Sichuan House — Restaurant in Walnut Creek

Big disappointment. Place has a good reputation. My coworker recommended it. My wife ate there twice before and it wasn't bad at all. So, our family of 3 went for dinner on Saturday at 7 pm anticipating something new and special. Spacious, clean room but very few customers for weekend eve. Friendly staff, quick service, good size portions (not too big, not too small). Everything else (I am talking now about food) was between mediocre and bad. Spring rolls, I should admit, were good. Pancakes are nothing special but eatable. Deluxe Seafood Soup was neither deluxe nor really seafood. Very bleak look, bland taste, a lot of tofu, barely any seafood. Sweet and Sour Fish was not bad but too soft. Fried Rice Combination didn't seem to be fried and all ingredients were tasteless. Finally, lamb was oversalted to the point of being uneatable. We mentioned it to hostess, she took it to kitchen to replace, brought it back soon after with apologies. We tasted it and it was the same oversalted lamb. It looked like they brought the same plate back. We left it untouched, very politely mentioned to hostess that we couldn't it it. She was surprised, apologetic but charged us for it. Maybe it was a bad day for them, new cook, or maybe it's a pattern based on several negative reviews. We will not go back and cannot...

An update on my 2015 review is long overdue. We will always remember 2020 as the year of the pandemic. For us, we hold the memories of my wife battling cancer. The cancer that she was treated for made it hard for her to eat and the one dish she enjoyed so much was Sichuan House, Chicken Chow Fun. She would always say their noodles were easy to chew and she really enjoyed the dish. Fast forward to 2021, and we still order her chicken chow fun almost every Saturday for lunch. She is much better now but still loves this dish. Sichuan House has been closed to dine in and has only allowed take-out for almost an entire year. The staff know how to package their dishes for travel, are very kind and also very quick. We get a kick out of the response we hear when we place our order "ready in 10 minutes". Another dish they make that is worth mentioning is their Spicy Crispy Beef. This is my goto dish. The beef is crispy but not covered in batter. The spice is from the hundreds of red peppers they incorporate in the dish. The garlic acts as a pheromone making it impossible to not take a second bite. Good to the last bite. As mentioned, this update is long overdue and Sichuan House deserves my 5 star review. Their menu is extensive and the people there care. Worth a try for lunch...

The only reason that we are returning to this restaurant is because we have a few dishes that are absolutely amazing and is worth driving to pick up the food that we order once in a while. On the other hand, the Chinese lady at the counter is there just to collect your money without any appreciation for ordering or keeping their business alive. She is extremely rude all the time, never offer utensils and if you ask for, she is rolling her eyes. The kimchi that is always offered from the house, she only give you a super small sample lately, no matter if you order 10 dishes. If you ask for another one, always replies that they are out! She messed up the order several times and never offered to fix the problem. She make you pay for it, and she just offer to add your initial order if you pay again. Not a very good business person, not a good customer relation person, especially that she gets in contact with almost all customers. She never say thanks for ordering or anything else. She takes you money and runs away to not be able to ask for anything extra. Besides her, the food is great, like I mentioned before, but she is bringing down...