Midtown Lunch

I was in the mood for something spicy, so I headed to Szechuan Tasty House, a small Szechuan restaurant which offers both familiar Chinese dishes and some more exciting ones. The regular menu has countless dishes under $10 and a Monday- Saturday $6 lunch special that includes an entree, rice, and soup.

The dumplings in spicy sauce were a fantastic start to the meal. Eight, tightly packed dumplings are covered in a very garlicky sauce. These slippery guys were hard to hold on to with chop sticks, but that made every bite even more rewarding.

I have been on a mega-eggplant kick this month and had to order the “Golden Coins”. I absolutely loved them. Fried circles of eggplant are stuffed with a dumpling- like filling of pork and veggies.  It comes with a tangy sauce that adds even more flavor to the coins. These are available as a lunch special.

I noticed that I tend to order a lot of pork whenever I am in Chinatown. To change things up, I ordered something I would usually not consider- Kung Pao chicken. While the I liked the mix of veggies, especially the water chestnuts and mini corn that reminded me of old school Chinese take out, and I appreciate the ample use of chili peppers – it just didn’t thrill me the way a pork dish would have.  Why was I kidding myself? I should just stick to pork.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• Familiar and new dishes are offered
• The dumpling appetizer will please any garlic lover
• If I hit the slots at Atlantic City, I would want to fill my bucket with golden eggplant coins

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• The kung pao chicken just couldn’t replace the thrill of pork

Szechuan Tasty House, 902 Arch St (@ 9th St), 215 925 2839