Szechuan

Not impressed. My husband and I were nearby today and stopped in for a quick lunch. We are pretty forgiving and eat Chinese and Thai food quite a bit, but I have to say we won’t be back. LeeAnn Chin’s is better, in my opinion. Husband ordered the sesame chicken. It was much closer to orange chicken, in color and flavor, and not the brown sesame flavor he was expecting. The broccoli that accompanied it was cold. The egg drop soup was lukewarm, the fried rice was really dry with no vegetables or egg in it. My shrimp kung pao was okay. The shrimp were large and cooked well, but I asked them to add broccoli and was charged $ 2.50 for the 5 pieces they gave me. I expected an upcharge, but not $ 2.50. All in all, we prefer Lisu’s Thai Taste so much more for our lunch dates. We’ll be back there next week.

The shop is nice and has decent environment.
Menu has plenty to choose as well.
When it comes down to the dishes, the ones we normally ordered have their own spin but not in the way I like those dishes: very dry garlic pork belly appetizer, ma la hot pot fish with five spice, beef chow fen has almost no soy source and flavor, west lake soup is more like toufu soup…
The chow mein is fine and the highlight as we have a few kids eating there.
Overall decent place and may try some other dishes if we may go back.
Tip in the final bill and did not let us know neither. My friend called that out.

AVOID THIS PLACE.
I rarely write food reviews, but felt compelled to do so after the absolutely terrible experience my family and I just had there.
We called yesterday to order Peking duck, which they didn’t have ready for us. We waited an hour while everyone around us received their meals, and my nieces were getting hungrier and hungrier. Servers were completely inattentive, we repeatedly had to ask for plates, water, napkins.
At the end of this horrible experience, we called the manager over. As if all of that wasn’t enough, he implied we were trying to just get a free meal. As if the $ 60 tab was too much for a doctor, a Ph. D, a computer engineer, and an economist to cover.
There are plenty of amazing Chinese restaurants in the area, this place is a complete pass.
You guys will never me anything more than a crappy strip mall Chinese restaurant, you know that… right?

Best Asian food in the Twin Cities! The fish fillet in szechuan sauce is a must try! Also the Chung king chicken is the
!

Go here for the authentic Szechuan food. It is the best I have ever had. Our favorites:
* Ma Po Tofu
* Chung King Chicken
* Szechuan Stir Fried Green Beans
* Beef Tendon with Chili Sauce
* Fish Filet in Szechuan Chili Broth
* Beef and Giant Mushrooms
* Scallops with Black Pepper
We are regular customers, and we’ve always had good experience with the service here.

I mainly only take out and it’s always done by the time they say. I love their Korean Spicy Noodle soup! It is quite authentic to what it’s suppose to be. The orange chicken and is always very good. I have also tried the general tsao and that was tastey, but nothing too special. Overall I have had great food every time one gone there so I highly recommend it.

Dined here last night — had terrible service with the worst/​rudest waiter I have ever encountered. Food was mediocre at best. I will never be back.

I wanted to like this restaurant, but the menu is very overpriced for the amount of food you get. We ordered quite a few dishes, and we were very surprised by how little you get for the price you pay. The shrimp dish came with literally 8 pieces of shrimp and cost $ 16 and this was pretty much the same story for all the other dishes we ordered.
On top of the poor value for quantity, the food is just completely covered in grease. I can understand paying high prices for high quality food that has been well-​prepared, but drenching food in oil is not something that I would call well-​prepared. I had to wipe my lips after each bite to wipe off all the excess oil.
On the positive side, the restaurant is very nicely decorated and parking is relatively easy.

Marked down a star based on today’s visit. Service was slow and inattentive even though there were only three parties in the restaurant – our party of seven plus two tables of two.
Also a note about ordering: this is a Sichuan restaurant, best to stick to the Sichuan specialties. Someone in our party wanted moo shi pork. The main dish was fine but the pancakes were clearly frozen commercial ones that were dry and cracked, and the hoisin sauce came in a little bowl without a spoon.
Chongqing spicy chicken and dry cooked string beans were great as usual. Spicy crispy fish was also good but the portion was skimpy. Hoping for better luck next time!

I love their food! I order from Szechuan every week and it is always fresh, delicious and fast. Favorites are hot and sour soup and the chicken with pea pods. If you are looking for good Chinese this is it. I didn’t love the fried rice as much as home made but overall I am very happy.

Stopped by on a Sunday night. We’ve been here 1 – 2 times before. Kind of knew what to expect; First time reviewing though. Good food, fresh food. Portions were also good.
Service, however, was so-​so. When we got our appetizers, the waiter didn’t even bring silverware or napkins. I finally flagged him down after he got off of what looked to be a phone call. (FYI, the waiter was Caucasian and looked like he hated being there).
Anyway, when we got our check, there was a 20% gratuity charge attached to it. Just a heads up.

The overall quality is good.
Pickle fish?: I don’t like pickle that much but the fish is yummy.
Potato n pepper: regular dish, nothing special
Seafood tofu: love this one. Lots of seafoods in, not spicy but really tasty

The food are not authentic Szechuan. All the dishes have less amount than the other Chinese restaurant but the price is higher. Not worth it and I won’t go there again.

Tried it for late evening stop from work as it was close by. The place was quiet empty being a week day. Ordered Lo Mein which was quite bland, lacked salt! Schezwan Chung King Chicken was supposedly flash fried but was hard as a rock, so had to return it. Schezwan Kung Pao Chicken was extremely good, the sauce had ginger and garlic tasted divine. The service and ambience was very good for a small mom and pop place. Considering the success of the Kung Pao Chicken I will probably try a few more items here.

Delicious steamed pork soup dumplings, shredded pork and chicken with broccoli. I will come back. Great lunch specials

Flavorful and a treat for a discerning palette that craves authentic Szechuan food.
We tried the juicy mini buns, spicy wontons in chili sauce, Dan Dan noodles, eggplant in garlic sauce, and the seafood noodle soup (Korean menu). The noodles are home made and were very tasty. The eggplant was flavorful and had a nice runny sauce as I don’t like this dish when the sauce is too coagulated. The seafood noodle soup was flavorful and hearty. Only dish that I prefer eating elsewhere are the juicy buns which were average.

This is it folks — real Chinese food as it is eaten by just about everyone in China north of the Yangtze river. The food here cannot be compared with any of the other Chinese restaurants in the Twin Cities which typically offer sugary, deep-​fried Americanized dishes with utterly boring spice regimens (with the possible exception of the recently opened Café 99).
Start with the Dan Dan noodles and the dumplings in chili sauce to get a sense of the flavors of the food that the majority of people in China enjoy. If it’s your first time maybe branch out and try the beef or lamb in cumin sauce. For return visits spend some time on the web doing some research on Chinese cuisine as it is served outside of the Cantonese and Minnanhua speaking areas of southern China (of course these have dozens of their own wonderful dishese, as well) and prepare for a culinary adventure. Although Szechuan uses spices typical of the Sichuan province in many of its dishes, as is implied by its name, some of the best dishes are ubiquitious in the best restaurants in every major city in the northern parts of China. This is the food that you will find from Xinjiang to Qingdao and they really do it right here.
Get ready to try a little «ma la» and other big flavors that you might not be familiar to you but are enjoyed daily by nearly a billion people. Try to avoid ordering old favorites from your usual neighborhood Chow Mein joint, as these are as foreign to the talented chef at Szechuan as many of the dishes on their menu are to you (for an example, you might a look at the wikipedia page for Pu Pu Platter to understand more about its actual origins).
In short: if you’ve not spent quite a bit of time in China or are not with someone who has, do some research on their menu and keep an open mind — this place and this place will take you to China back for an evening.

Once again, I paid attention to the Review of the Day, and once again, I was able to convince my friend, Jack, to try out a new place for us at lunch. Szechuan is pretty close to our work, so we were surprised we hadn’t eaten here before.
First off, the place is very clean. So you know that makes me happy. I love steamed dumplings, and Szechuan serves theirs with a twist. They make it spicy with chili paste. I’m sold, but the only downside is that the dumplings are swimming in some of the chili paste oil.
I told Jack that I judge an Asian restaurant by their Ma Po Tofu. This one was pretty good. Not great, but good for me. For both the food reasons, plus the cleanliness of the place, I give Szechuan a four out of five stars.
Jack had the Lemon Chicken, and we both prefer the version that serves a chicken breast without a lot of breading. This one is the latter, but Jack said that and the Hot and Sour Soup were good.
Prices were good and the portions are generous. Next time I may order off the lunch menu as I wasn’t able to finish mine, and I can pack it away. So thanks for highlighting Szechuan as a ROTD. Goes to show you really should log into Unilocal on a (at least) daily basis!

I am kind of miffed by Szechuan.
That’s miffed… with an «m», not a «y».
When we walked in, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the décor. The warm orange and brown tones made the place feel inviting and it appears it was going to be a ‘nicer’ dining experience than your average restaurant.
The prices on the menu were reasonable for family style dining. The three of us decided on our own dish to get that we would share and pay for so that it would be fair.
I ordered the pu-​pu platter. Now, when I was growing up, my grandma and aunt used to work at a little Chinese restaurant called South China Island Inn out in North St. Paul. We used to order the pu-​pu platter and it would come on a towered serving platter with various skewered meats, a little fire in the middle and maybe an egg roll or two.
The one I received at Szechuan was a disappointing breaded and/​or fried platter of mediocre bar food. It very simply had egg rolls, cheese wontons, and chicken drummies. Thanks for an authentic Chinese experience. Not.
Sam actually liked the chicken quite a bit. I wasn’t so impressed. Not even a little bit. The egg rolls were good, but nothing amazing by any means.
We ordered Sesame chicken, vegetable low mein and fried rice to share as well.
The Lo Mein and fried rice were the most popular dishes at our table. They both had a nice texture, a tasty smoky grill flavor and the right ratio of ingredients. We were pretty impressed, especially after our disappointing appetizer.
The sesame Chicken was a completely different story.
I shit you not, it tasted like straight up, 100% off brand ketchup. Great Valu flavor, maybe?
It was vile. We didn’t eat it. We couldn’t eat it.
Needless to say, with average service, this place dabbles between really awesome food which is then overshadowed by stark flavors of ketchup. And fried pu pu. It almost feels dangerous ordering because you never know what you’ll get. Livin’ on the edge, bitches.
I’ve been debating between 2 and 3 stars for this place. At times it seems like a good spot, and then its like they have a 4^th grader write the menu.
Nightmares of ketchup covered balls of fried chicken haunt me, therefore a disappointing three stars and a strong reluctance to ever give the place a second chance is going to be the reality here. That’s the restaurant biz for ya. Can’t make everyone happy.
This actually was two stars, but after going back and forth with myself, I changed it to a three.

We ate at Szechuan once when we first arrived in the Twin Cities almost two years ago now, and I’m kind of embarrassed that it has taken us this long to get back there. But we did finally go back. Szechuan is one of those awesome find kind of places that’s tucked away in a strip mall and easy to miss. To get to it, turn onto the side street where the Outback is. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can turn right into the strip mall from Snelling because you can’t, and you have to go a fair ways before you can make a U turn. So head for the Outback and find your way to the access road from there.
OK, food: We totally love the Szechuan dumplings in chili oil, which are on the appetizer list for like $ 7 or something ridiculously cheap like that. They are lovely (pork, i think) dumplings that come drenched in the most amazing chili oil and big pats of pressed garlic. Oh – soooo yummy. The dan dan noodles are pretty decent though not as spicy as I’d like. I got the peking pork this time around, and asked for the pancakes too (extra charge). The pork was super yummy, with the right kind of hoisin flavor and that delightfully crunchy yet sticky flavor that seems to be iconic of peking anything. We also got the chicken with mixed vegetables, which was fine, but paled in comparison with everything else we ordered.
Szechuan is a really nice option for authentic Chinese in the area, and it is super delicious. Oh, and the tea is really good — not watered down and served in an actual ceramic tea pot instead of a metal one. Bonus!