Szechuan Express

Let me first start off by saying that I am a frequent visitor of the Szechuan Express at Bay Adelaide (BA) and I really enjoy the food. On June 9, 2016, I went to the Szechuan Express at First Canadian Place (FCP) and ordered the same thing I usually order at BA: steamed rice, the spicy eggplant and the Szechaun chicken. The food at the FCP location was HORRIBLE. The food had no flavour and the eggplant tasted rotten. I ended up throwing out the food because I was not going to walk all the way back to FCP to complain. On June 10, 2016 when I called the corporate office to complain, I was told that they had received complaints from the First Canadian location before and that they would have a manager contact me. The manager did call me back but she had a «do not care» attitude and did not offer to «make it right.» I am disappointed that Szechuan Express corporate had knowledge of the inconsistent food preparation at the FCP location but have not put a system in place to rectify the issue (s). I will not eat at the FCP location again and I am writing this review so that no one else will make the same mistake that I did.

Just went here for lunch really wanting to treat myself knowin this isn’t the most healthy food but the stuff looked really tastey. I got the noodles and 3 items. Items were mixed veggies, cashew chicken and spicy beef. It was as if they put it in lip gloss so much oil and greasey and little taste. The food left me feeling sick so greasy and not worth it so i threw half of it out. Never again Szechuan never again.

Extremely poor customer service. There was a lady in front of my friend and I who asked for the price of spring rolls. She got ignored by the employee who were taking orders. She asked again and was coldly told by another employee that they don’t sell them individually but then out of the blue the employee taking our order says $ 1.99 in a very rude tone. Of course the lady who wanted the spring rolls walked away. $ 1.99 for a spring is absolutely ridiculous, you can go to an Asian grocery store and buy 10 for the same price! Anyways as the lady was walking away, the employees behind the counter were giving her the dirtiest look and talked about her while my friend was waiting to order. She paid little attention to my friend when she ordered because she was busy talking about the lady and keep eyeing her. Very unprofessional. All the ladies behind the counter are extremely rude, maybe except for the cashier.
There are way better options at the food court ie. Maxim, Ruby Thai (amazing service), Muncho Burrito and Amaya.
I do not recommend this place at all. I have never seen someone be treated this way just for asking the price of something.

They spit on the grave of the great General Tso!

The girl who attended me was extremely rude and unkind. She gilled my plate with so much noodles and half a table spoon of meat. Seriously bad quantity of protein and bad looks at this place!!! Stay away.

Writing this review as I stare down at my uneaten meal. This place is pretty gross.
The line moves quick and it’s very hard to decide on what you want — I originally ordered a combo with noodles and 3 items, but the servers are inattentive and only care about rolling through customers, so they only gave me 2. I ended up with the lo mein, bok choy & sesame chicken.
First off, everything here is more or less deep fried, which had I known in advance, I probably wouldn’t have come here for lunch. The lo mein is disgusting — completely overcooked and in pieces, and has a putrid fishy smell to it. It’s making me sick. The bok choy is slimy from the sauce, but tastes decent. The sesame chicken would taste much better if not deep-​fried.
So many better options around here — AVOID.

I personally feel the ready-​made stuff is legit pretty bad and overpriced. It tastes nothing like Szechuan food! It is more of a typical westernized chinese food made to match the local palate. However…
What I do think is worth ordering the the made to order noodles. You line up on the right side (there are two separate line ups) and you can order the type noodles, either with soup or without, paired with protein and veg. This option tastes much better and you can save a couple of bucks for a latte instead.

I’m surprised at the poor reviews here… I think Szechuan Express is above average for the type of place that it is. It’s definitely on the pricer side, but I find their food delicious — it always seems to be (again, for the type of place that it is…) fresh and served hot, with great variety available. Most importantly, it’ll keep you full. I may pay $ 12 for chicken, veg, noodles and a coke, but I know I’ll be full for the rest of the day — or taking half of it home for dinner.
I’ve always found the staff at this location friendly and helpful.
I generally go after the main lunch rush though — maybe that helps explain my positive experiences.

I really enjoy eating Asian food. If you’re like me and enjoy eating Asian food, you can do better than this place, especially for the price. I had the Lo Mein noodles, 1 veggie & 1 meat which came up to $ 11.30. This is fine, you’re downtown afterall.
I get back to my desk to have my lunch and Meh. I didn’t really care for any of the food. First, the Lo Mein noodles were soft and mushy. I like my Lo Mein noodles to have a bit of a crunch to them, I don’t want them melting in my mouth that isn’t what Lo Mein noodles is supposed to be about. The rest of the meal was kind of enjoyable, that is until I looked down at the food and found this pubic hair staring at me -.-
I ended up throwing ²⁄₃ of this food out, but I wouldn’t have eaten the whole thing anyway.

I’ve eaten at Szechuan Szechuan before but they’re renovating, so, as the sign said i went to check out what Szechuan Express had to offer.
I was looking for some Green Curry Chicken — It didn’t look like they had it. so I asked «Do you have any Green Curry Chicken?» and I was looked at like I wasn’t speaking English. although, and don’t take this the wrong way, it didn’t seem like any of the 6 grumpy-​looking Asians behind the counter had English as their first language. So then I said ok and looked at the other food available, which looked like it might be ok, but in the meantime while deciding I asked when the restaurant would be reopened? And they grumped out a «dunno!» and I decided then and there that I would not be patronizing their establishment today.
So I said «ok, thanks for your help» and walked over to the Indian place beside — where I was greeted kindly and placed my order. Review pending after I finish eating lunch ;)

I like to believe, believe firmly, that all Chinese people eat this way. They deep fry chicken and pork, preferably into useful little balls, and then cover it with rich delicious candy syrups. It’s the Szechuan way. It’s my way of eating Chinese food. I love it.
You’ll find this in the First Canadian Place food court. They keep the line moving fast and efficiently soup nazi style. You get it in a little plastic take out box. You grab a seat. You eat. You look at women in business suits. And then you go.

Worst place in FCP.
You have that craving for Chinese and think you’ll grab something decent, but this place is a flop.
I just ate there again despite telling myself not to last time. Within the year they started using smaller containers which doesn’t suit the 3 items for $ 12.00 price tag they put on the food, like everything else in the food court is half the price for more food, and isn’t 80 percent noodles or rice.
Today I was stupid enough to eat there and grab the 3 item meal and boy was that a waste. First they tried to fill my tray to the top with noodles, and I had to stop them so that I could put the stuff i’m paying for in there, turns out that it didn’t matter.
The first meat item I got, I overhear the girl saying to the other girl «just put one scoop in there.» which turns out to be just a little bit of beef, the next item they girls says «dig for more vegetables not too much meat». I see that I have tonnes of green peppers and two little strings of chicken. At this point forget about getting evetables, since I hardly got meat. I order another meat item. 3 pieces.
I was just amazed at how badly they try and rip you off in front of your face. I’m eating basically a bunch of noddles with a few pieces of meat tossed in for $ 12. This is at best a $ 5 meal. Not to mention it was cold, greasy and disgusting.
I will never eat here again, and if anyone values their money or their stomachs they should look at some of the other places in the food court. These guys just want to rip you off with their super tiny portions and leftover quality food.

Unbeatable soup menu. My favorite is the beef soup with rice noodles. Their buffet style food is fresh at peak lunch times. One of the best Asian fast food counters.

Ummm. no. I don’t think I will be coming back for a long time.
They have reasonable lineup, which makes you think the food is decent. And it is also located in the same food court as szechuan szechuan so you would think it would be a cheaper version of their fine dining restaurant. But no, it is totally different, the true representation of chinese fast food here. It is either greasy or salty.