Chuanyu Fusion 川渝食府 — Restaurant in Oklahoma City

Per a friend's recommendation, I ordered a ton of food together with a group of classmates from Chuanyu Fusion. Due to COVID, this place is currently running take-out orders only (no dine-in).

I got the A3- pan fried pork buns, CA2- dan dan noodles, CA5- pork wontons with chili oil, and P5- braised pork with preserved vegetables in soy sauce. Unfortunately, they'd run out of their C5- pig ear with chili oil. My friend was also kind enough to share some of his V9- crispy (fried) eggplant with Szechuan spice, and A4- scallion pancake.

I'm happy to report that I was not disappointed! For the most part, the flavors and textures were all on-point. I particularly enjoyed the crispy/fried eggplant, which was not spicy at all, but rather full of flavor and had wonderful texture reminiscent of good sweet potato fries. I also appreciated their wontons in chili oil and their pan fried pork buns. These were both solid appetizers (although both very oily). The pan fried buns in particular had great chew and gorgeously caramel-browned bottoms. The experience would've been incredible had it come with some sort of vinegar/chili/soy sauce to lightly dip into.

We felt that the flavor of the pork belly (P5) was very unusual (in a disappointing way) from what we'd expected. As a general rule, I like mine savory and sweet, but Chuanyu added a lot of Szechuan peppercorn oil flavor that didn't mix favorably with this dish. They did include some steamed bread wrappers to use with this dish, which was a nice touch. Ultimately, I wouldn't recommend P5 for the flavor, though.

The scallion pancake was just fine (in line with what you could expect from any decent Chinese establishment). The dan dan noodles were also fine- the type served by Chuanyu predictably includes plenty of flavorful Szechuan spiced chili oil and scallions to mix into the noodles.

We appreciated the containers of rice they include complimentary with each entrée dish.

Overall, we really enjoyed our meal from Chuanyu and look forward to trying other things on their menu in the future! From our experience, I can tell you that they're generous with the frying oil and chili oil in their recipes, which make for very flavorsome (but...

Good food, and good service. Have had the first two spicy chicken dishes, spring rolls, and pork fried rice. All good quality and presentation was good too. They even have an authentic menu, that I haven't tried yet, but I imagine it would be a nice find for someone looking for authentic Chinese food in NW OKC.

The serving size is big. You probably will have leftovers with most entrees. You get value when you save what you cannot eat, and I eat a lot!

Edit: Having tried more dishes, I will recommend a few more. I have been doing takeout only since Covid, but the quality of this restaurant has not suffered at all. You can't go wrong with the pork bun or pork dumpling appetizers, steamed or fried. The chicken lo mein is delicious. Chongqing diced chicken with chili peppers is incredible if you love spicy entrees. Enough food with that entree that I get an extra meal from the leftovers for myself. The crispy eggplant with szechuan spice is AMAZING! These are like the best-seasoned fries you've ever had, except made out of eggplant! Excellent vegan dish, slightly spicy but tolerable if you don't like too much spiciness. Crispy tofu with szechuan spice is a great spicier vegan dish too. Did not expect to like these vegan dishes, but they were great! We keep coming back here for incredible food and great service. Excited to try...

I have an admission: For some reason, I've long had this nagging feeling that I should have something bad to say about Chuanyu, despite the fact that I've never had anything but fantastic meals the times that I've eaten there. Perhaps it is a soreness from the great restaurants that have come and gone from that building over the years? I'm not sure.

Since the pandemic I've taken a liking to lo mein, I've tried it from a number of places in the far NW metro and have developed a list of favorites...excepting Chuanyu, whose lo mein I hadn't tried until today. After today, they win. Chuanyu's lo mein is the best that I've had in the area. Their noodles aren't lead weights, and the proportion of vegetables and meat is perfect in balancing the flavors.

Chuanyu has the best Chinese food on the far NW side, and it's not even close. The food is well prepared, and dining in it's very well plated. They never deliver less than what they say. When they tell you it's going to be crispy, or hot & spicy, that's what you're going to get. And it's always going to be balanced, flavorful and prompt. Highly...