Sichuan Gourmet Billerica — Restaurant in Billerica

Best Restaurant in Billerica. You might at first be thrown off by this tiny restaurant's appearance, crammed in a tiny strip mall with a liquor store and a laundromat, but don't let that fool you. Sichuan Gourmet has, hands down, the best food in Billerica, and for Chinese food beats any of the Chinatown places I've been to. The trick is to not order typical "American" Chinese dishes like Beef and Broccoli or Sweet and Sour Chicken, which are not very good here, -- the dishes you've never heard of are going to be the best.

I should at this point mention that because the cuisine is from the Sichuan region, much of their food is spicy. Unlike many places, when they put those pepper symbols on the menu, they mean it. However, the spiciness is never a raw overpowering burning -- they dishes carefully balance "Ma" (a tingly, electric sensation), "La" (spicy), and "Tang" (a hot burning sensation) with sweet and savory flavors that can convert many people who think they hate spicy food. They aren't just adding cayenne to their dishes like so many other places do. They also have plenty of non-spicy dishes, and are happy to make any of their menu items less spicy.

For spicy dishes, my favorites are the "Pork and Eggplant with Yu Xiang Sauce" which appears on their separate specials menu (it has perfect balance of spicy sauce, sweet eggplant, and savory pork), the Dan Dan Noodles (which the waiter should warn you need to be mixed before eating), any of the "with Spicy Chili Sauce" dishes (which are meat or fish served in a red spicy sauce with Napa Cabbage), the "Old Sichuan Chicken" (a dried fried chicken with an interesting crust -- the house specialty), the "Gangou Dry Fish Filet" (similar to the Old Sichuan Chicken but with fish), the "Sliced Roast Beef & Tendon w. Chili Sauce" (if you like tendon), and the "Hot & Sour Wonton Soup" (listed under "Sichuan Delicacies" not "Soup", and very different from a typical Americanized Hot & Sour).

For non-spicy dishes, I would recommend the Scallion Pancake (the only Americanized appetizer I would recommend here),"Sichuan Cold Noodles - none spicy" (cold noodles in a vinegary peanut sauce), "Sichuan Style String Beans" (a Sichuan classic, and done very well here), "Meat Ball Sichuan Style" (A soup-like hot pot with huge meatballs and lots of vegetables), and the Sesame Sweet Potato Cakes (A hot soft sweet-potato pancake that is stuffed with a sweet bean paste, coated in sesame seeds, and drizzled with a sweet sauce).

This restaurant also has fancier locations in Framingham and Brookline, but the food is much better in Billerica. If you're looking for authentic or spicy food, it's...

If you like spicy food Sichuan Gourmet is the Chinese restaurant for you. Featuring authentic southern chinese cuisine this small restaurant does a thriving business. The three times I visited Friday, Tuesday and a week later Wednesday, it had lots of takeout orders waiting for pickup, and also quite a few oriental customers as well, alluding to it being the Chinese food that Chinese people order themselves. Rated with one to three peppers on the menu denoting heat, I only ventured into no peppers, and one and two pepper dishes. I was afraid to try the three pepper dishes. A twp pepper dish was the Xing La dry fish filets, which when I asked our hostess for a recommendation was her choice, was delicious. Tilapia cooked perfectly with a cruncy spicy coating, but oh so good. We reordered it a week later. The sichan pickle soup with pork and noodles also great. I personally didn't like the hot and sour soyp for two with wontons. It had no wood ears or dried lilly flower stamens, no cornstarch to thicken it... I know there are lots of variations on this recipe, but this one I wouldn't reorder. House fried rice was good, no suprises. The spring rolls were good, again no surprises, lots of cabbage, a little carrot, nice crisp wrapping. Again good but not excellent. Dan dan noodles, also good but a littke disappointing. A very popular street dish, it also has lots of variations, this not a favorite, but not bad either. Staff very accommodating. Will make custom dishes, if you dont want peas or sonething added, no problem This is a special restaurant for those who are tired of "American" Chinese and want to try sonething...

After working and traveling in China, I am always searching for authentic Chinese food and this place delivers it. I found this place about three years ago and when I'm working in the area I always have a meal here.

My favorite dish is the spicy shredded chicken with cayenne peppers. It is so spicy but delicious. I get a nice little sweat going at the end of my dish. I wish I lived closer because I would order this once a week it is that good.

My second favorite dish is the Dan Dan Noodles. Again this is another spicy plate of yummy goodness. I typically will get this instead of rice with my shredded chicken.

On a recent trip the waitress recommended the spicy lamb and it was perfect. I have a new favorite on the menu. I also tried the green beans they were good but weren't spicy. They seemed bland when compared to what I just ate. I will tell you that I knew the beans were fresh because the family was sitting at a table in the restaurant hand sorting and cutting cases of fresh green beans. I love seeing that. It makes the food seem like it's made at home with love by the whole staff. It's also great to have fresh vegetables and not frozen crap. You can really taste the difference.

So thanks to another amazing meal. I can hardly wait for my next business trip. It can't come...