Szechuan House — Restaurant in Iowa City

Ok. Here we go. I have read past reviews and know what to expect from a reply if I get one so I will address that expected reply. First off I'm a former executive chef and have worked in restaurants for more of my life than I have not. My palate is broad and I try to see the good and interest in any dish as much as I can. I have eaten at many authentic both good and bad Sichuan restaurants and know Chinese chefs that I respect and have enjoyed their authentic food that they do not serve to American customers. I also have a good grasp of what most people like to eat. Yes, we are all snow flakes and every palate is different especially across cultures. I've made plenty of bad recipes in my day that I haven't served. That is how you learn. I have eaten from this restaurant a number of times since it switched hands from the original owners. The original Sichuan House at that location was amazing in my opinion. Iowa City was blessed to have it. Since the restaurant has changed ownership I have not enjoyed the food. But being a former food servicer I know that every 2 years or so a restaurant can completely turn over their staff and if it's still there you should give it a try. We ordered dishes that were recommended to us by an acclaimed local chef exactly as he told us to order them. The meal I just had was not one I would have again nor would I recommend it to others.

Here is what we ordered:

四川担担面 Szechuan Dandan Noodles $ 10.95

I have had and made plenty of Dandan noodles in my life. Traditionally they consist of the following ingredients: A topping made of marinated ground pork, pickled mustard aka ya-cai, soy sauce, sesame paste, light soy sauce, sesame oil, aromatic infused chili oil, black vinegar and chopped scallion

I recognize that some may not be used or others might be added but that's the basics.

It is essentially what we got but the proportions were of interest. The amount of sesame paste in this dish was off the charts. It is essentially all you tasted and it coated the mouth extremely unpleasantly. That combined with the overcooked noodles of mush made for an undesirable experience.

麻婆豆腐 Ma Po Tofu with Chili Minced Pork $ 14.95 This was ok in general, not as aromatic as we would prefer but the salt levels were off the charts and one of us bit into a piece of what tasted like clearly old pork. The very kind of thing the Chinese use Shaoxing (绍兴) cooking wine to abate.

豆花牛肉 Beef with Soft Tofu in Szechuan Sauce $ 20.95 This was the best of the lot but not great. Pretty stock and umami forward, decent Doubanjiang (豆瓣酱) and a hint of sichuan peppercorn. also over salted but not as bad as the Ma Po. If I'd paid $5 less for this I might have been ok with it.

豆瓣全鱼 Braised Whole Fish with Szechuan Sauce Fist of all we ordered in the special instructions to substitute shrimp for fish. This is how our friend suggested we order it so we know that is a possibility. It arrived as the whole fish not shrimp.

This was not good. The fish that is. I try to be exact when writing such a review, so I'm trying it again right now although my girl friend is horrified, so that I can write this with honesty. Ok. The sauce tastes pretty Doubanjiangy (豆瓣酱) with some stock and sweet bits of minced onion and chili peppers. Bit of numbing from Sichuan peppercorns. But the fish... it tastes old and fishy. That fishy flavor comes from the breaking down of the oils in it and the after taste is seriously lingering. It looks pretty but that's only the second bite I've had and I'm not taking another.

And... the rice. This has got to be the worst rice I have ever had at a restaurant. Seemed overcooked and unwashed to me. Gluey and mushy. Usually at a Chinese restaurant if the dish doesn't appeal to you you can clean your palate with the rice. We threw it away. Along with the fish and the Dandan noodles. We'll probably thin out the other 2 dishes and save them, but make new rice in our own rice cooker.

$95 with tip for two people... Perhaps in...

I recently moved to Iowa from chicago, which is known for its diverse food options, that being said I am a bit biased as I’ve had some really good food.

The restaurant itself, while I didn’t dine just picked up, was absolutely adorable. It smelled amazing and the staff seemed very nice and attentive.

Now for the food, we got a more traditional meal Szechuan dandan noodles and a “white” person meal orange chicken with crab ragoons. The orange chicken was Panda Express orange chicken. Flavor wise it was good but the chicken had 0 crispiness to it which is something I always look forward to in orange chicken. I really enjoyed the way the orange peels were cut in the orange chicken sauce. Additionally, the white rice that came with it was very good. Moving on to the Szechuan Dandan noodles, those seemed to have authentic flavoring but my gripe with it is that it was a bit oily for my taste and I feel it lacked on the Szechuan. It was definitely a new flavor and a pleasant experience. Lastly the crab ragoons, they were good in flavor. The crab ragoons definitely didn’t have the crab meat taste instead more of a cream cheese ragoon taste. As for the sauce that comes with it, I couldn’t tell you what it was: I assume the typical sweet chili sauce. I just wasn’t a fan. I personally used another sauce (Mae ploy sweet...

Where do I start? We came here a few weeks ago for dinner based on good reviews. Our experience left us wondering where those reviews came from?

The restaurant only had a few occupied tables while we were there. The server was friendly but created confusion as we attempted to order. Several things we tried to order (clearly stated on the menu) we were told we couldn’t have because “it didn’t come that way!” What? So we had to keep going back to the drawing board to find something that they actually had.

Ended up ordering pork egg roll. Two, very small. Greasy and lacking flavor. Not a good start. We also ordered shrimp fried rice. Large portion but pretty tasteless and lacking in ingredients other than a few shrimp. We got the rice promptly but waited another 20 minutes to get the beef and broccoli.

The beef was seriously over velveted so it had a slimy consistency. Very off putting. The broccoli was way undercooked and hard as rocks. We left the whole dish on the table.

The wait staff seemed more interested in their cellphones than waiting on tables.

The experience was disappointing and we wouldn’t return. I know we ordered more “Americanized” Chinese but both dishes are simple to prepare (I’ve cooked them myself). No excuse for the quality, flavor and consistency that we...