Szechuan Delight

I have always liked this place, even rather enjoy its tacky atmosphere. I always order off the Chinese menu, much better. Love the rock shrimp, the fried eggplant, the garlic eggplant, the twice cooked pork. The service has always been very good and friendly. I am surprised at all of the bad comments below. Have never had the Japanese food and I think that that is a good choice. Go to Sono Bana for that!!! It is closed for renovation right now and I certainly hope that it will reopen.

Absolutely awful! Service was extremely slow and rude. We asked for chop sticks and a disposable pair came to us used and dirty. The fish was old and disgusting, some of it was frozen. I have no idea how they are in business.

We had just returned from our first trip to China having traveled to Xi’an, Suzhou and Shanghai and we were not quite ready for our wonderful vacation to be over. So, we came to Szechuan Delight to linger over our culinary memories. There we met Raymond, who turns out to be from Shanghai. To our delight he conspired with his chef to bring us a tour of Shanghai specialties. Out from the kitchen came «real» Hot and Sour Soup, Shu Mai and Shrimp dumplings, grilled stuffed pork and vegetable dumplings, Shanghai Stir Fried Vegetable and Sea Bass with XO sauce. The soup was pure comfort food with additional vinegar and chili oil to suit your taste. The dumplings and Shu Mai rivaled the best we had in Shanghai –tender and delicate! The Shanghai vegetable was spot on and the Bass was heaven!

Seems like most people know about Lao Sze Chuan and Hao Si Chuan but I prefer this place for the lower prices and less crowded-​ness. Since moving here from the west coast I’ve reluctantly lowered my expectations for Asian food (sorry, back where I’m from you’d never see a place serve Thai and Japanese food and try to masquerade as Chinese, much less authentic Szechuan cuisine).
That being said, I’ve been here a few times and their traditional Chinese dishes are good (again, for CT… I find it much better than either Great Wall or Royal Palace). Lionhead meatballs, Di San Xian, scallion pancakes, sauteed/​stir-​fried veggies all satisfying, nothing too greasy/​oily or salty. Can’t speak for the sushi but I’d personally never order sushi from a Chinese place anyway.
Parking is easy to find, service was fast, restaurant is clean, and got in some much-​needed practice with my Mandarin. Not bad.

I have lived in the Hamden/​New Haven area for four years. Since I moved to the area, this has been my sushi place of choice. They used to have a great sushi chef (Benny, I think), and the all you can eat deal was great. For the longest time, the sushi was fresh and well prepared and the service was fast and friendly. I ate there two days a week or more for 2 ½ years.
The past year, however, has been a nightmare. They seem to be firing people (or otherwise letting them go), are always understaffed, and the food has been unfresh and terrible. Benny is no longer there. A woman (Mai) I believe to be the owner. She is rude and seems as though she couldn’t care less about the people in her restaurant anymore. I am so very disappointed. I continued to go, once a month or so, over the past few months to see if things got better. It is hard to stop frequenting a place where you are a regular.
Most recently, however, the food was so incredibly bad that I will never return. I went in for the sushi and ordered a few things. The sashimi was given to me first. It was grey, dry, and stinky. I ate two pieces and couldn’t stomach the rest. I wanted to let the waitress know but she was nowhere to be found until she came back with my sushi rolls. I took two bites of the rolls and the fish was rotten. I proceeded to tell the waitress and she went and got Mai. Mai proceeded to cause a scene and insist that I eat the rest of the food. I told her that I was already sick to my stomach and that I could not mentally or physically take another bite.
Then, as the waitress was preparing my check (I did not get a discount or even an apology), I watched Mai take out the old fish, throw it away, and replace with what looked like fresher fish. Still, no discount, no appologies, just was yelled at and embarrassed by this woman.
After I paid the bill, I stood up and was sick to my stomach. I went to the bathroom believing I was going to throw up (the bathroom has always been gross but I never really cared). Upon going into the bathroom, the toilet was full of feces and would not flush. Instantly, I threw up and made quite a mess. A waitress came in and yelled at me. It took all I had not to yell back.
I will never go back there after almost four years as a regular and am contemplating figuring what authorities would be appropriate to call. This place should not be open any longer if they are going to serve food this poisonous and provide such humiliating, terrible service.

Much better food here than the somewhat tacky suburban-​Chinese-​restaurant décor and Hamden Dixwell Ave. location might suggest. Probably as good as Great Wall or Royal Palace minus the atmosphere. As far as I can tell the restaurant has good offerings on both the authentic and non-​authentic side of the Chinese-​American culinary tradition.
Sue me, but I tend to go for the more gloopy, non-​authentic fried food ranging from General Tso’s to Sesame and Honey Walnut Shrimp, which is all definitely above-​average suburban Chinese-​American fare. Usually not crowded and priced moderately, and have ordered delivery to my house successfully on several occasions.
I admit that I haven’t tried the sushi — I guess I’m not too trusting of the whole «Pan-​Asian» idea — I’d probably recommend sticking to the Chinese food.
Good dumplings and soups. Service can be a little slow, portions can be a little oversized and the moo-​shu dishes aren’t really their strong point. Still, a pleasant little surprise of a place.

From the couple times I’ve gotten take-​out I’d say they make some of the better Chinese food for the area. I love their sauteed string beans. Although I detect a large amount of salt in them so they may not be necessarily healthy for your ticker (heart). Egg rolls and dumplings aren’t greasy like some other local Chinese take-​out places.
The parking lot is a bit of a challenge when walking to and from your car (if you park on the uphill section). Good luck in the winter time. Even those with four wheel drive might have some trouble getting up there. But if you have a monster truck (and who doesn’t have a monster truck now a days?) you’ll have no problem getting up there.

We tried Szechuan Delight last night based on the strength of some of the more favorable Unilocal reviews. We thought it could be a diamond in the rough, but that wasn’t the case.
The all you can eat sushi buffet is $ 19.99. While they do have several uncommon rolls on their buffet menu, all of them were just OK. There wasn’t a single standout in the bunch. A high point for us was the chef’s very creative presentation. As someone else has noted, rather than having all your rolls arrive at once, you’ll receive several smaller plates as the rolls are prepared. Our second sushi plate was a single 8 piece maki roll, with the pieces laying on top of thin interwoven lines of sauce — gorgeous! But then, on the downside, the red snapper sushi that we ordered was definitely the least fresh raw fish I’ve ever tried to gulp down. It had a distinct musky taste that indicates being a few days past its prime. It wasn’t bad enough that it warranted a complaint to the owner, but it was enough that I approached the rest of the arriving rolls with apprehension.
I must also mention one non-​culinary low point: the men’s room was really disgusting. It looked really dingy, and definitely seemed like it hadn’t been cleaned in a few days. The floor was actually sticky! I wouldn’t ordinarily mention something like that in a restaurant review, but it was very off-​putting. If this is the room where the sushi chef washes his hands prior to handling raw fish, it’s a recipe for disaster.
On the upside, the service was quick, and everyone was pleasant. I’m glad we gave this place a try, but in the end I’d rather drive a little farther to go somewhere better. (My current local favorite is Wild Kanji in Shelton.)

Food is great, but delivery is consistently TERRIBLE. Dine in or pick up. Unless you don’t mind waiting over an hour for your food. Every time.

The food, once we got it, was actually decent. However, the wait on a Saturday afternoon was absurd — though we ordered off the lunch menu, we were in here for 90 minutes. The dumplings I ordered to start took 45 minutes — we were told they were frozen and taking time to cook. I had ordered these largely just to increase the bill a little (feeling a bit of guilt for ordering off the lunch menu) — proof once again that no good deed goes unpunished. Anyway, when they finally came out they were marginal at best.
The main course took another 20 minutes, though I had asked them to bring them out as soon as possible when we were finally informed about the dumpling delay. The entrees were brought without rice — and yup, another 10 minutes for the rice to be brought.
So despite the entrees being pretty solid (Tso’s was pretty good), I wouldn’t dream of coming here again. If you’re going to treat lunch as a joke, Szechuan Delight, don’t bother opening for it.

This is by far my favorite Chinese restaurant (in CT). I am always leery of eating Chinese food outside outside of NYC because I have been spoiled by dining in Chinatown in some of the best eateries as directed by my Chinese friends. And because I am partial to eating where other Chinese prefer I set high standards for any talent I encounter.
I am very fond of this place because while take out is easy to find great tasting take out is a different story. Most of my friends tell me I should have either been born Mexican or Asian (as they can’t make up their mind which one) as I have an incredible natural affinity for the sauces, delicate flavors and bold spices that each cuisine offers.
Szechuan Delight reminds me of my favorite spot that was located on 96^th & Broadway in NYC. A fun affordable place I liked to dine in when I was in college. Going there meant having the best General Tso’s Chicken. There was my first time having that dish and it set the standard for all others. Today I think I found my new favorite place now that I am relocated (however temporarily I wish that is :/​).
One day I am going to try their sushi. Again I am a snob so… we shall see. I will keep the 5 star because I think they should rest on their talents in the Chinese fare alone.
Oh and giant tank of swimming koi may lull to sleep while waiting for take out so call ahead. It could be a wait.

I grabbed some take away beef and broccoli on a not so busy Friday night. I was not overjoyed. The sauce was mild in spite of me pointing out I like spice. The beef was tender but not plentiful and the overall, the meal was not something I would return for.
I will admit that I only tried one item of the menu and there could be other items that may be tasty, hopefully I had an inaccurate picture of the quality.

My family used to get takeout from Szechuan Delight almost every single weekend up until about a year ago. The place started to get super busy and the service began to suffer because of it. The man who answered the phone (I think he was the owner) was overwhelmed with orders and customers in the restaurant that we would either have items missing from our order or he would tell us to come in 20 minutes but the order took an hour to be ready. To make matters worse I found a strand of hair in my food not once, but TWICE. The first time I was willing to look past it but twice I find unacceptable. Needless to say I have not been back since.
The reason I gave it 2 stars and not 1 is because the food is actually really good. (If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t have gone back week after week). I haven’t been there in about a year so the place may have improved since then but I don’t think I’m willing to chance it considering there are so many other good Chinese food places around town.

A word of caution for all, usually any «combo» restaurants should be a warning bell to stay away. Chinese/​Japanese spells «we are specialized in neither». This place is no different and the owner just wants maximize profit by claiming 2 specialites.
My family have been here a few times as it’s the only Chinese restaurants near by. Food is oily and loaded with MSG. It is reinforcement of all negative stereotype of Chinese food. I loath these places with a passion as they’re an insult to true Chinese or Japanese cuisine!

My boyfriend and I love this place. Every time we go, it is never very busy. The owner is so pleasant and friendly and is very welcoming. When you sit down they give you a nice pot of tea, and some crispy noodles (they are delicious) The portions are very generous and there is always left overs for the next day (if you like that.) I also love that they have a lunch special from 11am-​3pm and is very affordable. Their prices are affordable for the portions you receive. I love this place and I recommend it highly. Also, I do not eat sushi so I cannot comment on that aspect but all of their other food that I have had is wonderful. A+

I may not be the best person to do reviews because as long as you give me food, and as long as I like it, you’re getting 5 stars. I don’t see much beyond my plate of food. And in this case, you can pluralize the word plate because I had at least 10 in front of me.
I had been hounded by my brother and sister to join them for a sushi buffet for quite some time. I thought, «eh» because I like sushi but do I really need a non-​stop supply of it? «Nay,» said they, and they went on to shoot me the deets and I thought, «Awesome.»
We arrived on a Friday night and shortly after sitting down we received a bowl of crunchy chinese noodles (I know there’s a real name for it but I don’t know it) and a pot of green tea. Food before I’ve even ordered anything?! So then you have to make the tough decisions. The first round of your all-​you-​can-​eat dinner is the appetizer/​sushi/​sashimi round. We ordered the seaweed salad, unagi tofu, kani salad, shrimp tempura roll, raw salmon, crab, and edamame. All of it was delicious. But it was a lot.
For the second round, you can only order sushi and sashimi. We got another round of raw salmon with the godzilla roll, california roll and the eel cucumber roll. Too much food. It was a bad idea to order so much but all of it was so good and you can’t beat a $ 20 flat rate for that much food.

This is a tough review. Let’s start with the negatives. I’m not a fan of the décor, the menus were nasty, and there’s no sushi roll descriptions.
On to the positives. The food was very good, except for the miso soup… yuck. It tasted like dish water.
All the sushi rolls we got were excellent, especially the kawasaki roll. Dumplings and tempura were great too. You can’t beat the price for all you can eat sushi and a free glass of wine. There are now three really good all you can eat sushi places in Hamden/​North Haven area.
I think we’re going to have to start rotating.

This is my favorite place for Chinese food in the area. So much of the food in the area is just pure crap. I know that this place is clean and the manager is always very friendly. They will automatically bring you tea and crispy noodles and the service is usually just about perfect. I have a feeling that some of the dishes are not as good as others, and to be honest I’ve never done the sushi because I know them for their excellent chinese food.
You can also order off their traditional menu which is excellent if you know what you’re looking for.

It’s a little bit country, and a little bit rock and roll. The thing is, since they can’t figure out if they want to be a take-​out place or a nice sit-​down, they wind up in this restaurant purgatory.
I worked in restaurants for years, and this was the first place I refused the food because it was so bad. Maybe it was bad luck, or bad chicken, but really chef, take a look at the dish before it goes out. I won’t relagate to 1 star, since the rest of the family enjoyed their meal, and since my dish was comped without asking.

ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI!!! Need I say more? It’s a reasonable $ 11.95 at lunch, and something like $ 16.95 for dinner and on weekends.
I found the sushi to be very fresh and tasty, and the rolls well prepared. I like that the pieces of sushi are a nice size, and the fish is of good quality.
One problem: the waitresses aren’t very fluent English speakers. Sometimes communication is difficult. They don’t understand things like, «do NOT, I repeat, do NOT put any tobiko/​roe or whatever you call it here on, OR in, my roll-​NONE». It comes out, there’s little sprinkles of orange tobiko on top, I mention it, the waitress stares at it as though it was some foreign object that fell from the ceiling, and no kidding, says, «next time, you tell, you no want». No joke!
Overall: good spot, tasty sushi, nice atmosphere. Give ‘em a try.