Cheng Du — Restaurant in Tredyffrin Township

My wife and I were here for lunch earlier today and we enjoyed our dining experience. We had recently been to another restaurant serving Schezuan restaurant in the area (Pin Wei) and were unpleasantly surprised at the sheer spiciness of their food, so we were a lot more careful here. That caution may have been unwarranted because we went up to items marked 8 on the spice level (varies from 1-10) and could handle even those items reasonably well. But more on that later. The other comment besides our caution was the large number of Asian patrons coming to the restaurant. If one seeks Asian folks frequenting an Asian restaurant as a marker for authenticity, Cheng Du certainly met that test and with flying colors.

Back to the food. This is what we ordered for the two of us: a scallion pancake for appetizers, and sichuan style chicken lo mein, pork with chilli green peppers, and hot pot style shrimp for our main course. The scallion pancakes were not impressive but one nice feature was that it had been cut up making it a bit more convenient to eat. All three items that we ordered for our main course were enjoyable. The pork with chilli green peppers was a 6 on the spice level and the lo mein was 5 and for both items, I found it best to add a sprinkling of their chili oil. The hot pot style shrimp at 8 was at the spice level I expect of Schezuan food and manageable for both of us. Besides the shrimp, there was a fair amount of veggies in it, which my wife always enjoys. In terms of portion size, what we got was too much food for the two of us and we took home about half the noodles and the hot pot shrimp even though we were both fairly hungry as we came in to the restaurant.

Service was fine without being exceptional. We requested forks as we aren't quite proficient in the use of chopsticks. We were also served a pot of hot tea as we entered and on a cold January afternoon, that is always welcome. Bottomline is that we enjoyed our dining experience and if we were in the area, we would certainly consider coming...

We came for lunch around 1-2PM for a party of 2. It wasn't very busy, maybe 1 or 2 tables were occupied. We were seated immediately and given a takeout menu to look at.

We ordered the Dan Dan Noodles and Steamed Pork Dumplings for our appetizers. For my main dish, I ordered the Braised Brisket with Lightly Fried Tofu in Hot Pot.

The Dan Dan Noodles came out first. It was quite a large serving and could probably pass as a entree dish. Even sharing between the two of us, we were almost nearly full by the time the entrees came out. The noodles were good, but a little spicy! It did taste like chili oil as well. If you're not a fan of spicy food, you may not enjoy this dish.

The Steamed Pork Dumplings came out next. There were 6 pieces total. I honestly can't remember too much about the dumplings--not bad but not good.

The Braised Brisket with Lightly Fried Tofu in Hot Pot was quite delicious. It is a soup-based dish and there's plenty of it to share. The broth was delicious, though a little on the saltier side. The brisket was a little tough but still good. It does have skin attached to some of the brisket pieces, which I didn't quite enjoy, but there were sufficient pieces without the skin also. The tofu is firm, and as the name of the dish suggests, lightly fried. It tasted good but I wonder if a softer tofu would complement the dish better.

Overall, Cheng Du was a nice little spot to stop in for authentic Chinese dishes. The dishes have big serving sizes, so I would recommend ordering less than you would think. We ended up taking most, if not all, of our entrees home. The food was good and the staff were quick...

Update: I’m a bit concerned after reading one bad review mentioning that the restaurant had rodent issue. I went to the pa restaurant inspection website and found out it was true. In 2021, they had extensive rodent issue. Although the place looked super clean today, I’m still a bit concerned over its history. This is the reason for rating it four stars instead of five. ————————- Oh, boy! Where do I start? This place is so so legit. It’s not fancy, but has the best Sichuan food I’ve ever had in the US (BTW, Cheng Du is the capital city of Sichuan Province).

Have you been to Dan Dan or Ping Pong? Both are good Chinese restaurants, but Cheng Du in Paoli is better in my opinion as Cheng Du nailed the Mala (spicy and numbing seasoning) flavor. The numbing part is often missing in many similar restaurants, but I could really taste it here in Cheng Du.

Cheng Du is not a restaurant you take your date to, but do come if you just want to focus on food/eating. Inside deco is very plain and minimum, but it’s very clean. Their health score is also fantastic according to Yelp data. Service is friendly.

When it comes to price, it’s a bit cheaper than both Dan Dan and Ping Pong. Portion size is decent too! I will definitely...