually the chili oil gets everywhere). The fish was high quality and there was a lot of it, but I really wished that there were more cabbage leaves as opposed to stem. The stem portion is a bit hard and crunchy. The leaves on the other hand are really flavorful and complement the fish well.
Would definitely try again/order other dishes!
Admittedly, I'm no expert in Chinese cuisine – I'm about as 'American Chinese food fan' as it gets. However, I'm enough of a snob to always have turned my nose up at places like Panda Express, etc. I was lucky enough to grow up in a town with some pretty authentic Chinese restaurants, so I'm always looking for the same quality and consistency when I order delivery in New York.
Enter Caviar (the delivery website), which introduced me to Shu Han Ju. Now that we've been together for a few months now (ha!), I won't get Chinese delivered from any other restaurant. This is just so good – fast, consistently delicious, and extremely high-quality.
PS. Have no fear if you're a white idiot like me and just stick to your Americanized favorites! Their hot&sour soup, scallion pancakes, lo mein and fried rice are all 10/10. Go for it!
Great spot if you have a craving for good quality Chinese food. There are so many spots in the city that have greasy bad tasting Chinese food, but this place is on a league of its own.
I have never eaten at the restaurant and always diver. The food comes quick, hott, and no need to reheat. Every time the portions are perfect and the vegetables are fresh. Usually when you order on its never as good as the restaurant but I have no complaints!
My go-to dishes are the general tso chicken and beef lo-mein. The general tso chicken is perfectly crispy and sauced right. Not to spicy and all white meat chicken. None of those fatty pieces of chicken. All the lo mein dishes are yummy. Lots of veggies including onions and not greasy at all! The fried rice and spring rolls are also a great choice. Seriously, everything is so good here. You cannot go wrong.
**all dishes are definitely sharing size**
3.5 stars- but rounding up because we only had delivery and I think the food here would be better freshly served. It seems Manhattan has an awful lot of really good Szechuan-style, Chinese restaurants and so you can add Shu Han Ju to that list.
The standouts for me were the sauteed chicken wings in chili sauce, the "griddled" fish with pepper, the eggplant, and of course the tea smoked duck. Most things here are spicy (Szechuan pepper-corn and chilies) which gives them a bit of a one-note in terms of flavor, but we really enjoy that note, so…
I really didn't enjoy the Dan-Dan noodle, and the fried pork dumplings were just OK, but all-in-all we'd order from here again. Definitely need to experience dining in the restaurant itself next time though.