Grand Sichuan

I came here with a group of friends after a night of drinking and was looking for something soupy. I ordered the beef noodle soup and we shared an order of soup dumplings. The beef noodle soup was pretty good, the soup had a lot of flavor and had a nice kick to it, spice wise. There was a good amount of beef and noodles and I was satisfied with the dish. However, the soup dumplings were not at the level i expected them to be. Most of the dumplings didn’t even have soup in them which is the best part of soup dumplings. Not a bad place, but I will not be returning just to eat soup dumplings.

They have soup dumping! Not sure they let white people in the back dinning room but I’m gonna make it back there one time! If you are looking for a clean spot with a hint of Chinese gourmet flair… a great option.

This review is delivery only.
Grand Sichuan is my go-​to place when I need spicy and heavy Chinese flavors. Yes, everything’s greasy, but that’s typical of the American interpretation of Sichuan cuisine and it’s way better than other questionable Chinese in the area as they actually have some traditional style dishes (rabbit’s head is an actual street snack found in Sichuan province!)
So, something everyone can handle (since you’re probably grossed out by previous rabbit head comment) — I really like their mapo tofu, as the chunks of tofu floating among little chili peppers swimming in red spicy oil is fresh, hearty, and tender. The sauce is flavorful, garlicky, and spicy, and thankfully not starch-​laden. Each serving = several meals for me. The option to have brown rice tricks me into thinking I’m doing something healthy to counteract all the oil.
I also like their cellophane noodle with cabbage and tofu. The «sauce» is thin and flavorful, almost like a clear soup, and not too salty. It’s a great mild dish to counteract the heavy, spicy flavor profile on the majority of the menu. I appreciate the light sauteed vegetables, which include lotus root and pumpkin rather than the boring broccoli/​carrot/​cauliflower mix. Their version of shredded potato in vinegar sauce is also refreshing on the palate.
As usual, prices are sky high for Chinese food in this part of town. But when Chinatown proves to be too far to travel, I’ll order from Grand Sichuan to scratch my Chinese food itch.
(Should I also mention that their delivery is always lightening fast and the food always fresh and boiling hot? Major plus).

Ordered delivery at 7:00pm on a Wednesday. 8:25pm and it’s still hasn’t arrived. To think it’s just a block away. WTH?!?

Unless you are just pressed for time on getting to a theater on 46^th, I’m not sure why you wouldn’t be having Szechuan at Szechuan Palace on 42^nd or Gourmet Szechuan on 38^th. But if you find yourself here, it’s not that bad. The menu is limited compared to the other two options, especially for those familiar with Szechuan options, but the portions are large and the food is fairly high quality. The service is quick but dismissive, but who is surprised? Not bad, not great.

Love it, man. Half the naysayers in here are «Restaurant Row» theatergoer turistas that are complaining about the service… THE SERVICE… at a Chinese restaurant, so let’s let that shit sink in for a minute… the other half are self-​professed «too legit to quit» Chinese folk that are shitting on authenticity while ordering ONLY THE REALEST kung pao chicken and beef and broccoli and whatnot. Free soda or egg roll? Fuckouttahere with that.
Let’s get this outta the way… service at a Chinese restaurant is SUPPOSED to be bad. Being in midtown instead of Chinatown doesn’t change that yo. It’s how Chinese people show love: abuse. Just ask Chinese kids about their parents. Stop being culturally closed minded and shit. And OK, the front room is usually where they corral the gringos. It is what is. The back dining room is where it’s at, where all the Chinese staff sit around peeling mung bean sprouts and snow peas and screaming at each other in Cantonese and babies are crying and grandpas are going ripshit on cases of Tsingtao and smoking Marlboro Reds — FUCK the smoking ban. FUCKING AUTHENTICITY.
If you order General Tso’s chicken and deep fried shrimp it’s your own damn fault. Order dan dan noodles, cold sliced chili pork belly, ma po tofu, cumin spiced lamb and be happier than Buddha’s fat ass when he found Ben and Jerry’s. The spiciness here comes in two levels: «I’m a pussy» and thermonuclear. DAT MA-​LA.

I rate this restaurant not by the good as I did not have a chance to eat here. My fiancé and I went for dinner there on Monday night. The restaurant was quiet, like literally not a sound. I asked the waitress if we can sit in the back and she said no because the staff is eating there. Ok no worries so we went to our table. I didn’t even sit down yet and still had my jacket on when the waiter approaches us and asks us for something to drink. Now I didn’t even look at the menu so I told home please give me a coue of mins. Literally 30 seconds later he came back and asked me if I’m ready to order our meal. I told him no thank you we’re not staying. I don’t appreciate being rushed that quickly. I’m a waiter as well and yes sometimes you just want to finish your night but I don’t need to be rushed like that. This place will never see me at night again. Maybe I’ll
Give it a shot for lunch…

This review is a piggy-​back off my review for the Midtown East location. I’ve been to most GS’s because of my undying love for this spicy cuisine. There haven’t been many other places to get sichuanese food (with the exception of Han Dynasty, which I must try… recently opened in the East Village). Midtown East is pretty good. it’s spicy. Lots of Chinese folk eat there. 7^th Ave south is also good– probably the best GS around given the entire experience: the décor, the food, and the service (given the area). Murray Hill is also pretty good– quick service, spacious, and really good dan dan noodles. UWS is not good at all– overpriced hot pot, for sure. Never been to the Chinatown location.
I was surprised to see this G.S. as well– perhaps it’s the replacement to the closed Grand Sichuan I once saw in this area walking along 8^th ave. I’ll tell you though– it’s not worth returning. While on a street of fancy places, this location’s food is under par. The kung pao was good, but the hot pot suffered– being more of things cooked in oil versus things cooked in broth. The dan dan, perhaps my FAVORITE thing about Sichaunese food, needed serious flavor and salt.
Not worth returning to this location.

We got there at 6:30 and by 7:45 (we had tickets for a show that started at 8pm), one of our dishes still had not come out. In addition, they brought us the wrong fried rice (pork instead of chicken) and the waiter was quite rude to begin with. The eggplant with garlic was drowning in sauce and garlic, and the other dishes were not very delicious, either. Even my 7 year old said, «mommy, we should never come back here again.» And, she’s right.

I’m not sure why people give this place lots of love. As a sane Chinese person who delights in finding the most authentic Chinese joints in the city, I cannot in good conscience recommend this place to anyone. Not unless they are in the area and are desperate for Chinese food.
The quality of their dishes are passable at best. Entrees aimed at pleasing foreigners like Kung Pao chicken were serviceable. Beef with Broccoli was meh. I also tried their versions of dishes found at good joints in Chinatown like the salt/​pepper shrimp. It was okay, but for the price you pay, you can do much better elsewhere.
So what about their soup dumplings? Workman like at best, very blah at worst. The skin is like elephant skin, and the meat is mediocre at best. There is also very little consistency in the dumplings itself. Sometimes you get one that’s bone dry sans soup, others are overflowing. All in all it’s just 2 star quality. The pan fried dumplings are okay and a cut above other local take out joints. But for what you pay for here, you might as well consider other dining options.
Delivery is also shitty. My advice is this — if you MUST order from here, do it via Seamless. Just pick the tip in advance so they just swing by, throw your bag of food in your face without the attitude. You’ll do much worse if you give them cash and tell them how much you want to tip them b/​c it will give them time to react to you and be all surly and shit when they realize they aren’t getting $ 5 fucking dollar tip for a $ 15 dollar food order.

Really mediocre Chinese food.

Decent Chinese food.
The «family style» portions are a bit small for the price though. If you’re going to try this place for dinner, make a reservation. The restaurant is very small.

As the duchess of this restaurant (35check-​in if I remember to do it from my phone) I want to let the whole world knows that My favorite favorite dish of this restaurant is (not listed on the online menu) — ASSORTED SEAFOOD AND MEAT IN HOT POT SOUP !!! I couldn’t live without it. It is a super spicy and oily dish (you can ask for less oily if you like). I am addicted! I am obsessed with this dish! And yes, I just made a delivery call for this dish 5 mins ago.

When my party of 3 came in, we were escorted to our table which only had 2 plate settings. So the hostess brought an extra plate setting over and dropped the chopsticks and napkin on the floor… She wanted to pick it up and give it to us but the other waitress was saying, «No.don’t do that»…First warning sign of a bad dinner.
The bill was more eye-​popping than the food was taste bud stimulating. Somehow it came out to $ 81.00 for 3 people… I wouldn’t be so mad if it was actually good.
Décor was poor for a restaurant in Manhattan. Their cob-​webbed infested «Chinese» decorations on the walls did not brighten up the room at all. Place was cramped and dark…
Food took so long to come and my party was starving. Appetizers that were cold and needed no cooking took about 20 minutes to come by. Soup dumplings were worse than the ones you get in frozen food sections… They used some wax paper to line the bamboo surface and when the soup dumplings got to the table all the soup was already gone and seeped to the bottom. Rookie mistake… Other restaurants use cabbage to line it so this won’t happen. There was even some dirty fuzz on the bottom of one.
Dan Dan Mian tasted like chili oil and plain noodles… Didn’t even have enough sauce for the noodles.
All the food we ordered had similar taste… Just like red pepper and possibly WATER to dilute it so they don’t have to use too much ingredients.
I speak Cantonese but I was pretty sure the waitress/​waiters were pretending they didn’t speak Chinese at all… only to their customers. However, to each other they were jabbering away in Chinese. This I didn’t understand. The waiters/​waitresses occasionally looked towards our table but didn’t clear anything. So strange.
Definitely not real Sichuan food, people! DON’T BE FOOLED! Poor representation of Sichuan food…

Went there last summer. Did not remember much about it. What’s good. I remember the duck was really great to enjoy. Xiao long bao was ok as well. really good to enjoy. but just not a restaurant that I will return again. It’s good. but just nothing special. that’s why «A-​OK»!!
The only thing I remembered was the hot pot that we ordered. It was just a huge bunch of stuff in a big pot of chilly oil. I know it’s sichuan but it’s way too oily. It is supposed to be like that.?? and the meat in it was chopped into really small pieces. just like mince meat. I can’t really enjoy.
That’s pretty much I remember. Other dishes were not too bad to enjoy. we just randomly go into a restaurant. maybe I shouldn’t be bias. I should return once more to give a better rating?

We have been here twice in the last three months, and I am impressed.
Their stand out Sichuan dishes have been «Chengdu spicy spare ribs» and «Braised beef with chili sauce». The last time we were there my daughter ordered the «Salt n pepper shrimp» which very special — the shrimp were delicately crunchy and very flavorful (no spice in this one). Their vegetarian dishes like «Steamed bok choi» have also been spot on as well, but I would not have expected anything less with these simpler dishes.
The service has been friendly and some dishes have taken more time than others, but nothing that bothered us. If you go in a big group, they have a lovely one-​table room at the rear of the restaurant, which was perfect for a group Xmas meal.
In general you can’t go wrong with food here, and given that their Sichuan dishes have been flavorful and not just spicy, I would rate this as one of the better Sichuan restaurants in the city.

Bad food.
This place has no business being open or on restaurant row. It is better than Ollie’s on 42^nd street… but for goodness sake go somewhere else before coming here for over-​priced and nasty indigestion.
«Authentic Szechuan»…says who?
I’ll never make the mistake of eating here again… and will deter as many friends as I can from making the same mistake I did.

I came for dinner with a Chinese friend who asked the waitress that they cook us the «authentic Sichuan version». That’s Mandarin for «more chili». The heat from the chili in Sichuan food is sealed up in a ubiquitous red oil and its punch slowly creeps up on you until your tongue starts to grow prickly then numb. It sounds awful but it’s actually amazing.
We had five dishes. I recommend the Beef Tendon (see photo) which is made with the aforementioned chili oil and the tendon is shaved into thin slices. The Lamb with Cumin was also really good — tender lamb, sweet caramelized onions, and fragrant cumin. The peekaboo glass-​covered kitchen offers a glimpse of the food being prepared and the stark white walls are knocked off their seriousness by kitschy koi (goldfish) adornments. The service was pleasant as far as I could tell (I don’t speak Chinese). I’m glad I didn’t have to schlep to Flushing for such a good meal.

This restaurant has a trick to it: You have to know what you want and know what to expect.
Know what you want– First thing to do is AVOID the «American Chinese Food» menu. Don’t be tempted by it. Then, take a risk and start asking the waiter about different menu items that sound interesting and incorporate proteins or tastes that you like. The authentic dishes are worth taking a bit of a risk. Also, don’t be shy to say something like, «You know this sounds good, but instead of beef I would like shredded pork with the spicy peppers.» Most things can be adjusted to accommodate your preferences. Second, Sichuan food shines in the spicy arena, so if you’re more comfortable with savory/​salty/​soy-​saucy stick with Cantonese style Chinese food. (…or if you like more simple flavors, give Taiwanese style Chinese food a shot.) And lastly, go «homestyle». Ask the waiters if the dishes you ordered can be done «homestyle” – then ask, «What does that mean?»
It may sound silly, but I’m Chinese, a wannabe foodie, and have been blessed to try a lot of different foods… and still I’m asking all of these same questions. Ultimately, it will help the waiters serve you food that you’ll actually enjoy.
Know what to expect– This is basically a restaurant plucked from Chinatown and dropped onto Restaurant Row (W. 46^th Street). The ambiance will be off: clean looking décor, but with loud waiters, chefs who kind of lounge in the walkway, and z100(!?) playing in the background. The prices will be appropriate – not cheap. This is not meant to be $ 5-​Chinese-​take-​out food.
If the rating was strictly about the food, then I would have given Grand Sichuan a 4. If it were strictly about the experience sans food, they would have received a 2 or maybe even a 1.

Came here for quick lunch; and I left a bit confused.
They try too hard to make the place looks a bit more upscale than many Chinese place you might know. The inside is painted all white and bright light; I felt like I enter a crazy house… the kitchen is in the middle of the restaurant; like a glass box from another planet; you can see some of the chefs shaking the woks… I thought the compset was interesting; and the back, outdoor room looks cute too.
I was disappointed with the food; not as traditional as I wanted it to be and lacked some flavors too. Also the service seems/​was very immature, some young girls and guys yelling on their language like if they were miles away from each other… I’m not sure if they have hearing problems or that’s the norm.
But again, I shouldn’t be surprise; the whole Hell’s Kitchen area is dominated by mediocre Thai food.
I think that maybe they deserve another chance just because this is their opening week… maybe, maybe it gets better.