NEVER ORDER from Grand Sichzuan St Marks

[susan robin]

I have previously posted about the lack of decent Chinese takeout in the east village, my neighborhood for the past two years. But we came in on Sunday night around 8 from the Hamptons, and that was our craving. With misgivings, we tried this. We usually suck it up and order from Chinatown Brasserie or Spice, but we wanted old style Chinese. Well, 45 minutes later, not only was the food mediocre, they totally screwed up our order. Fortunately, we keep duck sauce and hot mustard in the fridge, cause that was not in the bag. We got a double order of chicken and broccoli (ordered one), moderately edible. No sauteed string beans. Wonton soup like dishwater. Never again. Was too late to bother calling, not worth it. Should have opened a couple of cans of tuna. Please, if anyone has a decent Chinese place near Astor Place, please share it!

-----
Chinatown Brasserie
380 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012

[brooklyndude]

I've eaten here about ten times and never had a problem. I order from the Sichzuan menu, or the Mao's food page.

[sam1]

never had delivery from grand sichuan st marks but eat here once a month. the sichuan dishes are insane and theyve never messed up my order.

ive eaten the american stuff there and it was miles better than any other chinese in the area.

[Pan]

I got takeout from Grand Sichuan St. Marks tonight. We had the Sichuan Wontons in Red Oil (excellent as usual), Bean Curd Family Style (unusually good rendition - I like this only when they use a red chili sauce, and not the brown salty sauce that I sometimes get lately), and a dish I had never had before and which is the real impetus behind this post. I really can't recommend the Sliced Fish Sichuan Style too highly; it was really delicious and one of the best things I've ever gotten at the restaurant.

[diprey11]

what is sauteed string beans? is it the same as dry-fried string beans? I, personally, would never order anything but the chilli wonton appetizer from the St Marks place for as long as Gourmet Sichuan is in business. (their other weakness being dandan mein noodles).

[Pan]

Szechuan Gourmet undoubtedly doesn't deliver to the East Village. When you live near St Marks, it's a real godsend to have Grand Sichuan nearby.

[jon]

just to tack on here and what the OP fails to mention is that sunday night it was pouring and there was a massive backup in delivery because of issues in the kitchen/ticketing machines. i know because i ordered from GSSM on sunday night (as i do just about twice a week) and when i asked how long delivery would take, they said 1 hour because our kitchen/ticketing machines are messed up. on top of that, yes, our order was slightly messed up - one of two entrees was missing extra meat - but this was the first time i've ever had a problem with them. context is important.

[MVNYC]

As others have said, this is not the place to order the old school dishes. They have some really good Szechuan offerings, not the best in the city but pretty good. Their Cumin Beef is my favourite version though. Try these type of dishes next time.

I have to say, you only ordered from them once and screwups do happen. Is that a good reason to go online and mess with peoples' livelihood?

[pizzajunkie]

I have only been once to GSSM but I loved everything we had!! And the service was great!

[City Kid]

Totally agree - screwups happen, particularly when there is a language barrier. A headline like "Never Order..." could have a severe negative impact on their business, so I hope people look at positive responses in here.

[Pan]

I've occasionally had delivery from Grand Sichuan St. Marks that was in some way erroneous, like giving me the Lunch Special portion of Kung Bao Chicken when I ordered the full dinner portion, but they have always graciously and quickly rectified the problem. In the interest of full disclosure, I am probably one of their best customers and all the staff know me by name because I get takeout and delivery from them very often - always Sichuan or Hunan dishes, and only the Kung Bao Chicken, specially extra spicy and crispy, from the American-Chinese menu - and eat in relatively frequently, too. It's not the American-Chinese takeout joints of yesterday, and for that, I am glad!

[hungrycomposer]

One more post in defense of Grand Sichuan: the American style Chinese food there is the worst thing on the menu. Their wonton soup always tastes like dishwater, it is definitely the low point of a menu that's got lots of great stuff. I ordered it once and was shocked at how bad it was, considering the quality of the rest of their food.
Now that Jade Mountain is gone I satisfy the occasional "old school Chinese" craving with a trip (or call) to plump dumpling. Their delivery is fast. Their prices are low. They very often screw up orders, and frequently overcharge slightly (the tax seems to be at a floating rate). But I do keep a menu around for when I want to satisfy that guilty pleasure.

[Miss Needle]

I'm going to preface this by saying that I've never eaten at Grand Sichuan St. Marks. But gathering that it's a Sichuan restaurant, I'd probably think it's best to order items from the Sichuan menu. I haven't found a restaurant that specializes in "old style Chinese." I've had more luck in the outer boroughs.

[sgordon]

In the interest of even-sidedness, I'll just say that I've never had a screwed up order from GSSM, and the food has always been good. Best to stick to the Sichuan dishes, though. They don't require any duck sauce or hot mustard.

[kathryn]

Seconded. In ordering from them in 4.5 years, and dining in, never had an issue with messed up orders. But we always order the Sichuan specialties.