Un/Kosher
Why this amazing Chinese restaurant is so far away from Chinatown is beyond me. Located in the heart of Chelsea, Grand Sichuan cooks cheap chinese food with authentic flavors not usually found in your typical chinese food in New York.
I have been here multiple times and ordered many different items off the menu, and the only thing I haven’t clean the plate with was the beef tripe (because eating intestine really never interested me anyway). However, thats not to say that you shouldn’t order dishes that seem a bit odd. In fact, going for the more adventurous choices will definitely increase how delicious this place is. I would suggest ordering any dish off of the “fresh chicken” part of the menu (which makes you wonder what the other chicken is) or Chef Mao’s Home Cooking.
The tastiest dishes in this restaurant however are the appitizers. The Sichuan Cold noodle in a spicy, peanut sauce is a definate winner. And a trip to Grand Sichuan is never complete without an order of the pork and shrimp soup dumplings. Once you realize that soup belongs inside the dumpling, you may never want to go back to your dumplings floating in your soup.
Reccomended Dish(es)/ Smoked Tea Duck and Pork Soup Dumplings (some of the best in the city)
Rating/
Kosher
My friends continue to poke fun at my description of the “perfectly-breaded” and ethereal vegetarian General Tso’s chicken I stumbled upon in D.C.’s Chinatown several years ago–it rivals the real thing! When not in D.C. or Teaneck, N.J. (home to Chopstix, winner of the worst high school employer and best Kosher Chinese food awards), I frequent Grand Szechwan for authentic (and traditional—don’t expect any fusion or molecular gastronomic adventuring) moderately priced Chinese with plenty of vegetarian options.
While the veggie General Tso’s just doesn’t measure up (the texture and flavors are off; undercooked carrots and green peppers further detract), notable vegetarian dishes abound: scallion pancakes (crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside), sautéed string beans (long beans are often availible as well) in brown sauce (lanky wrinkled strands of green goodness; can’t comment on the Oyster sauce version), and tofu with mixed vegetables (silky tofu and an assortment of al dente vegetables bathed in a brown sauce; the occasional lotus root slices are always welcome). I preferred the fried vegetable dumplings to the steamed version, and both the veggie lo mein and mei fun rank up there with some of the best I’ve sampled in the city. I hope to review the fish dishes in the future (my un-kosher counterpart speaks very highly of them).
Be prepared to salivate while your dining companions relish in duck “soup dumplings” and succulent authentic General Tso’s, but take comfort in the fact that many of the vegetarian dishes rival their meat-infused relatives.
Reccomended Dish(es)/ Scallion Pancakes; String Beans in Brown Sauce
Rating/
Cuisine/ Chinese
Price/ $
Location/ 745 9th Ave
New York, NY 10019
1 Comment
April 11, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Let it be further noted that the lazy susans in the middle of Grand Sichaun’s larger tables are perfect for large group dinners.
I am so excited for this blog– now I can refer to my most reliable NYC restaurant source without the awkwardness of social interaction! My best wishes for this venture.