Portland Sichuan Food Alert 🌶️

I used to think Portland was just a “small town”… until my friend dragged me to Sichuan City Chinese Restaurant. This hidden gem in Happy Valley totally changed my mind—one bite, and I tore up that “small town” label for good! From the spicy aroma when you walk in, to the lingering taste of the wooden barrel fish soup, every dish screams “authentic Sichuan flavor.” I’d give it 100 stars ⭐—next time I’m in Portland, I’ll detour just to eat here again! 📍 Save the Address! Don’t Miss This Deliciousness It’s in a plaza on SE 82nd Ave—just search 11342 SE 82nd Ave，Happy Valley，OR 97086 on navigation! They offered dine-in during the pandemic; we went on a Friday night, and the place was 70% full—most diners were locals speaking Sichuan or Hunan dialect. Just hearing the next table say “So spicy, so good!” told me we’d found the right spot! 🌶️ Dish Reviews: Every Bite Goes with Rice—You’ll Want to Lick the Plate! 1. Wooden Barrel Fish｜Giant Portion for 4+, Soup with Rice = Heaven 🍲 When this dish arrived, all 7 of us went “Wow!”—a huge wooden barrel filled with milky white soup, topped with pickled cabbage, chili, and fresh fish slices. When the server lifted the lid, the spicy-fresh aroma hit our noses instantly—even my friend who hates fish leaned over to smell it. The fish slices are so thin they’re translucent, tender as “melted tofu” in your mouth—no fishiness at all. Coated with the sour of pickled cabbage and the numbing of chili, it’s addictive after one bite. The soup is the star: rich enough to taste “slow-cooked fish bone stock,” sour-spicy and full of umami. I ate two bowls of rice with it, even fishing out the pickled cabbage from the bottom to mix with rice—so satisfying I wanted to stamp my feet! Pro tip: It’s huge—order it for 4+ people, or you’ll never finish it. 2. Spicy Green Pepper with Pork Intestines｜Rice’s Best Friend—Chewy & Not Greasy 🐷 The aroma of this dish hit us as soon as it was set down—spicy and savory, instantly whetting our appetites. The pork intestines are super clean (no weird smell!), stir-fried till the outer layer is slightly crispy, but still chewy inside. You can taste the richness of the fat, but it’s not greasy. The green peppers are mildly spicy, soaked up the intestines’ oil, and crispy enough to cut through the richness. I ate every grain of rice in my bowl with it, and even asked for a second helping 🍚! 3. Spicy Braised Chicken｜Not “Huge” as Expected, But Tastes Amazing 🐔 I thought it’d be a “ big plate with whole chicken + wide noodles,” but it came as a “small delicate plate”—but one bite made me forgive the portion. The chicken is braised till tender, easy to pull apart, spicy with a hint of sweetness (a mix of Sichuan and Hunan flavors). The potatoes are so soft they fall apart when poked, soaked up the sauce. Even without wide noodles, it’s still delicious with rice—we scraped every drop of sauce from the plate! 4. Mashed Chili with Eggplant & Preserved Eggs｜Slightly Less Good Than Seattle’s, But Still Tasty 🥚 I’d been blown away by this dish at Seattle’s Dongting Chun, so I had to order it for comparison. Sichuan City’s version is still good: the chili is mashed till soft, with a charred aroma; the eggplant is creamy like mud, coated in chili spice; the preserved eggs are cut into big chunks, chewy and flavorful. The only small flaw: it’s “not mashed enough”—the chili and eggplant don’t blend as well. But it’s still “good enough for a bowl of rice,” even for people who don’t love spicy food. 💸 Value & Vibe: 7 People Ate Till Full for $200+, Dine-In Is Safe We ordered 4 main dishes + 2 veggies + 1 pitcher of sour plum juice, total $200+ including tip—less than $30 per person, way cheaper than Sichuan restaurants in Seattle! The pandemic safety measures are good too: tables are spaced out, servers wear gloves and masks, and they refill water or clear plates quickly—no worries at all. By the end, we all held our bellies saying “too full to walk,” even the friend who had low expectations sighed, “I didn’t know Portland had such authentic Sichuan food!” Turns out my old “small town” thought was just me missing out—Portland is full of hidden gems, including this dish so good you’d “eat it even if forced”! Next time you’re in Portland, don’t overthink—head straight to Sichuan City! Bring more people so you can order the wooden barrel fish, spicy intestines, and braised chicken all at once… otherwise, you’ll definitely regret it! #PortlandSichuanFood #SichuanCity #AuthenticSichuan #PortlandEats #RiceCompanionDishes