Boy, this is a long overdue post. I've been meaning to blog about this restaurant for the longest time, but never got around to it. I was going through some photos that we took during Chinese New Year earlier today and that reminded me about this restaurant. After the Firecracker Ceremony at Roosevelt Park, we were freezing and super hungry. So, we decided to walk south, towards Manhattan Bridge, in search of some food.
As we turned onto Canal St (from Chrystie St), I immediately saw huge two words jump out at me. HOT POT! Mind you, we have been standing out in the sub zero temperature for hours, so this was indeed a welcoming sight. Nothing beats some yummy hot pot on a cold winters day. I remember reading some reviews about this restaurant online and it received quite a number of good reviews. Looks like this is one of the few places in Manhattan where one can get some hot pot (most of the hot pot joints are located in Queens). So, we decided to head in and give this place a try.
We were quite surprised that the restaurant was rather empty (only 3 other tables were occupied) when we walked in. I am guessing cos it was a weekday and it was way past lunch time. Since there were so few people in the restaurant, the service was superb! After sitting us down, they brought out some complimentary Chinese tea and asked if we are having the hot pot or if we will be ordering from the regular menu. After telling them that we would be trying their hot pot today, they promptly began setting up the table for it.
Unlike many of the hot pot restaurants in Queens, Grand Sichuan is not a eat-all- you-can restaurant. They offer a variety of ala carte ingredients, ranging from seafood, various types of meat to vegetables and noodles. Most of the items cost between $3.95 to $7.95 per plate. I believe the most expensive item on the menu are crabs, which is $13.95 per plate. The only thing that I do not really like is having to pay $1.95 for a dish of dipping sauce. There are nine different types of dipping sauces available but having to pay $1.95 for sauce is just too much. Oh well, I guess nothing is perfect in this world :P
There are two different types of soups/broths that you choose from for your hot pot. There is the traditional spicy Sichuan flower pepper broth (mala) and the mild non spicy chicken broth. For those of you who cannot make up your mind, you can actually have both. You can opt to have a separator in the middle of your hot pot, thus allowing you to try both soups. Both Kevin and I are not really big on spicy stuff, so we stuck to the chicken broth. I must say that the chicken broth was really flavorful and delicious. There were some slices of tomatoes, spring onions as well as some Chinese herbs in the broth. Very very good.
Here are all the items that we ordered for the hot pot. I knowwww, that's quite a lot for the both of us but we were really really hungry. For the record, we didn't manage to finish everything so, we must really remember to order less the next time we head out to Grand Sichuan. We ordered some pork and beef slices, fish slices, mushrooms, wontons, beancurd skin, spinach, wheat noodles and pig intestines. Yup, you got that right. Pig intestines. In my opinion, it was really good. The intestines were already pre cooked in some soy sauce and then fried, so you just had to cook it for a bit in the hot pot. Really really yummy. Overall, we had a good experience in Grand Sichuan. The hot pot broth was very flavorful, all of the ingredients were fresh and the staff were really friendly. We will most definitely return in the very near future. If only we didn't have to pay $1.95 for a dish of dipping sauce. Ah well, maybe we should just smuggle tiny bottles of soy sauce in our pockets the next time we head over there :P
As we turned onto Canal St (from Chrystie St), I immediately saw huge two words jump out at me. HOT POT! Mind you, we have been standing out in the sub zero temperature for hours, so this was indeed a welcoming sight. Nothing beats some yummy hot pot on a cold winters day. I remember reading some reviews about this restaurant online and it received quite a number of good reviews. Looks like this is one of the few places in Manhattan where one can get some hot pot (most of the hot pot joints are located in Queens). So, we decided to head in and give this place a try.
We were quite surprised that the restaurant was rather empty (only 3 other tables were occupied) when we walked in. I am guessing cos it was a weekday and it was way past lunch time. Since there were so few people in the restaurant, the service was superb! After sitting us down, they brought out some complimentary Chinese tea and asked if we are having the hot pot or if we will be ordering from the regular menu. After telling them that we would be trying their hot pot today, they promptly began setting up the table for it.
Unlike many of the hot pot restaurants in Queens, Grand Sichuan is not a eat-all- you-can restaurant. They offer a variety of ala carte ingredients, ranging from seafood, various types of meat to vegetables and noodles. Most of the items cost between $3.95 to $7.95 per plate. I believe the most expensive item on the menu are crabs, which is $13.95 per plate. The only thing that I do not really like is having to pay $1.95 for a dish of dipping sauce. There are nine different types of dipping sauces available but having to pay $1.95 for sauce is just too much. Oh well, I guess nothing is perfect in this world :P
There are two different types of soups/broths that you choose from for your hot pot. There is the traditional spicy Sichuan flower pepper broth (mala) and the mild non spicy chicken broth. For those of you who cannot make up your mind, you can actually have both. You can opt to have a separator in the middle of your hot pot, thus allowing you to try both soups. Both Kevin and I are not really big on spicy stuff, so we stuck to the chicken broth. I must say that the chicken broth was really flavorful and delicious. There were some slices of tomatoes, spring onions as well as some Chinese herbs in the broth. Very very good.
Here are all the items that we ordered for the hot pot. I knowwww, that's quite a lot for the both of us but we were really really hungry. For the record, we didn't manage to finish everything so, we must really remember to order less the next time we head out to Grand Sichuan. We ordered some pork and beef slices, fish slices, mushrooms, wontons, beancurd skin, spinach, wheat noodles and pig intestines. Yup, you got that right. Pig intestines. In my opinion, it was really good. The intestines were already pre cooked in some soy sauce and then fried, so you just had to cook it for a bit in the hot pot. Really really yummy. Overall, we had a good experience in Grand Sichuan. The hot pot broth was very flavorful, all of the ingredients were fresh and the staff were really friendly. We will most definitely return in the very near future. If only we didn't have to pay $1.95 for a dish of dipping sauce. Ah well, maybe we should just smuggle tiny bottles of soy sauce in our pockets the next time we head over there :PGrand Sichuan Restaurant
125 Canal St (between Forsyth St & Chrystie St)
New York, NY 10002
Tel: (212) 625-9212
Note: No credit cards, cash only
Hello! I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you have here on this post.
ReplyDeleteMedical Uniforms