Fantastic food at Sechuan Garden II in Woburn

[trishaluna]

My DH and I had a fantastic dinner the other night at Sichuan Garden II in Woburn courtesy of recommendations on the board. Since we didn’t have the kids with us we were looking forward to all of the spicy dishes. We started with the Sichuan Pork Dumpling with roasted chili Vinaigrette. This did not disappoint! It was awesome, the dumplings were obviously homemade and the sauce was so good we scooped up every last drop to put on our rice after the dumplings were devoured. We also had a starter of cucumbers in a garlic chili sauce, which was off the specialty Sichuan menu. It was fantastic and such a great combination of flavors. The cool cucumber with a delicious garlic sauce and then the slow heat coming through. We loved it. We got two mains. The Quengdu dry hot chicken and cellophane noodles with minced pork. The chicken was out of this world and will be one of those dishes that I will crave for years to come. The cellophane noodles were very good but next to the chicken they weren’t even in the same league. A fantastic dinner and we can’t wait to return. The only downside was the service was a bit off. My mai-tai cocktail came a bit after my DH’s beer and right when the dumplings were being served. I would’ve liked to enjoy it before the food and while my DH was enjoying his beer. We had to keep asking for water refills. Luckily my DH handles hot and spicy better than me and gave me the rest of his water while we waited to flag down our waiter. We also had to remind the waiter of our second order of beers. The timing of the dishes was off a bit too. The dumplings came out, were devoured and then after a bit of wait the two entrees came out with the cucumber app. When we asked the waiter for the sichuan menu and for any recommendations he was vague and said ‘everything was good’ I asked if perhaps there was a sichuan specialty that was very popular he could point out, he hesitated and then pointed out a fish dish, unfortunately my DH doesn’t dig fish that much so we held off on that rec. I’m sure it is delicious. I don’t know if it was because we were Caucasian and most folks don’t want the spicy specialties or he was just new/shy. Overall, the food was fantastic and perhaps next time we’ll sit in the bar for a leisurely cocktail before we are seated. Thanks to all those that have written about the place. Chowhound never disappoints!

[Frank Enbean]

I still can't get over the atmosphere there. I understand that it's an old house and the rooms are small, but the 2 times I've been, I'm seated in a silent room with about 3 other tables less than 10 inches from my table. Each time, someone comes in, sits right next to us and I get to hear them eat with their mouth open, chew like a horse and yap on their cell phone.

I have also had below-average service each time, too. Dirty plates, no water refills and very little english spoken by the servers.

Perhaps I should just stick to take out.

[Dr.Jimbob]

Eating at most restaurants in Beijing isn't that much different, so maybe it's an authentic taste of China they're aiming for. =8^)

I found the service puzzling there also. The one time I ate there, the dishes were not executed at the inspired level that I've had in Brookline, but that may be a question of sampling error (or having lunch on a weekend in the late afternoon).