Szechuan Restaurant

It’s like a million burning needles tap dancing on your tongue. The flavors are excellent, but «mild» will still probably be too hot for the average bear.
Not your typical Chinese food!

I’ve been to this place several times because I like spicy food
even though their service is always so so.
But the last Saturday Aug 27 when I visited with may family was
worst, so I decided not to go again to this place forever.
At that time I ordered 4 dishes with rice, but our food was not
served until waiting more than 30 minutes.
The most upsetting was that other guests were served first who
came later than we though one of foods I ordered was cold food,
always served quickly and firstly.
The feeling that we might be ignored intentionally other than
Chinese guests made me more upset and we’re actually informed of
nothing in spite of so long wait.
Their staff’ve been always so so and not well trained, so I didn’t
expect much, but it’s worst that I’ve experienced.
The food? spicy like other Szechuan food, but not Szechuan delicious
I experienced in authentic Szechuan restaurants.

Used to be a favorite restaurant but they’re constantly being shut down for pests and leaving meat at room temperature overnight. People joke about restaurants being unclean but avoid this place. You’ll get food poisoning!

After a week in the national park I finally got some Chinese food. The soup of fish with pickled veggi tasted good, but the fish itself seems to be over marinated… the small spicy beef and lung was good, quite a lot beef not much lung though, and price increased from 8.98 to 11.98. They charge 1.95 for one rice which is high as I got rice for free with dishes in USA.

If you want real authentic Szechuan, this is the place to go! But understand what real Szechuan is, very very spicy! They do ask you how spicy you would like your dish and you ask for moderately spicy if you’re not brave enough, ;).

Amazing food, flavorful, and exactly what we were looking for. Fast and friendly service. I loved everything we ordered and I will definitely return or recommend to others.

Food is food but the restaurant seems dirty.

We are huge fans of this place!
The husband and I are addicted to spicy food, and Szechuan Restaurant is as spicy as it comes! It is a tad nicer than regular chinese restaurants, and the service is quite good. But you’re here for the food, let’s face it. And that is, if you’re a fire-​breathing spice fanatic like us. If you can’t handle ‘holy sh** my mouth is on fire’ sensation, do yourself a favour and stay far away.
Our FAVOURITE dishes here:
— Boiled fish in hot sauce soup (For the bravest of the brave! Top tip: eat the fish and take the sauce home with you, and use it to boil your veggies for the next four days. You’re welcome.)
— Chilli chicken (Also for the bravest of the brave!)
— Cold bean curd noodles
— Green beans
— Fried asparagus
— Tea smoked duck (this is for you non ‘spice eaters’ if you didnt pay heed to my warnings and ended up there anyway. Order this. It’s safe.)
Another top tip: Order a cold Tsing-​Tao to wash down the spicy food. It’s a delicious pairing!

This is the real deal, with a lot of the more authentic dishes (don’t be shocked to see organs on the menu) in addition to the more popular westernized ones (e.g. beef broccoli). My suggestions: the small wonton soup is great and actually quite large, and instead of getting chicken fried rice, get the more traditional chicken and salt fish fried rice.

This place is legit.
If you’re coming here, be prepared for some spicy food. Do not back out of ordering real Sichuan spicy, or else you’ll get some mediocre attempt at Westernizing the dish.
Please educate yourselves before visiting, or else you might risk hours of confusion over the menu:

pretty legit food. one of the few restaurants that i’ve been to that actually comes somewhat close to sichuan food in china.
spice level is definitely on par! there’s the equivalent of mild, medium, and spicy (we ordered in chinese, so i’m roughly translating here) — and the «medium» was definitely pretty spicy! enough to knock out most of the people at the table. personally i enjoyed the «medium» spice level a lot, but that makes me scared about how truly spicy the «spicy» is. just for reference, in a typical restaurant that advertises spicy food, i can usually eat an 8 – 9 on a scale of 10. so yea. order accordingly.
spicy food aside, their non-​spicy dishes tend to favor the sweet/​sour side rather than the savory side. not really my cup of tea, but just putting that out there.
the restaurant is pretty sizable and can accommodate large parties of people. service is also friendly and fast, so all around a great experience. would definitely recommend trying to residents and visitors of the calgary area.

The spices and flavours were mildy ‘OK”. I’ve been here several times and tried several dishes. The wontons have a fresher taste about them than other fast food chinese places, albeit a bone or two or grit from being hastily ground. The sliced beef with veggies is barley cooked and very greasy, like all great chinese food places. I dont see why this place is #1 in calgary rated by avenue, as it is definitly not. The menu is too large. The chili’s thrown in make this authentic «schezuqan» food, then again I could just throw sriracha on everything or just squeeze a bottle of sriracha into my throat for dinner.
The large pots are ideal for sharing and great for takeaway.
The tea smoked duck is mostly bone and grisle and fat. When I get bbq duck from T&T supermarket its alot more meat and alot more flavourfull. The Duck definitly had a taste of ‘bbq’d weeks ago — etc.
Its nothing to write home about. A few gripes are the ginger beef was pink inside, and still raw. The medium on the ginger beef was just right amount of chili’s. They take the time to hollow the chilli’s out so you are not getting the full seed for a medium spice flavour.
I dont think i will go back again.

This is a go-​to place for when I have out-​of-​town visitors.
If you like spicy food like I do, this is heaven! I’m not sure if there’s a huge difference between traditional and medium (mild is also an option. just not an option for me), but even the medium dishes will get your sweat glands going!
My favourite dishes are the dan dan noodles and the mapo tofu.
Your stomach will probably hate you the next day, but it’s so delicious that it makes it all worth it!

If you are a fan of spicy food, this place is a must for you! This place has become one of my favorite restaurants in Calgary. I was introduced to this gem by my friend and her boyfriend. Her boyfriend lived in the Szechuan province in China for a year and a half, and he said that the food here is definitely authentic. I trusted his word, and I’m glad I did! If you are not big into spice, you might not like it. But, you can order the dishes milder if you want. My favorites are the green beans cooked with chili peppers, the hot sauce fish soup, the jelly bean curd (a cold dish, but it is still pretty spicy), and the hot pepper chili chicken. Service is polite and prompt. I highly recommend this place!

I love hot food. REALLY hot and spicy food (despise bland, why bother?), so I was very grateful to be introduced to this place by fellow Unilocalers.
I have driven by this place too many times and had not taken notice of it. Maybe I was unsure of what to expect but one thing is for sure, I will be back here again!
There were 9 of us and this restaurant can certainly accommodate large groups seamlessly. The large tables and lazy Susans… bliss for sharing.
The service was polite and although we had to ask for a few things, they were brought out swiftly. Their main focus service-​wise was getting our food out to us quickly, nice and hot. YUMMY it was. Such flavour! I could not possibly list all the dishes we ordered but my faves were the Kung Pao Chicken and the Asparagus.
Magic in every bite. And affordable.
We got tea and steamed rice to accompany everything and let me tell you, every morsel of food and drink was gobbled up!
We had a really great time and all took turns with our fortune cookies reading them out loud… :)
I did not find the food too spicy at all but I guess it depends on what you order and your tolerance level.
No dessert served here apparently but there are plenty of other places in the area for that.
There is on site parking which is nice. I imagine Sundays here would be crazy busy but Saturdays for lunch, no problem to park.
Did you know your water tastes like sweet sugar liquid after consuming 100 chiles?

You’d think that the popularity of Iron Chef, Szechuan Cuisine (which obviously due to Chen Kinichi’s wins– reigned supreme) would exist in Calgary by a competitive handful.
Instead, google Szechuan and only one place dares to makes it claim as a Szechuan restaurant. It’s not a bold dare, considering no one felt like coming up with a witty name and named their restaurant SZECHUAN RESTAURANT.
So for a while I ignorantly ignored this place, there were other cuisines to obsess about. It wasn’t until I went to NYC that I got a chance to try Szechuan in Chinatown. Holy Shit Fuck Hell that was some hot food… but it’s delicious and a sinful masochistic experience. So much hot peppers, so much broken willpower.
Fast forward to several week ago when a good buddy of mine, who after years of training with revealed himself as a New York Foodie (props to Rueben!) insisted that Szechuan Restaurant is the best he’s ever had, better than any Szechuan place he’s stepped into in the Big Apple.
So yeah. I HAD to go.
aaaand I needed wingmen, so I deployed the bro-​horn and called upon Kenny M and Chris Sabz. We ordered three dishes: Kung Pao Chicken (traditional hot), ma po tofu (medium), sweet and sour fried fish, and their house special fried rice. The Kung Pao was impressive, the chicken was fresh and packed with flavor extracted from the Szechuan hot peppers (which are not to be trifled with, watch out of these buggers). I’ve never had Kung Pao but Kenny mentioned this is what he imagined it’s SUPPOSED to taste like, unlike the fast food tripe churned out down south. I was fighting back the beads of sweat the collected on my scalp while Chris coolly chewed the Kung Pao. The Ma Po tofu was milder but still had a sting of heat, which perfectly elevated it’s spices, coupled with the silken tofu’s texture, it was tasty eating over the savory house fried rice.
Finally their sweet and sour fried fish was the perfect dish to contrast the supreme standout heat of the Kung Pao. In fact this dish was just perfect in itself. The fish was fried so well that it was moist and buttery on the inside but the battered crust was perfectly crisp and held its own against the heavy sweet and sour sauce that had this dark molasses colour and consistency. When my buddies became too immersed in conversation I immediately grabbed the last 3 – 4 pieces and felt NO SHAME WHATSOVER.
Our bill was just as good, a meal in which each person didn’t get past the $ 20 mark. I can’t wait to get back here and push the limits of my sweat barrier.

Pro tip: Do not eat here if you do not like spicy, mouth-​numbing food. Szechuan dishes, for the most part, should be burning your face off. That being said, I have eaten mild spicy and medium spicy dishes here with less enthusastic friends and the flavours were lacking compared to when you order «hot». Always order hot and you will receive consistent results each time you eat here.
Sometimes we would order medium and the dishes were lacking in flavour. I thought maybe it was because they had a different crew that night, but no… it was because if you want the full experience, you have to order the dish hot.
One of my favorite dishes is the Ma Po Tofu and the deep fried Tofu triangles. Shredded pork is always a good bed, as is Kung Po Chicken and any of the veggie dishes. Try some of the soups as well. very tasty.
Szechuan peppercorns are present in nearly all of the «hot» dishes. These little buggers have a bit of a «soapy» aftertaste/​lingering taste, and they make your water taste lemony, but no worries… that is how it should be.

I come here at least once every 2 weeks (if not weekly). The food is addictive! If it’s your first time here, I would recommend trying the following dishes:
Salt & Pepper Eggplant
Hot chili pepper chicken without bones
Szechuan Boiled Beef (don’t let the name fool you and don’t eat the tiny Szechuan peppercorns!)
Hot and Sour Potato Noodles
Hot and Sour Soup
Hot Chili Fish Fillet
There are also different levels of spiciness offered. I always go for the traditional spicy (Level 3 if you will) because I can handle it. I would recommend trying things at level 1 or baby spicy first and come back again to try a higher level of spice.
LOVE this place!

Worst service I have ever had!,. Super sloooooooow… And the food was not good at all, very very spicy, Even when I ordered it mild, and the waiter said that was the mildest one…
I definitely do not want to go back there!

The menu has many dishes you won’t find at other Chinese eateries in the city, so head here if you’re looking to spice things up (in more ways than one). That being said, it gets only four stars because eating here is a bit of Szechuan Roulette unless you have an expert guide. This is because the menu describes most of the huge assortment of dishes only by meat cut and major veg, assuming the reader knows what the traditional sauce and other accompaniments… eating authentic ethnic is a double edged sword!
This restaurant is in a considerably larger building than before, but service was pretty prompt, if slightly «lost in translation» both times we’ve gone. The prices are quite reasonable, but don’t go expecting a light meal… I’m pretty sure everything is made with plenty of oil. Maybe it’s a good spot to bring a ravenous but not-​so-​picky vegetarian?