Famous Sichuan
“There are some vegans in our office and they order the salt baked lotus root and vegetarian mapo tofu.”
“Dan Dan noodles are pretty awesome too as are the spicy pork dumplings.”
“We ordered:
* Shredded Pork with Spiced dried bean curd
* Stir fried chicken with spicy capsicum
The chicken was DEFINITELY spicy compared to the shredded pork.”
Famous Sichuan
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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There's a strand of revisionist of at least second-wave thinking when it comes to Sichuan cuisine in English writing. It's not all about the "ma," the numbing sensation that comes from the Sichuan peppercorn that defines the cooking. No, it's all about the balance of flavors, of which spice is just a tiny part of this.
I'm hear to tell you that no one comes back from their first trip to Chengdu talking about the sweetness or saltiness in the dishes they tried. The fire, whether it comes from chili oil, peppercorns or dried chilis, are the most distinctive part of the cuisine of the province.
And presenting this flavor plays an outside determinant in whether a restaurant is creating a successful representation of the food here in the United States.
Which is a very roundabout way of saying the food at Famous Sichuan isn't spicy enough.
I ordered two workhorse dishes – wontons in chili oil and sold spiced noodles. Each of these are really street food in Sichuan and cost less than a dollar. Here I don't mind paying ten times the price – apartments are more expensive in Manhattan than Chengdu – but I do mind the tepid amount of chili oil, the over-reliance on sugar in the noodles and dryness of the meat inside the wonton.
The flavors are generally "correct" in that there they seem to be important, but the more aggressive overtones have been neutered. I'm sure a short conversation in Mandarin might convince the chef to go a bit heavier on the oil, but shouldn't a customer get a tasty dish as standard?
The restaurant's Chinese name is quite clever, as it literally would be "Sichuan Outside Sichuan." Unfortunately, something clearly has been lost on the journey here.
Came here on a groupon deal that included 1 appetizer, 2 drinks, 2 entrees and 1 dessert. Dan Dan noodles were decent/average, chicken with fresh mushrooms had a very strange texture (absolutely no flavor). I will say the spicy fish filet/braised fish in sichuan sauce was very good/above average but the service was horrendous (waited at least 45 minutes for the check) but the worst part… none of the dishes include rice (nowhere on the groupon does it say that) and they don't even tell you "by the way if you want rice it costs more" so we sat there waiting for rice only to have to ask for it. I don't think I've ever been to a chinese restaurant in my entire life that charged extra for white rice (not extra white rice, any white rice at all).
Initially, I wasn't sure where this place is located but yes, it is directly across from Joe's Shanghai in Chinatown. For many years I never thought for a second I would stray from its neighbor but I am so glad I did! We went for some hot pot but ended up also ordering the house special 'Wok' which is the dry version of the hot pot. We were happy with both choices of wet & dry hot pot. We tried some beef intestines, fish balls, sliced lamb, sliced beef, shrimp, and little bit of everything from the menu.
Their house special dry wok was is specially priced with many selections and we couldn't refuse. We did notice that there is some language barrier like most authentic places anywhere. But there were no major issues. There are only few types of beer available so don't ask for anything too fancy. Otherwise, it was a pretty satisfying experience.
Got the Groupon ($32 for a two person dinner- one appetizer, 2 entrees or hotpot, dessert and one glass of wine or beer per person) and came in on a Saturday night with my friend (if you have the Groupon, make sure to make the reservation beforehand!)
The place was fairly empty at 7pm (a stark difference from the folks waiting outside of Joe's Shanghai right across the street).
We shared a dan-dan noodle- nice and not too spicy! The chopped peanuts had a really great rich nutty flavor.
We decided to get the chicken broth hotpot (we "chicken-ed" out on the spicy one haha…) , and it was rich and flavorful (but maybe a little too oily?). We decided to get the beef combo-beef slices were very small, and we got a plateful of these slices. Vegetables that are part of the combo include enoki mushrooms, bokchoy, broccoli, bean sprouts and bamboo shoots. It also came with 2 types of noodles, some fish balls, and shrimp.
Dessert is a scoop of vanilla or green tea ice cream!
I've had better hotpot elsewhere, but for the price and portion, the groupon is a pretty good deal. Will come again if we have a groupon!
Good sichuan food. Not the best i've had but still tasty nevertheless. We ordered the boiled fish fillets in spicy sichuan sauce as well as the beef and egg plant casserole. It was a sunday so service was a bit slow but there was this one waiter who we kept on flagging down who was really speedy and efficient with fulfilling our requests for water, silverware etc. One downside of the food was that the fish wasn't spicy at all and maybe that was there style but I definitely think could have been improved with more spice.
I ordered this in for delivery so I can't really speak for eating in, but it came super quickly and it was great. I got the scallion pancake and the spicy pork dumplings. The scallion pancake was AWESOME. I love a good scallion pancake and this one was just right.
The dumplings on the other hand, I think maybe one of them broke in the box because they came all sitting in a layer of red oil, which was kind of off putting. Totally not their fault though, and when I ate them the food was still pretty good!
I'm interested in going in person now because I bet it's even better when you're in the actual restaurant.
Last night a friend & I had dinner at Famous Sichuan on Pell St. in Chinatown. I had a Living Social Deal to this restaurant. I paid $25 and got a $50 certificate.
We started our meal with drinks. I had a Diet Coke he had a Tsingtao. For an appetizer we chose cold noodles in sesame sauce. It had a very rich, peanutty flavor. I found it to be a bit salty but very good.
I ordered Tea Smoked Duck for dinner. Delicious! As soon as they brought it I could smell the aroma of tea. The duck was perfect, not greasy but not dried out.
He had Salt & Pepper squid, one of my favorites. I reached over & grabbed a piece, and it was great. Fresh, nicely seasoned, and very tasty.
Service was good, but there seemed to be only one young waiter for the group of diners who were there last evening. He had some help with water and such, but he was mostly alone which meant a little bit of a wait getting the check. However, he was pleasant, helpful, offered good suggestions and was very accommodating.
Definitely worth the visit!
Wanted noodles, but not in broth. Wanted szechuan, but not hot pot. Oh the dilemmas of finding a place to eat when you have cravings. After checking out a few spots, we ended up stopping in here, but barely being able to get to the door due to the amount of people waiting in the street to get into Joe's Shanghai (which is directly across the street).
The placed looked a little divey from the outside, but it was actually rather nice. We were able to get seated right away…and in which case, they give you 3 menus. A little overwhelming in my opinion. And the tables are a little too close together. I had to lift my butt and suck it in to literally squeeze between the tables to get to my seat against the wall.
First menu, a la carte hot pot. Second menu, restaurant a la carte menu. Third menu, sichuan hot pot special. After looking at the regular menu, dinner was going to end up being quite pricey. Family style and best if there were more than two people maybe. We opted to split the sichuan hot pot special (menu price $23.95) and then we added an extra item for $3.99. More than we were planning on spending. We also go the Chongqing chicken (which was large diced dark meat battered fried and spiced up).
The chicken was very good…a very small amount for $17.95, but very good. The hot pot special was a great deal and could easily feel up to 3 people. If I came again I would definitely get the hot pot special again.
The spice level wasn't at all overwhelming, but it wasn't underwhelming either. It was good. I would have preferred a bit more spice, but that's just me.
TLDR: definitefly worth check out if you're in the area.