Szechuan Tasty Restaurant: Noodles and Lamb

I’m not sure why, but I’ve noticed that many of the Szechuan restaurants around town have very generic names such as “Szechuan Restaurant”, “Szechuan Cuisine”, “Szechuan House”, “New Szechuan Restaurant”, and one of the newest… Szechuan Tasty Restaurant which opened up last year on Kingsway, across from Metrotown and in the former Tai Won location. The reason why I bring this up is because it can get very confusing when you’re looking for a restaurant and they all sound the same.

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Chengdu Spicy Restaurant: One Dimensional Flavours

My first attempted visit to Chengdu Spicy Restaurant didn’t go as I had planned (what else is new?). I’ve been wanting to try this little restaurant located at the corner of Wilson and Kingsway for a while now so I made a point to visit earlier this year. Unfortunately, I relied on the hours that were listed on Google (they didn’t have a website that I could find) and arrived just past 11:30am only to find that they were closed and the hours they were displaying in their shop said they open at noon (Mondays-Friday). So, after reporting the new hours on Google, I headed to another nearby restaurant and waited for my next attempt to try out Chengdu.

Liuyishou Hotpot (Burnaby): Spicy and Numbing

Liuyishou Hotpot is one of the many Szechuan hotpot restaurants that have opened up in Vancouver over the last few years. Specializing in Chongqing-style hotpots, this is definitely more suited to diners who have a thing for spicy food.

YuShang Hot Pot: New Hot Pot Spot

YuShang Hotpot is a relatively new hotpot place that opened up on West Broadway (near Oak) in Vancouver. The interior is fairly clean and spacious and has a generous condiment station set up near the front of the restaurant.

Grand Chinese Restaurant: Soupy Pork Dumplings

Grand Chinese Restaurant (such a typical name for a Chinese restaurant) is a newish restaurant that opened up near Brentwood in a small strip mall. We stopped by on Christmas eve because we were in the neighbourhood and quite enjoyed the food here.

On On Wonton House: Pork Chop with Black Pepper Sauce

On the search for Sunday eats, we found ourselves at On On Wonton House located at 5640 Kingsway. I’m fairly certain that this used to be the location of Mr Ho’s Wonton House (which has since moved a bit further east on Kingsway a number of years ago). We were a bit hesitant since this place was dead at 11am but figured we might as well try them out.

Myst Asian Fusion: Mixed Feelings

Earlier this year, a new restaurant opened up on the former grounds of Lester’s Family Amusement Centre and right next door to Szechuan Cuisine. The restaurant looks all shiny and modern with large tv screens on one wall.

Szechuan Cuisine – Slow and Inattentive Service

Szechuan Cuisine opened up last November in the old spot that was once occupied by Lester’s Family Amusement Centre. I’ve been meaning to try it for a while but was always confused on when they were open.

Szechuan House Restaurant

After having Szechuan food at Highgate Chinese Restaurant a few weeks earlier, I was back in the mood for some more Szechuan cuisine so I dropped by Szechuan House Restaurant on Imperial for some take-out.

Highgate Chinese Restaurant – Not Your Typical Westernized Chinese Food

Highgate Chinese Restaurant is located kitty corner to Highgate Mall and in the old Dai Sushi location.  The restaurant seems fairly clean with black furniture accented with punches of red and c-pop music videos playing karaoke-style on a flat screen tv.

Chongqing Restaurant – Lunch Specials

Some people might complain that the food at Chongqing Restaurant is very westernized but I figure if the food tastes good… does it really matter?  The last time we visited the new Chongqing Restaurant on Kingsway, we were pleasantly pleased that the music that they were playing was from the eighties.  This time around, the music was a mix of new and old but pretty much the same kind of music that we normally listen to (anyone remember Way Back into Love from the Music and Lyrics movie?).

Szechuan Chongqing (Broadway) – 30th Anniversary AYCE Tasting Menu

I’m a little confused that Szechuan Chongqing is having a “30th Anniversary” considering their website says that they opened in 1983.  Perhaps it has to do with the Chinese tradition of starting the birthday age count at one instead of zero (a newborn is said to start at 1 year old).