Pepper House — Restaurant in Ellicott City

Edit 1/16/2022: They have new dishes as of 1/1/2022.

Favorite new dish is the beef dry pot. I got it super mala and it’s a keto dream if you don’t eat the rice it comes with.

Comparing this to other dry pots I’ve had: -missing the Szechuan peppercorn…crunch. I didn’t really see any of the peppercorns in the dish. They must use commercial Szechuan peppercorn oil but I’m not complaining because that’s what I use at home. -slightly more oily (possibly from my super mala request) than some but far less than some of places in Rockville -There is a good ratio of cabbage-meat.

I will def be back for this dish. Glad they are open to adding more things.

Edit 9/2021: Came back again yesterday as I saw they had some new items.

The very friendly lady was running the dining room again. Even got to meet the chef this time. He was also very nice.

I ended up getting: -Germantown Beef Jerky 15.98 (sweet, savory, spicy, numbing, all at once) -Mr. and Mrs. Smith (P) 13.98 (sliced beef, tripe, peanuts, celery; served in a spicy, sweet, and numbing sauce) -Chengdu Style Wontons in a Spicy and Numbing Broth 13.98 (pork and shrimp filling)

Make sure you dine in for the best experience.

Every item i got this time was worthy of a 5-star experience: The beef jerky had a good mix of flavor, though five spice shines through the most. The Mr. and Mrs. smith was really good as well. Less numbing and more on the sweet side. I asked them to make the wontons "super mala" and this time they came through. It was at a numbing level I could actually feel and was really good. The chef was also impressed.

As I look to move back to a low-carb diet (sadly can't eat noodles), I will definitely be back for the beef jerky and mr/mrs smith. I do hope as they grow and expand the menu, they can do mapo tofu, 3-pepper chicken, and double cooked pork. They do everything else so well, those would probably also be out of this world.

Original Review: Solid Szechuan noodles.

Came here to give a few of the dishes a shot. As others have said, this looks authentic and the lady running the front was unexpectedly super duper nice.

I got the beef noodle soup to eat there and took the chongqing noodle and chengdu dan dan mian (noodle) to go. I also got a jar of chili oil cuz why not. They were out of the germantown beef jerky.

The beef noodle soup was set as szechuan style. It was tasty, but not overly spicy. I had to add some of the chili oil I bought to help it.

The chongqing noodle and chengdu dan dan noodle were prepared with all of the toppings separate and the noodles kept out of oil, so they do package the to go orders very well. These two dishes were much better than the beef noodle soup in my opinion. Far more flavorful, but they lacked heat and numbing that I expected from the other reviews. I had to add my szechuan peppercorn oil.

I took a look at the receipt they stapled on my togo bag (since I wasn't handed one after I paid) and found that even though I asked for very spicy, the receipt said little spicy, so I don't know how that mistake occurred, but the lack of mala is the reason they're not 5 stars.

I suggest if you have to travel more than 15 minutes with the noodles, to attempt to eat them there. The noodles were a little stiff and stuck to each other once I got them home. I don't hold that against them.

I also asked if they were planning to expand the menu to do Mapo Tofu or other Szechuan dishes and she said yes, but they are currently short staffed. I really hope they eventually get around to adding chongqing chicken, mapo tofu, cumin lamb, three pepper chicken, and double cooked pork. Maybe even a cucumber salad.

I do recommend this spot and I shall be back to try the beef jerky and get another round of the szechuan noodle, perhaps with the clarification I want it as hot and numbing (mala) as their chef...

I’ve seen the restaurant’s long, defensive reply — and it only confirms my experience. Instead of focusing on improving service or food, they seem more invested in arguing with customers and writing paragraphs to shift blame. Yes, I understand the owner is in the hospital, and I wish them well. But that doesn’t excuse the server’s unprofessional attitude or the complete lack of problem-solving when we asked to split the bill — something totally normal in any restaurant. What we got instead was attitude, not service.

And now, instead of reflecting or improving, the response is full of sarcasm, accusations, and excuses. For example, they write: “Our server is not your servant, bowing to your every whim.” “Seems quite rich of you to make cold, blanket (and false) assertions…”

This kind of language speaks for itself. It’s not the voice of a professional business focused on hospitality — it’s clearly written in the same tone we experienced in person. This place clearly cares more about being “right” in reviews than actually offering a good dining experience. I won’t be replying again. Let the food and service speak for themselves — and let others judge from the facts and their own experiences. I know I won’t be returning.

—————————————————————————— 1st review by July 25 9PM I had a very uncomfortable experience at Pepper House Restaurant. The server was unable to split the bill for five people paying in cash and claimed she couldn’t handle it because the boss was in the hospital and unreachable by phone. Instead of trying to solve the issue calmly, she became argumentative and defensive, focusing more on who was “right” rather than actually resolving the problem.

This level of service is unacceptable — I’ve never encountered such an attitude in any restaurant before. What’s even worse is how the restaurant seems to respond to customer complaints with overly long, defensive replies that sound like they’re written by AI (probably ChatGPT) rather than addressing the actual issues raised.

I do not recommend this place and will not...

Maryland's delicious Sichuan noodle restaurant recommends!! Hello everyone! I want to recommend a very delicious Sichuan noodle restaurant in Ellicott City called Pepper House! Their chili oil (what we Sichuanese call "mature oil with chili") is absolutely amazing! It's so fragrant!! I tried their cold noodles, cold rice noodles, dan dan noodles, spicy beef salad, spicy wontons, and hot pot, all of which were delicious!! I found out about this restaurant last week at the Asia in a Bite food festival. I didn't know about it before. The owner is from Chongqing, and the restaurant is very low-key, but the owners are very nice and enthusiastic! Last week at the food festival, I didn't get to try the cold noodles and cold dishes because they were so popular and sold out! But today, I finally got to try them at the restaurant, and they were really delicious! The chili oil is just amazing! The dan dan noodles were the first to arrive today, and they were quickly devoured because they were so delicious and fragrant! Plus, the spiciness is fragrant-spicy, not the kind of spicy that's hard to handle! The main thing is the fragrance, so even if you're not from Sichuan or Chongqing, you can totally handle the spiciness! You can choose the level of spiciness, and for cold noodles, cold dishes, and dan dan noodles, the normal level of spiciness is fine, it's not too spicy! For the hot pot, you can choose mild spiciness, and the normal spiciness of the hot pot is equivalent to the extra spicy of others! If you're a fan of spicy food, just go for it!! Go straight for the extra spicy!! Maryland folks must give it a try! Authentic Sichuan and Chongqing flavors, this is the taste of my hometown! Eating here feels very familiar, like coming home! I recommend this amazing restaurant to everyone!! It's really delicious!! Next time, I'll try the Chongqing noodles and...