Szechuan House Restaurant - authentic Sichuan in Burnaby

[fmed]

I had heard of this place from another forum. The details were sketchy, but the poster indicated that the food they serve here was authentic. I had tried to go several times over the last little while, but for some reason, I always ended up there when it was closed.

I finally was able to eat there a couple of days ago, and this place is definitely The Read Deal. Perhaps even more so than the only other truly authentic Sichuan restaurant I was able to find in the Vancouver area (Szechwan Restaurant in Richmond).

The flavours here were more intense and pungent than at Szechwan Restuarant. They were much more liberal in their use of Sichuan Peppercorn and Chili. The sauces were not sweet: a particular problem with more familiar Cantonese-inflected quasi-Sichuan food. Another plus - Szechuan House is a hole-in-the-wall and thus the prices are set accordingly. Very inexpensive.

The chef is from Sichuan Province. He has definitely stuck to his guns to provide his diners authentic Sichuan food - thus providing a contrast to quasi-authentic Sichuan restuarants such as Golden Szechuan (Richmond), Szechuan Chongqing (two locations in Vancouver), Kalvin's (Vancouver) , et al.

I had two of my litmus-test dishes for Sichuan: Dan Dan Mian and Boiled Beef. Both passed with flying colours. Both dishes were fiery hot and redolent with the citrusy-minty flavour of the Sichuan Peppercorn. The Boiled Beef had exceptionally tender, melt-in-your mouth Beef. The Dan Dan Mian was of a canonical form - (refer to Fuschia Dunlop's writings). It didn't use sesame paste - it was a broth made of chili oil, sesame oil, dried chili, sichuan peppercorn. Neither dish had "Cantonese" notes which belie quasi-Sichuan food. The peppercorns also provided plenty of "ma la" - that signature numbing sensation which accompanies much of Sichuan food.

Highly recommended.

Pics here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/gustibus....

[rosetown]

I can't see your post from 16 hours ago nor can I see my post from yesterday. I give up. This topic is, for whatever reason, corrupted, and IMO, not worth pursuing. Perhaps a new topic??

[fmed]

Yeah...there was some moderation that happened on someone's post.

[rosetown]

OK, all seems fine now - regards Duane

[fmed]

On a related note:
A friend and I went to Crystal Mall yesterday. We had the obligatory XLB at Wang's and we had some Sichuan dishes from the Huaxi Noodle Specialist stall. The Sichuan food there tasted very authentic - plenty of heat from both the Chilis and the Sichuan Peppercorns. We had the Twice Cooked Pork and the Thousand Chili Chicken. The both came with Sichuan shredded potatoes and sprout salad with sesame dressing. Very impressive and highly recommended.

[raidar]

Having just received my first book by Fuschia, I must say your post is more exciting to me than usual. Of course then you had to go and talk about XLB and that took it over the edge. One day we may just get a "must have" XLB option in Alberta. Until then I will keep reading your great posts with baited breath.

[fmed]

Thanks for the kind words raidar.

[grayelf]

Agree with raidar, best never to read fmed's post when you're hungry :-).

[gourmet wife]

Fmed, where is the Szechuan House located in Bby?

[fmed]

Oops...I did add a link but the CH board must have "forgotten" about it:
4394 Imperial Street, Burnaby

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Szechuan House
4394 Imperial St, Burnaby, BC V5J1A9, CA

[farman]

Also, they've got another location at 3466 Cambie. Which I really enjoy as well. My favourite dishes are their la zi ji (chicken with chili and peppercorns) and their Sichuan cold noodles.

[fmed]

Thanks farman. The Cambie location is good, though I have not been in a long time...the Burnaby location has seen a decline since my original posting. The last time I ate there, the food was a bit loosey goosey. It still tasted Sichuan, but the preparation was haphazard and the flavours didn't quite hit the high notes.

[farman]

I don't think that link is the right address/location. I think it's the one attached below.

I tried S&W Pepper House (Burnaby) for the first time over the weekend. I think overall, I liked S&W Pepper House more, and my issues were probably more ordering related: we had three dishes (peanuts, tilapia in cilantro chili sauce, cold noodles) which ended up being too similar. The ma po dofu was really good. I liked the cold noodles a lot more at Szechuan House because I didn't like the dish with the style of rice noodles they used as much, and the sauce wasn't as good. And I wish their was more "ma la" but I think that was an ordering issue...

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Szechuan House Restaurant
3466 Cambie St, Vancouver, BC V5Z2W8, CA

[fmed]

Agh. Chowhound is doing that aluto-link thing again. (I can't seem to remove it)...if you see "Cambie's Cafe" as a place link...please ignore.

edit: OK I think I managed to remove it.