Grand Sichuan 7th Ave South

[Simon]

Tonight, i tried this branch of GS for the first time...i was walking to a subway near there and got a ma-la craving, so dialed 1-800-GOOG-411 and called in a takeout order...

The space is warmly lit and has irregularly angled walled and is far and away the most cozy of GS's...

But when i got home i was disappointed in the food...

i'll preface this by saying that i am a huge fan of the other branches: when i lived in Union Sq, GS St.Marks was my once/week delivery option...and recently i've had two stellar meals at GS Chelsea and it's one of my absolute fav restaurants in Manhattan...so my take is biased because i'm comparing the dishes i got tonight to the 50+ times i've eaten the same dishes before and loved them...

-- Guizhou Spicy Chicken...very different method of preparation...while Chelsea and St.Marks branches finish the dish w/ a slight deep-frying, 7th Ave did it with chicken breast slices stir-fried...the result was slightly tough, and lacked the texture of the double cooked version...not bad, but a very diff preparation of the dish and not remotely as satisfying...

-- cold cucumber w/ scallion sauce...another one of my reg GS dishes...this was the low point of the order...instead of the scallion/garlic sauce, the cucumber was sweet!...i'm pretty sure they used rice vinegar...and the cucumber was not fulled peeled, as it always is at GS St Marks...not good and not remotely authentic...blech...

-- sliced fish and sour cabbage soup...another bummer...i've had this dish dozens of times at the other branches...the fish was not lightly velveted as it normally is...but more importantly, the soup was not sour at all (usually it has a great sour tangy kick to it) and was merely bland broth...

As a final insult, the side of chili oil i'd requested was some kind of thin watery oil slick that was really questionable in origin...

It's possible that someone who's never ordered from the other GS branches wouldn't be as dissatisfied as i was...but clearly, with all three dishes being substantially sub-standard, the kitchen at 7th Ave needs some quality control if they want to measure up to the high level of the other GS branches...i doubt i'll ever return to GS 7th Ave...but i plan to go to the Chelsea one soon just to banish the poor taste of tonight's order from my palate...

[small h]

Damn. I was planning on going there on Friday, 'cause I've been jonesing for spicy mung bean noodles. Do they have a bar, or just tables? I'll be a party of one, if I go.

[Simon]

no bar, just tables, but lots of two-tops i think...no idea how the mung bean noodles are there, but judging by the dishes i got, i'd say your odds of a real GS meal are better at St.Marks or Chelsea (though Chelsea is not a good solo dining place on a Friday eve because of the crowds)...

for a solo Chinese meal on Friday early eve, i'd say getting the dimsum happy hour (4pm-8pm) at Red Egg is one of the best options...

[JungMann]

I am saddened to hear of your experience as you are one of the hounds I trust most for Chinese criticism and Grand Sichuan - 7th Avenue is one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in the borough. I find that other Chinese restaurants suffer from a surfeit of oil, sugar and corn starch resulting in food that might very well taste good but sits heavily. GS7 lightens the load on your plate and does seem to make an attempt to balance healthier cooking while respecting authenticity in a way I think it does well. They are, however, quite willing to cook food to order so that if you want guizhou chicken with deep-fried dark meat, they will meet your request, just as they do when I ask for modifications to my fuqi feipian or chongqing beef.

As for your chili oil experience, I have to confess that sometimes when I order little extras on the side like chili paste, oil or pepper, I have to ask for it in Mandarin otherwise I don't get what I want.

[buttertart]

We also have had very good experiences at this place. They offer small and large sized orders which make it possible for a small party to have several dishes. Can't comment on ordering in or takeout as we don't live in the neighborhood. We speak Mandarin so perhaps this influences what we get, although it shouldn't.

[Simon]

it's true that GS7 version of the guizhou was healthier and lighter...i might have been less disappointed if it'd been as spicy as i requested (i asked for "real sichuan style, very very spicy, no sugar")...it wasn't bad, but i'm so used to the Chelsea version that it didn't work for me...

no idea what was going on w/ the chili oil...i asked for it in Mandarin, and it was chili oil of a sort, just a bit odd and watery...*shrugs*...GS7 is not a particularly convenient branch for me location-wise, so i'll prob just stick to GS Chelsea...

btw, i'm still enjoying your recommendation of Red Egg...i've been going there for happy hour dimsum regularly...

[JungMann]

See you tonight... I'll be the man in the pink shirt and blue tie trying to get my friends to drink enough that they'll let me order the table octopus.

[Simon]

i was there last night, so i'm taking tonight off...i have to resist my growing dumpling addiction...

[Bob Martinez]

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh but I don't think it should be necessary to order in Mandarin to get properly made Szechuan food. You don't need to do it at Spicy & Tasty, Little Pepper, Szechuan Gourmet, or Grand Sichuan House.

[buttertart]

I agree totally, I said language used should not influence food received.

[Slob]

Simon, I've noticed your comments on Red Egg. And because of your and a few others' great comments I'm going to try them out on my next visit for a Happy Hour dim sum feast. What are your favorites at Red Egg? If anyone else wants to chime in please feel free. I don't have a lot of experience with dim sum.

[Simon]

hi...at Red Egg, i especially like the hargow (i think they call it "Red Egg Special Steamed Shrimp Dumpling"), the cilantro dumplings, and the stuffed tofu (which is creamed steamed tofu w/ delicious shrimp)...the seafood dumplings are good too...and last night i tried the fish ball, which i thought was yummy, but maybe not to everyone's liking...

it's a good place to try out dimsum if you are inexperienced, because even though they don't have the carts where you can see things first, it's so inexpensive at happy hour that you can explore the menu with very little downside...Leila, the bartender, is awesome and will answer any questions too...

[Slob]

Simon, thank you very much for that helpful reply. I'm going with my girlfriend, and we'll probably wind up ordering a whole bunch of stuff, in great part, because it is so inexpensive at happy hour. If we don't like something, we won't be all that disappointed because it won't be such a big risk to the wallet.

[Simon]

Let us know how you enjoy it...and i'd say definitely get the Red Egg shrimp dumplings and the cilantro dumplings...

[chompchomp]

I would love to know what to get there, as we often find ourselves in that part of town looking for inexpensive food.
Last night we went for dinner, and most of the dishes were mediocre. We started with the hot and sour soup, which was really neither. It was thick and bland and had just the faintest kick of sour...I only ate about half of it.
The pickled cabbage was fine, but that seems difficult to screw up.
The waiter insisted we get the pea shoots as he said they were very popular. I asked more importantly if they were very good, but he just said that lots of people get them. We didn't finish that either, as they were heavy and greasy -- to the point where the oil overwhelmed the pea shoots.
The big winner of the night was definitely the Chong Qing Chicken. It was pieces of chicken dressed with sesame seeds and covered with fiery peppers. It was deliciously spicy and while I needed to cool my mouth with rice, it was definitely not overly spicy.
But as I said, I'd like to know what the big winners are there as we have not been terribly successful in finding them.

[JungMann]

My favorite items there are: cold cucumbers (ordered with extra sauce), mung bean noodles, scallion pancakes, sesame noodles, pumpkin soup with goji berries, Guizhou beef, cumin lamb and kung pao potatoes.

[kathryn]

As someone who's eaten at the St Marks branch for the last 4 years and tried the 7th Ave branch just tonight, I have to say that the dan dan noodles at the 7th Ave one had a LOT more ma-la tingle than the EV one and less nuttiness in the sauce. Different but still good. The wontons in hot oil were also different. I think the filling was more tender and flavorful although I do suspect that the hot oil was sweeter and less spicy than the St Marks one. Again, different but still good because I think before, I was just using the wontons as a chili oil delivery device.

BUT I have to agree with Simon on the Gui Zhou spicy chicken. Just not the same as the other branch. My husband is sorely disappointed. Perhaps we can ask them to please make it the same as the EV one the next time.

[buttertart]

Try the cumin lamb at this one, it's dry-fried and quite delicious.

[kathryn]

Thanks! I always did enjoy the cumin beef at St Marks.