Szechuan Tasty House 川味坊 — Restaurant in Denver

A couple of weeks ago, we were able to experience a very authentic Szechuan gem located in Southwest Denver. Bear and Troy met us out for dinner.

Ambiance and decor: what you would expect for really authentic food. This is not a place you go for the decor.

Menu: it is full of extremely authentic Szechuan cuisine. Some you will find somewhat familiar, but most will be a brand-new experience!

We started with the fried pork dumplings. They were mouth-wateringly delicious! The dipping sauce was bright and fresh and not too hot. We also ordered garlic chicken wings. They were unusual. The garlic flavor had been baked or infused, and there was no sauce; they were extremely garlicky!

Then we ordered a large bowl of hot sour soup! For $8.95, this is an extreme bargain! This adequately fed all four of us! It was rich and flavorful, and not too spicy! Honestly, I would go back just for the soup. Bear has tried the egg drop soup and said how amazing it was in an earlier review.

We each ordered an entree which is a huge amount of food!!! I would recommend one entree per two people. Because they were so large, and we were already getting full from our appetizers and soup course, we decided to eat the four entrees family style that in order to try more flavors.

Troy ordered the most mild dish, Hunan style pork. Bear ordered the most rich dish, called twice cooked pork with Chinese chili sauce. The pork was what westerners would call pork belly. It was very rich. At first we didn't think we would be able to eat very much, but Troy and I kept digging-in. Bob ordered chicken slices in cumin. It was exactly that. Very cumin-forward. I ordered the Chong Qing spicy chicken. Bear and I found this to be the most complex of the dishes, and was his favorite. Troy especially liked the cabbage from this dish. The consistency of the chicken reminded me of popcorn chicken, but the spicy heat factor was a little too much for my American taste buds.

All of the food was cooked fresh to order by a female chef in the back. It was definitely like taking a trip to Szechuan! Although I am not fully immersed in that particular region of China, Bob and I have both traveled to China several times and found this cooking to be extremely authentic. Don't get me wrong, I love American-style Chinese food, but if you are in the mood for trying something really authentic, definitely go support this local...

Authentic Szechuan food, period. I miss the various regional cuisines I got to taste when I lived in mainland China, and this place is a hidden gem that delivers the same flavors and textures I tasted there.

We tried chef’s special roasted fish, eggplants with fish flavored sauce, and shredded potatoes with vinegar, steamed rice, and hot tea, which was a nice variety of spiciness, sweetness, savoriness, and sourness. All of them were done well. The eggplants especially were done in perfection with just the right amount and level of everything that goes in to this seemingly humble dish. Portions are generous.

One thing to note about this place is that, as the name suggests, it specializes in Szechuan cuisine that is known for its use of the numbing, spicy peppercorns. For instance, the “general” (which may seem to mean “mild”) version of the roasted fish is actually the default version of deep fried fish in rich broth with spicy chili oil. It still has higher levels of spiciness available. Same with the potato dishes—although it may look pale, it still carries a hint of the numbing flavor and sensation of the Szechuan peppercorns.

The dining atmosphere can definitely be improved—it is very much a hole-in-the-wall place. Might be better...

Holy smokes this is the best Chinese hole in the wall place I've been to. Better than Chinese food you can get in Denver for the same price I swear. My parents have been in Denver for a while too and haven't had a place that hits as close to home as this place. Make sure to order food that Chinese people actually eat and not the typical American Chinese stuff to get your full value's worth.

I would recommend trying out the eggplant chicken, popped chicken (not sure English name), green onion beef (also not sure correct name), and boiled fish (mala dish). We've been here twice already and ordered the same things because they taste good.

Don't look down on their serving utensils. They use single-use stuff like paper plates, but they give you an ENTIRE water bottle for free! So you can guarantee that the stuff they're serving your food on is cheap and clean at least unlike many other restaurants...

Finally, if they're NOT busy, I'd make sure to either take out or order in ahead unless you're fine with waiting ~45 mins because most dishes are made to order and not the same formulas of each other. I believe there's only 1-2 chefs in the kitchen that do all the work since it's family run so they need...