A Traditional Christmas Dinner

So like any non-celebrating Christmas person, there are numerous traditions we do have. No really, check out that link.

The Grand Sichuan
227 Lexington Avenue (btwn 33rd and 34th)

There are easily 10 different restaurants called The Grand Sichuan in NYC. And they all have different owners and likely no websites, so when we heard one got great reviews recently we were set to check it out. However, there are so many of them, who knows if we were at the right one. We did the common Chinese food thing- order a bunch of dishes, share, and pass.

Dan Dan Noodles

Warm noodles with a spicy chili meat sauce. Mr. Broad was adamant we try this one.
And wow, great choice! Had quite a kick to it (for me at least) but was very good.

And then you mix up the sauce to get full chili coverage...

Beef and String Beans
Ummm.. would you like some beef with these string beans? The meat was puny and shriveled. (Hehehe, middle school laughter...) And cousin was quick to point out that this was $13! Not exactly worth it.

Sesame Chicken
Lacking on the sesame seeds, and high on breading it was at least all white meat they used. Sorry, Brother, I've had better.

Spicy Ribs
Not really spicy but good Chinese ribs all the same where the meat falls off the bone.

Mapo Tofu:
Guess which one Mr. Broad ordered?! Somewhere in the online world he learned it's a popular dish to eat and he's had it before with great success. Cousin and I were surprised that he wanted this one because the main ingredient. Yes, tofu. He assured us that there is meat in it as well.

Result? Eh. Tofu's one of those ingredients that some people either just love or well, you don't. It really takes on the flavors of sauces and anything else it encounters. I do know tofu comes in different "consistencies" and I think some of them I like more than others. This was more of the slippery and err, wet kind. Not too appealing. Mr. Broad and Brother were the main eaters of this dish, even though I'm pretty sure they agreed with me. But to them, it was food.

Review:
So I'd say we all got our MSG/sodium intake for awhile. It is a typical neighborhood Chinese restaurant. As for the service I have to say I was a bit shocked when I needed more water (mouth= fire! Dan Dan noodles!!) I wasn't able to find a server. For a good 15 minutes. Finally I got up and went to the empty table behind me to get the pitcher and poured MY OWN WATER! Not to be a prima donna about this, but at a Chinese restaurant?! Blasphemy!

Some of the dishes were okay/good, some disappointing. If you do go to check this place out, the Don Don Noodles are a must. Eventually Mr. Broad and I will have to check out some of the numerous other "Sichuan Grand" or "Grand Sichuan's" in NYC and compare.

Brother still enjoys it as I'm sure I would if I lived a couple of blocks away. Due to one word. Delivery.
Grade: B- (Let the record show that Brother thought this grade was too low.)

Clearly we finished most everything but lots of Tofu left!