Legend West Village

The whole experience is so called disappointment.
Location: Close to NYU main campus, Legend West Village becomes the new hot spot for chinese students trying some good chinese food around. The GPS in Unilocal is pretty confusing and just go straight on the W 3^rd street and you will see this place covered by their weird, annoying black paint.
Inside, the decoration is pretty darkwise. They have a bar.
I was alone, thinking about ordering to-​go but decided to sit-​in.
Food: had their lunch special — shred pork with flavor sauce, and DAN DAN noodles.
I think the dandan noodle is fabulous. Very delicious. But the noodle only came with four leaves of spinach… wow
Shred pork is bad, not close to authentic Szechuan dish at all.
Bad
bad
bad
Service：I had a short lunch break so I need to go back fast. I called several waiters to check. but they just left me there waiting and waiting and waiting. And finally, i was pissed and went to the front desk. And they apparently did not check me or at least prepare the check. fuck…
and guess what, there are not many people dining at that period.
horrible ！
Overall: 2 star and I wont be back.

Had lunch at Legend West Village recently. There were 13 of us, including four children, seated at a round table with a lazy susan in the middle. Overall the food at this Sichuan eatery was good to very good but not outstanding and the service was polite and accommodating.
We started with a crab and asparagus soup which would have been very good had it not been fatally destroyed by an abundance of surimi, that noxious artificial «krab» concoction.
Some of the other dishes were a very good: tea-​smoked duck, a good whole fish with garlic and scallions (tilapia, I think), very good «beggars ribs» with a delicious sauce, very pleasant chicken fried rice, and several other dishes, all decent. The only disappointment was the afore-​mentioned soup.
Location is one block off Washington Square South near NYU Law School, Judson Memorial Church, and NYU Skirball Theater. Be warned: if you are bringing kids, there were no high chairs or booster seats.

I placed an order for delivery and am extremely dissatisfied. I had originally chosen spring rolls for 3.95 and then called up immediately after to change it to shumai which was 6.95. I was instructed to give the delivery man an additional $ 5 when the difference was only $ 3. Then, the shumai smelled so bad I couldn’t even eat it. I also ordered cold sesame noodles, which came with literally no sesame sauce. They were extremely dry, plain noodles. Lastly, the sesame chicken was tasteless and was not crispy at all. Needless to say I am disappointed and will not be ordering from here again.

I’m from China. Sichuan Food is one of my favorite back in China. It is easy to find a restaurant specializing in Sizchuan Food, but not easy to find a good one. This is absolutely one that you are looking for if you would like to give your tummy a treat.
Nice layout of the space and great bar.

We went for Christmas dinner — my husband and I have a tradition of eating Chinese over the holidays. I was initially mixed about coming given polarized reviews but can honestly say I’m glad we gave it a shot. We have had a lot of Szechuan food and this play is at the top of the list for NYC Szechuan. My husband said «we should come back» three times at dinner.
We stuck with the Szechuan traditional items per another person’s suggestion. We had the dry, tasty chicken with peanuts and I asked the server for a traditional fish stew which they made for us. Delish. Happy eating.

Pretty average Chinese food around the NYU campus. They advertise authentic szechuanense, but I don’t think anyone from Szechuan is in the kitchen. Everything was a bit too salty and uninspired. Kungpao chicken was ok. Best dish was the sautéed pea shoots. Seeing as there aren’t any chinese locations in the area, I might return if a craving hits.

There are rare times when you could possibly find service worse than at legend west village. The waiter in charge had no idea what customer service meant and openly disrespected members of our party. Would avoid at all costs.

Are these reviews written by staff? 4 stars?
I thought I’d give Legend another try based on its convenient West Village location even though I was unimpressed with its sister restaurant at Union Square. The setting here is ambient but the food is no better. We ordered the Stuffed Tofu Crêpe with Mushroom and Bamboo Shoot but the server came back saying they ran out. How do you run out of appetizers on a Friday night? We also ordered the Rabbit Dry Pot and it was greasy but tasteless, which I didn’t know was a possibility until coming to Legend. The sauteed vegetables we got in lieu of the stuffed tofu was nothing to write home about.
Overall, below average.
I see potential, but they seriously need to hire a new chef or something. The restaurant was completely empty on a Friday night. I’m not even a restaurateur and I can come up with 5 things that need to be improved on the spot. Come on guys, you need an intervention!

Because of my previous great experience, I tried it again. But disappointedly, this time is not as good as I expected. The smoked duck is not well seasoned, hard to chew and you can see the oily part.

They have amazing dishes. Prices are low for the location and good food! My friends and I always come here during weekdays

Legend is a SICHUAN restaurant with good Sichuan chefs from China. DO NOT order Chinese American dishes, like egg rolls, beef and broccoli or general tso’s chicken or you will be very disappointed. Save that for your local take-​out joint. Order ONLY from the Sichuan part of the menu and you’ll be guaranteed excellent, solid Sichuan fare. The kung pao chicken, which actually originated from Sichuan province, is done with pizazz and style here. Please, for the love of god, if you don’t like Sichuan peppers, don’t come here! Standard Sichuan cuisine requires tons of Sichuan peppers so be sure to request more, otherwise they will «dumb down» the flavors here even more to appeal to the bland American palate.
I used to work a block away from their Chelsea location and 10 of my coworkers and I would descend upon them about once a month and chow down on some of the best Sichuan food that Manhattan has to offer. Our favorite dishes in no particular order:
Meat dishes:
— Crispy Prawns with Aromatic Pepper Salt
— Dry Spicy, Tasty Diced Chicken with Ginger and Peanut (tons of red chili peppers – this is for flavoring ONLY; if you each a lot of these you will go to the hospital)
— Fried Lamb with Cumin
— Braised Fish Filet and Napa Cabbage with Roasted Chili
— Double-​Cooked Pork with Pickles
— Kung Pao Chicken
(basically anything from the «New-​Style Sichuan Food» menu)
Vegetable dishes:
— Snow Pea Shoots with Garlic
— Dry Sautéed String Beans (has bits of pork and a salted picked veggie – tastes like what my dad used to make)
Brown rice is also an option!
I am Chinese and half of my family is from Sichuan, so I have an idea of what good Sichuan food tastes like and you’re not going to find anything better outside of Flushing in Queens. The main difference between a «real» Chinese restaurant (that serves regional cuisine from provinces like Sichuan, Hunan, Shangdong, etc.) for Americans and one for Chinese is that the one serving Chinese will present dishes with more subtle flavors that won’t be noticed by Americans but will be zealously commented on by Chinese. Enjoy this place before they start Americanizing everything like Han Dynasty and it no longer tastes like Sichuan food anymore!

The egg roll here* was so bad that a day later it reminded my stomach that the entire meal here wasn’t good, just the lunch special.
L28. Kung Pao Tofu (Lunch) $ 7.95
How Spicy?: Spicy (eh)
Choice of Rice: Brown (brown rice not extra)
Choice of Side: Coke
Classic Egg Roll 1 + 2.25 Delete
*Not quite the West Village, but seemingly related to

Promising start for this new village Szechuan. It takes over the space of a dark and douchy-​toned lounge on the second floor of the building, and is a welcome replacement.
They didn’t have a booze license when I was here but I understand they do now. The service was very attentive, they’re trying to build up their business and it shows. The only potential downside to this space is that it’s a bit dark and feels removed, but that might also be an asset in attracting certain types of people.
Legend’s voluminous bill of fare spans American Chinese classics, off-​the-​beaten-​path Szechuan specialties, and less familiar but still approachable dishes that the less intrepid can sample. Not everything is a smash hit, but the food’s got flavor. My Sichuan Spicy Diced Rabbit was spicy indeed, though eating rabbit on the bone got a little tiresome after a while – it was too much for one person. The chili oil was great but they could have been more economical with it. The spicy squid special was quite nice, though a bit too deep-​fried for my taste.
Despite a somewhat mixed (though mostly positive) flavor experience, I’m bullish on this place and look forward to trying more stuff.

Food was excellent. My favorite Sichuan restaurant in New York City. Highly recommend.

Reminiscing on my study abroad trip in China, when I ran into Legend West Village. I ordered dumplings and Dan Dan noodles.
The dumplings were okay (more doughy that I would’ve liked) but the DanDan noodles were truly amazing. Moreover, it was totally affordable and the staff was great.
Definitely stop by if you are craving authentic Chinese food and are in the Village.

I eat lunch here frequently. I love the food. It’s authentic and delicious. The mapu tofu, the eggplant, the various types of pork and chicken are all delicious. The hosts are lovely too! If you like authentic Chinese food at a very good value then come!
Good prices — come: p Got time during Lunch — come.

Ordered take-​out garlic sauce scallops and dan dan noodles. Both were pretty mediocre; the garlic sauce scallops had a half container of oil, and the dan dan noodles were overcooked with little sauce. Newly opened place, the décor seems nice and clean, however! Service also mediocre; the man who took our order, even though he had no one else to attend to (the restaurant was empty at 4 PM on a Friday…), didn’t seem overly attentive.

This is really a mediocre place. I have tried a lot of the Sichuan cuisine places in town so I know what I am talking about. The environment is pleasant but the food is really just not good. Tried several authentic dishes that could immediate tell the difference between good and bad places, and unfortunately none of the dishes were impressive, or even good. The picked veggie with fish was plain with no taste to the supposed to be sour soup, and oily! Have to say I had high expectations coming here and was very disappointed.

I hoped this new Sichuan restaurant in the village will replace my «like and hate» relationship with Grand Sichuan, on 7^th Ave. They has been satisfied my Sichuan craving in my neighborhood but I wanted to get out of that rude delivery men and the confrontational phone lady so I tried Legend West Village.
Seamless lunch delivery (35 minutes)
Double cooked pork ($ 7.95/lunch)
There was no citrus-​like aroma with mouth-​numbing Sichuan pepper sensation in this Sichuan dish, not spicy. The pork was left with that «gamey», porky smell and flavor. It was fatty and bland, so as very watery hot & sour soup that came with but wonton soup was better.
Other two dishes that I ordered were equally disappointing. Beef Chow Fun ($ 7.95/lunch) and Pork dumplings in chili oil ($ 6.95) were bland like the pork dish, desperate for some salt and some magic.

This place is great! Amazing Sichuan food and good service. It just opened this June and runs a 20% discount for the whole month!
We will definitely come back for their spicy food!