Savor Sichuan Solidifies Midtown West As NYC’s “Little Sichuan”

There are Sichuan restaurants all over the city, but the largest concentration of them has to be in Midtown West. I have no statistics to back that statement up but now that Savour Sichuan has opened in the old China Sun. our spice receptors in Midtown West will never yearn for heat again. We first heard about this place from Eater, who seems to have added it to their regular take-out rotation. I finally got a chance to visit this past week and tried two dishes.

Dining in can be a challenge if you try during the hours of 12-2. I was lucky to arrive at the beginning of their rush and watched the room fill up and the waiters and waitresses almost have a nervous breakdown, running around the restaurant, trying to deal with the crowds

But it’s worth stopping by because they have a wide variety of lunch specials, all under $9. There are 35 options ranging from Sichuan specialities to more Americanized-Chinese fare like general tso’s and sesame chicken. They all come with a choice of soup and rice.

The wonton soup started the meal off nicely with tender little dumpling pouches and an oniony broth. It was very warming on a cold afternoon. I would have been fine making a meal out of about 12 of these.

I tried two main dishes. First off, the crunchy and spicy Dry Stir Fry Chicken, consisted of hunks of pan-fried chicken that took on the flavors of the neighboring chiles and peppers. It was slightly greasy, but the numbing effect was high and the Sichuan peppercorn heat always enjoyable (in a painful sort of way). A very nice dish for $8.

The Mapo Tofu didn’t impress me as much. I’ve had this many times and while I’m certainly no expert, I found this one to be lower on the heat scale (maybe the chicken hurt my tastebuds) and a little too gloopy. The gelatinous sauce was a bit off-putting and the tofu itself was a little too soft. Took a while to find some pork bits in the bowl, but when I did I was much happier.

There are other options on their full menu, which is considerably more expensive (few dishes are under $20). One thing Eater wrote about was their scallion rice which sounded great, but was not part of the lunch special. If I wasn’t so cheap, I might have tried it.

I’m not convinced Savour Sichuan is any better than Lan Sheng, Szechuan Gourmet, or Cafe China. But it is nonetheless an exciting addition to the growing spice world of the West 30s.

Savour Sichuan, 108 West 39th Street (bw Sixth and Broadway), (212) 221-7237

2 Comments

  • I came here for dinner like the day after I read the Eater article. I thought it was OK and representative of the many mediocre Sichuan places in Midtown, but definitely not something to rave about. I even tried the scallion rice and while tasty, nothing to go out of your way for. Definitely no Cafe China or anything at that level.

  • Tepid reviews aside, the Eater article points out that this place will be introducing DIM SUM BREAKFAST starting this month. That is worth a visit for sure.

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