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Szechuan House
Category: Restaurants Chinese Chinese [Edit]
4394 Imperial StBurnaby, BC V5J 1A9
Neighbourhood: Metrotown
(604) 439-3029
- Hours:
Mon-Tue, Fri-Sun 11:30 am - 10 pm
Wed-Thu 5 pm - 10 pm
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
6 reviews for Szechuan House
6 reviews in English
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Review from Larry L.
1/23/2012
OMG "Numbing Ecstacy", Chongqing style food at it's best and very affordable. This place is one of the few places that serves a food from this region properly, not just Szechuan, but also from the Qongqing / Chongqing region. My brother and I came here to try it out after some recommendations and reading great reviews!
Prices are better than some in Richmond and this place is definately the real thing.
If you are form Hong Kong and not familiar with their ma po tofu, it's different.
The cooked tripe in spicy sauce appetizer was a bit salty, but good.
Boiling beef special hot hot good good.
Cumin lamb about a 4 stars. I liked the one in Richmond better, but this is a close second.
I will be coming here alot more often now!! Don't mistake for Qongqing on Kingsway for this place. This is the real deal. The other place is for more western palates and you don't get the numbing ecstacy from the Szechuan peppercorns like this place has.
I heart Chongqing.
*note, there's parking in the back.Listed in: Taste Bud Tinglers, Flavours of Qong Qing
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Review from Edward L.
One of the biggest tricks of enjoying good food in Vancouver (and any other city in general) is to always keep your eyes peeled for the non-obvious places. Nobody ever thinks of coming to this particular intersection for food (before today, I've only stopped here for the traffic light). But this place has some of the best Szechuan food I've ever had in this town.
Parking is available on the street. Since nobody knows it exists, there are plenty of spots.
So, let's go through the checklist.
Hole in the wall - check.
Cheap plastic vinyl paneling inside - check.
Staff all have thick (mainland) Chinese accents - check.
Customers also have thick (mainland) Chinese accents - check. 4 for 4!
The interior, to be honest, is shockingly clean. The menus don't even have food stains for crying out loud. How is this even possible?
Staff were generally quite attentive, though it didn't seem like the waitress spoke any English. I could be wrong though.
Food items are rated in terms of chili peppers. Hopefully you like spicy food, because that's what Szechuan is famous for. That, and hot girls with slim legs since the population always has to keep climbing the mountainous terrain in the province.
Szechuan-style boiled beef - now THIS is what I'm talking about. Chunks of beef and vegetables in a pool of scorching hot chili oil. Oh baby. Tasted just like when I had it in China (but possibly cleaner).
Szechuan hot and sour soup - to be honest, this was mediocre. We ordered this to see how it was different from Hong Kong style, and it just seemed like a more bland version.
Stir fry tofu and pork - another mediocre dish.
Maybe we just didn't know what to order for the latter 2 dishes, but I'm going to be dreaming about that 1st boiled beef dish for weeks. That dish also comes in a fish variety (conveniently Item #1 on the menu). I will be back to try that out. My friend told me it is just as epic.Listed in: 2011 Ed's Picks
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Review from Jeff M.
Vancouver, BC
4/8/2012
this place left me wanting more. the hot sauce was a little too peppery tasting. their szechuan stir fry had a little too much hint of ginger in it. no steam pork buns (sew long bao) :(
-
Review from Gersham M.
Vancouver, BC
7/27/2009 3 photos
At last! Passable Sichuan (or Szechuan for you Wade-Giles mis-pronouncers: it's "'se-chwaan") food in Vancouver. I lived in Chengdu, Sichuan for a while so I acquired a taste for spicy Sichuan food.
The food at this restaurant would be unremarkable were you in Chengdu, but in Vancouver it's something of an oddity. Most of the Sichuan places in this city are pretty bland having toned down the spices for the western and non-Sichuan Chinese palettes.
Additionally many of the Sichuan places in Vancouver will leave out the 'ma' in the mala: the Sichuan peppercorns that give you that unique and addictive mouth numbing experience. I'm pleased that this restaurant serves up plenty of ma.
Of note here is the la zi ji - a chicken on the bone dish which has an appropriate amount of peppers. The boiled beed was pretty decent as well though perhaps a little sweeter that I'd prefer. Also of note was the mapo doufu; an immensely popular Sichuan spicy tofu dish. Pictures are attached.
While the spice here is still a bit tame compared to what you can get in China certainly don't take people here that can't take the heat.
I'd give this place a 2.5 star in Chengdu, +1.5 star for being in Vancouver. Still looking for more options in Vancouver... -
Review from Nathan T.
9/25/2011
As some others have said, this is the real deal. Vancouver has a reputation for great Chinese, but a lot of the top rated places are simply not very authentic. Not to say they aren't good food, but they aren't what you would get in China. Szechuan house is what you would get in China. They do have some items that are more westernized, but most of the core dishes are very like what I've had in China.
Let's start with the kung po chicken (as they title it). Now, if you've had the westernized version of this you'll think it is a bland light brown chicken and peanut dish with celery. But this is _way_ better. First, it is full of the papery red peppers so common in szechuan food. Second, it has a phenomenal tangy sauce on it. Third, it has loads of szechuan peppercorns that give it a really interesting spiciness and make your lips and tongue go a little numb. This is the best kung pao I've had in North America; better than my previous favorite at Szechuan Gourmet in Billerica, MA.
We also had the Chef's Special Shredded Pork with Hot and Sour Sauce (under the Pork section on the menu). This absolutely had the right flavor, matching a lot of the taste of similar dishes I've had in Beijing. There were some differences on this one though, as it had jullienned wood ear mushrooms and bamboo shoots. I don't have enough experience in China to know if this is a normal alternative presentation of this dish; it definitely didn't hurt it though.
We had some hot and sour soup and it was excellent as well. Perhaps a smidgen over thickened but the flavor was right on; a hint of vinegar and strong white pepper. Lots of woodear and egg.
In terms of cleaniness it was fine; nothing sketchy about it, but certainly not a fine French restaurant. Service was nice, but Chinese; e.g. not great by western standards but perfectly polite in context.
I cannot wait to get back to town and give this one another shot. The green beans on the menu sounded right on so that is next. -
Review from David P.
Burnaby, BC
3/11/2010
5 of us checked this out tonight. The shredded pork in hot and sour sauce and the house special eggplant was a hit. Parking was a challenge and the hot and sour soup was a bit of a miss. All and all we'd go back
