ShangWei Szechuan 尚味四川 — Restaurant in Bethlehem

Finally found the time to come to this place after wanting to go for some time. I think the wait was definitely worth it. Went around 4PM on a Sunday. A quick note is that the parking is very easy if you are from out of town, the parking garage is about 1 block away.

Food (5/5): This is real, authentic, Szechuan food. I have ordered Mapo Dofu at so many restaurants claiming to be authentic, and they have all fell flat except for here. A suspension of tons of szechuan peppercorns, fermented black beans, and hot oil coat perfectly seasoned cubes of silken tofu accompanied by expertly cooked white rice. I ordered it extra spicy and they did not disappoint. My hot and sour soup was both hot and sour (what a surprise!), and had a deep earthy flavor from the generous addition of wood ear mushrooms. The wonton soup was great as well, the broth was obviously home made (not the sickly yellow broth found at every Chinese American restaurant) and when I ate a wonton it literally exploded in my mouth with juices. We ordered dry pot duck, but I do not think that is what we received, the waitress seemed confused even though I pointed to what I wanted on the menu. It was more of a stew, but it was extremely delicious so no complaints. The salty broth imbued with fat and marrow from the duck bones was the perfect match for potatoes and a steaming bowl of rice.

Price (4/5): Generally the prices are fair, its not an amazing deal or anything but its not to bad either. 2 soups and 2 meals were $37 before tip (but we also got duck which was one of the more expensive items).

Ambiance (3/5): Pretty sparse, the seating has a weird layout. Some cool decorations but the plastic flowers in the rafters were a bit weird. Just fine though.

Service (3/5): Like I said, I don't think we got what we ordered, and the waitress was just OK service wise. Parts of the menu are only in Chinese, and I guess it's not their fault I can't read Chinese but still. Food came out quickly and hot. Not the best service but really it was fine.

Overall (4/5): Come for the food, you don't really need to expect much else because it was that good. Where else in the area can you find Szechuan cuisine...

You know the place is authentic when you and your party are the only ones speaking English in the entire restaurant. The flavors of the dishes we tried were very assertive; bold notes of ginger, garlic, peppers, and other ingredients prominent in Szechuan cuisine will take over your palate (but hopefully, in a good way). If you’re someone who likes Chinese food because of the traditional Chinese dishes from your favorite takeout joint, keep in mind that the food here is very different.

We stared off with the Dan Dan noodles- our waiter asked us if we wanted it Chinese style or American style. Not sure what the difference implies, but of course we chose the Chinese style. It had an appropriate level of heat and was very good. We also ordered the spring beef and dry pepper chicken. The spring beef came in a broth that was a bit too fatty for me, but my friend enjoyed it. As for the chicken, some pieces were a little oily when I bit into them, but the flavors were pretty good. Portions were very generous.

Service was a bit lacking- we were first waited on by someone who barely spoke English (I guess that speaks to the authenticity though) and then later taken over by a woman who was extremely inattentive. It probably took a good 15 minutes for her to glance up from her phone for a second long enough where I was able to gain her attention.

All in all, it’s a new restaurant that seems to be working out a few kinks, but I’ll be...

Very good chinese cuisine.

Friends and family went out in hopes of finding a specific dish. Napo Tofu. The dish was delicious and very good. They offer Boba tea and a great atmosphere. The food was affordable (ranging from $9.99 to $25.00) especially considering the quality.

The reason I am only giving ShangWei a three out of five stars is the service.

We ordered appatizers with the assumption they would come out before the food. Unfortunately that didn't happen. Fifteen minutes later 3 of the 7 people for their appatizers along with there food. The rest of of the table waited an additional ten minutes before we received ours. My wife had to ask multiple times to see where here was and finally got it after everyone was finished.

So we ended up asking for boxes for her Neal which took an additional ten minutes. This would all have been forgivable if the restaurant was super busy but unfortunately this was not the case.

All in all the food was great but the service was awful.

I would recommend this for...