After reading many reviews about Tasty China, I decided it needed to be the first Szechuan restaurant I’ve been to. And of course I had to bring a friend with me to share in this experience. Now I knew Szechuan food has a reputation for being spicy, but words can’t really prepare you for how spicy it really is. So after a little research I decided to order the Braised Sliced Beef with Vegetables in Hot Chili Oil, the Dry Fried Eggplant, and the pork belly. The waitress looked at me and my fellow fair-skinned eating companion like we were a little crazy, but we are so that was okay.
The first dish to come out was the pork belly. When I ordered it, I was assuming I would get the fried crispy version that has been raved about, but apparently I ordered the wrong thing and got a thinly sliced, roasted version instead. I think it was called pork belly in garlic and numbing sauce. I’m kind of glad I made this mistake because the dish was unforgettable. Unforgettably hot that is. This dish was BY FAR the hottest of the three and was cooked in an interesting neon red colored sauce. I wish I could describe how hot it was, but the best way I can describe it in words is it felt like someone stuck a taser in my mouth. This dish left me literally dripping in sweat and my put my friend in tears, but we wanted more! It tasted great, even with how spicy it was, and the pain just made us laugh and happy.
- Garlic Spicy Pork Belly
The other two dishes were amazing. Spicy, but completely tolerable. The eggplant was amazing. The symphony of textures and flavors in the dish were astounding. The numbing peppers in it however, were like little nuclear-hot landmines so beware!
- Dry Fried Numbing Eggplant
The braised beef was like the greatest, spicy beef stew you could think of. They were definately not skimpy on the amount of meat, considering there was more meat then anything else in the dish!
- Braised Sliced Beef with Vegetables in Hot Chili Oil
Overall, our experience was great. Yes the food was super hot, but Szechuan food is supposed to be super hot. Even though it’s very spicy, you can still taste a variety of other complex flavors in every dish. We left Tasty China sweaty and crying, but very happy we gave it a try. This meal was an experience we will remember forever.
- All Gone! (Not really… There was plenty to take home)
