Grand Sichuan Visited 3/26/10 4 Forks

Grand Sichuan 125 Canal Street (between Chrystie St & Forsyth St)

I have been to Grand Sichuan many times and it's never disappointed. I will say that the decor leaves much to the imagination. We went with a party of 9 on a Friday night. The place was already packed to the limit at 7:30. They suddenly ushered us into the "downstairs" room (which I have never seen before) and what it really was was a servants quarter that they put 3 tables in. There's a futon and a dresser draw, so I think someone literally sleeps there after everyone leaves. But if you can get around the fact that the place lacks any sort of ambience, the food is great and super affordable. Many people go there for the hot pot and spicy food, which they are famous for. Our table decided to split between ordering from the menu and having hot pot. We ordered peashoot tops (incredibly yummy sauteed greens), eggplant, spicy broccoli, shrimp in sichuan sauce, some sort of spicy chicken, 2 orders of cold sesame noodles, ma po tofu, and hot pot with beef, chicken, broccoli and chinese greens (with half spicy broth and half chicken broth). We also had about 12 beers. All the food was incredibly flavorful and tasty and definitely had the signature sichuan spice. I usually love hot pot, but I think without the right sauce and bowl and cilantro, it wasn't as good as I usually like it. It was a little bit bland and I would have prefered some clear noodles and some mushrooms. But I was surprised by how much I did like the chinese greens. The beauty of chinese food is that everyone can share the large portions and at the end, we still had leftovers. The best part of all of this was that it cost $24/pp including tip!