Sichuan Palace - Chelmsford

[applehome]

This is the new Sichuan place that opened up earlier this year in the strip mall on Summer Street. The food and service were excellent, especially for a very crowded Saturday night. In fact, we had to sit at the bar or wait, so we decided to sit at the bar - which worked out just fine. The line was out the door by the time we left.

We ate apps of spicy shredded tripe and pan-fried dumplings. Both were excellent. The tripe was tender, flavorful and sichuan peppercorn spicy (but not too spicy). The dumplings were not pre-made/frozen. I ate the noodle soup with shredded pork and pickled vegetables. The noodles could have been home made, there were uneven pieces and they tasted fresh. But the best part was the broth, which was very flavorful, with a nice round mouthfeel - outstanding umami, with a chicken base and pork, some oil on top. I hope this isn't another case of a Chinese restaurant opening with the first-run chicken soup, planning to downgrade later when the clientele is well established, which I believe was the case with Sichuan Gourmet (I was told that this is SOP for Chinese restaurants).

My sons ate the Sauteed beef with cumin, and a spicy beef and tofu dish. Both were... spicy. And good.

They share some dishes with the Sichuan Gourmet and Sichuan Garden. But there are a lot of different dishes here, or it seems that way, perhaps because they aren't afraid of publishing the offal dishes on the English menu.

Over all, a very good first impression. With a menu full of items like Boiled Pork Blood, Intestines, Fish Filet and Tripe (all one dish with 3 peppers), what's not to like? Don't worry - they also have General Tso's...

Their site:
http://www.sichuanpalace.net/

[greygarious]

I was there for the first time today, for takeout. Coming from a background where I never had anything with chili pepper till I was out of college, I have a low spice threshhold - so although the Yu Shiang Eggplant and Sauteed Pork with Sweet Bean Sauce were 1-pepper dishes, I asked that they be a little less spicy than that. Having been unable to eat the 1-pepper level dishes from Sichuan Gourmet, once I saw that the menu had similar authentic dishes, I erred on the side of caution. Good thing - I would not have wanted either dish to be hotter. I noticed that garlic greens were used with the pork, rather than the more commonly-available scallions, which spoke well for authenticity. But this was a rathery salt dish, without any sweetness compared to the eggplant; I've had the latter from many different places, none of which were noticeably sweet. I liked it but don't know if this version is unusual. Both came in typical 6x9" plastic containers, which were filled a bit skimpily. With brown rice on hand at home, I did not order anything else. In fairness to them, I'm happier with Americanized Chinese than authentic, so I wouldn't go out of my way to return soon anyway. Fans of the real deal could have a totally different assessment.

[hargau]

I went a few weeks ago for the 1st time. Got the dried fried chicken sith chili peppers, the wontons in spicy oil and the fish fillets with tofu in Sichuan sauce. Also scallion pancakes, rice and a bowl of hot&sour soup.

The wontons we liked better at sichuan gourmet, we found these ones were sort of in a watery sauce. The dried chicken was decent, lots of dried peppers with it. The tofu/fish dish had an odd flavor but was ok. Hot and sour soup was very good. Will give it another try for the menu variety but so far we like our standby of S.G. better.

[hargau]

Went again this weekend. We started with the homemade dumplings in spicy oil- sauce was watery and not spicy to out tastes, dumplings a bit too doughy. Then a beef noodle soup- This had a good flavor and a rich broth. Very fatty beef but i think thats perhaps authentic? Then a dried beef with veggie dish- This dish was a spicy dish with thin bamboo shoots, asparagus and other veggies with thin pieces of dried beef, beef jerky consistancy. A bit tough to chew but a flavorfull and interesting dish. Then water boiled pork. The pork was coated with some sort of flour or something then boiled, served with a cabbage underneath and a very spicy sauce. Very large portion. Also some scallion pancakes- these were a bit underdone. Overall a great meal.

[justbeingpolite]

I went for lunch the other day. I kinda liked the dumplings in spicy broth, almost a soup, with hot oil.
I spoke briefly with the owner, she used to be a partner in Red Pepper in Framingham (search the board), and took her three chefs from there, one is a partner I gather.
While they face tough competition from nearby Sichuan Gourmet, I think it's worth a try, and hope they succeed. It's also nice that there's a Chinese Grocery in the same strip mall with the restaurant.