Friday, February 29, 2008

Yunchuan Garden, Sichuan Food, Monterey Park, California

301 N. Garfield Ave,
Monterey Park, CA 91754

GOOGLE MAP

You those of you who think you know true Sichuan food, you probably don't, not unless you know the joys of the Chinese Peppercorn . A strange little dried plant that when eaten makes your whole mouth tingle and go numb, and when cooked correctly with spicy, and oily food makes for an amazing tingling combination that is addicting and can't be beat. And Yunchuan Garden is a master of this Sichuan cuisine. If you like spicy food you owe yourself a trip to this little restaurant, though communication won't be too easy, but it is worth the adventure, but be prepared to point to things at the menu, and be ready to drink tea, because getting water isn't always easy.

The restaurant is on the west side of the Garfield in a little mall south of the 10 Freeway, but you pull in the middle of the buildings, or can go south and turn on the next street and park behind. The restaurant is usually packed, and every once in a while you will see a white person, but their are not too many of them.

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My favorite Dish is the Fish with Special Sizhuan Sauce, which also is loaded with cabbage, or you can get it with beef, or with beef and fish, and all are delicious, but the beef is usually a bit overcooked and rubbery. This is an amazing dish, absolutely phenomenal. So tasty it is ridiculous, though you may want to get some rice to cut the heat from your mouth a bit, though it isn't really that hot. It is a huge flavor though, it hits almost every taste bud. There are tons of chilies and lots of garlic.


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Another tasty dish is Sichuan Dan Dan noodles. These are noodles in a spciy ground peanut and sesame sauce with quite a bit of garlic. These are delicious, and I liked them ever better when combined in a bowl with some of the Fish with Special Sichuan sauce. Delicious!

Another great dish, that came later so I didn't take a photo of is the Spicy Pork Wonton's. These are amazing. These are a bowl of pork wontons in the a spicy sichuan sauce, and what makes them so tasty is that in these wonton's is an incredible sweet pork, which goes perfectly with the spicy sichuan sauce. A must have!

And then their is the sichuan potatoes, which are in thin strips, lightly cooked in oil with peppercorns and chili peppers. It is delicious, and different than any potatoes you have ever had. I enjoy this so much I have learned to make it at home.


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Kelly and I also got some Lo Mein noodles, just in case the rest was a bit too spicy for Kelly, but in fact she handled it just fine, and while we had some of these tasty noodles, we ended up taking them home and eating them later.

Their is also a cold dish counter with some scrumptious edibles, though I haven't tried them all because of being allergic to pork. My girlfriend does like the spicy wonton soup though, but I can't have it because of the pork, but she assures me it is amazing.

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The menu has English on it as well, so you can usually get by, and point if necessary, and water may be necessary, it is for me.

If you like Spicy food you will love this place, as you have never had anything like it!

It has been years since I have been here, and it was just as good as I remember. This place is fantastic! Sure it isn't the classiest restaurant I have seen, but the food is top notch, and gets made so quickly.

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