Szechuan Restaurant (川味軒)

Cross-Posted from Calgary is Awesome.

View Larger Map
Definitely not "shi shi"
I'd driven by Szechuan Restaurant a few times before, but was never sure whether it served real Chinese food, or just another place that specialized in ginger beef and lemon chicken. But after recommendations from fellow food blogger Shannon and my personal northern Chinese cuisine expert Ray, I was excited for some authentic, spicy Szechuan food.

Despite its boxy, run-down exterior, Szechuan Restaurant is actually quite clean and elegant on the inside. As you step in, you are instantly greeted by blown up versions of numerous newspaper restaurant reviews - all of which were highly positive. B. and I showed up just before 6 PM last Saturday and the restaurant was packed with Chinese families. It was strange to be waiting for a table so early in the evening, but the fact that it was so popular despite its location was definitely a good sign.

Have you ever been to one of those restaurants where the items with the chili symbol next to them are not really that spicy? Szechuan Restaurant is the opposite - none of the menu items are marked with chili symbols, but even if you ask for your food to be "mild" (as we did), rest assured that your dishes are still going to have a kick to them.


I was excited to try the Dan Dan Noodles (擔擔麵), a signature dish in Szechuan cuisine. Szechuan Restaurant does this dish very well - the thick, springy wheat noodles are covered in a thick broth made with chili peppers, ground pork, garlic, peanuts, green onion and Szechuan peppercorns. There were tiny pieces of Chinese cabbage in the broth that soaked up all of the flavour, leaving our tongues numb from the flowery spice of the Szechuan peppercorns. So good.


We also ordered the Eggplant with Ground Pork in Spicy and Sweet Chili Sauce (魚香茄子), another popular Szechuan dish. B. hadn't tried it before, whereas my mom has tried making it using pre-mixed sauces, but ultimately gave up as you need to use a lot of oil to cook the eggplant so that it's soft on the inside but still retains the vibrant purple colour in the peel.

This dish was amazing. The eggplant was perfectly cooked, and the sauce was garlicky and spicy, with just a touch of sweetness.

Instead of ordering another traditional dish like Ma Po Tofu (麻婆豆腐) or the popular Chili Chicken (辣子雞 - we totally wussed out on that one because the picture looked like it was covered in chili peppers), we decided to take a risk and try something different - Sliced Pork with Wood Fungus (木耳肉片).


I was a little hesitant when B. ordered this as I'd had wood fungus (aka wood ear) before and didn't really like it. Here it was prepared in a way that made it light and not mushy, while the pork slices were very soft and tender. This was probably the least exciting of the three dishes, but the fact that it was not spicy made it a welcome break from the two others.

Like most Chinese restaurants, the meal was a good value - three large dishes for about $33 (excluding tip), and we took home lots of leftovers. My only quibble was that the service was slow - it took us a long time to get our table and to get our food, but I'm guessing they were just getting over their dinner rush. If we'd gone at our usual dinner time (between 6:30 and 7) we probably wouldn't have experienced the same problem. I would definitely be back for more, especially now that I know some of the waitresses speak Cantonese as well (instead of embarrassing myself with my grade school level of Mandarin.)

Szechuan Restaurant (川味軒)
414 16 Ave NW
Calgary AB T2M 0J1
(403) 276-8876
Open for lunch Mon-Tues and Thu-Sun 11:30 AM-2 PM, dinner Sun-Tues and Thu 5-9 PM, Fri-Sat 5-9:30 PM. Closed Wednesdays.