A New Kind of Sichuan Restaurant for New York

Absolutely shocking! Just ate there this evening after US Open tennis and followed many of the recommendations: eggplant was tasteless, stodgy and utterly without either eggplant or pork flavor. A leaden bomb of a dish. Dan Dan noodles were dull and the noodles, though "fresh" were limo and without an ounce of interesting chew to them. Ma po tofu was.....tofu in chili oil and NOTHING more. whole fish was well done, but we got suckered into paying $15 more for perch instead of tilapia, because "...it was better...". I have ALWAYS read Mr. Wells with confidence, but this was, sorry Pete, AT BEST, 1 star and you failed to properly mention that 60% of the me u's items are marked "SP" special price (aka market price...) that perch was $50. Simply shocked at what 3 stars might now mean.

This failure to name chefs due to 'personal reasons' and 'fear of chef poachers' is disturbing. How is this consistent with any kind of journalistic standards, let alone standards for any kind of restaurant review? You have designated this as a 3 star restaurant. That's a big deal. As such, the chef deserves the attention and opportunities afforded to other 3 star chefs. Your most recent 3 star review was Empellon, and the headline and narrative attributed success to the chef/owner. What if you had no prior knowledge of Alex Stupak and other Empellon partners had asked that you not name him for fear of poaching? Have you ever asked a restaurateur the name of a chef and accepted 'sorry, I can't tell you' as a response, before?

No doubt Sichuanese food is tasty and exciting, and is a worthwhile part of the cuisines of China. And Pete Wells also subscribes to the allure of it.

Yet Cantonese has often been given short shrift in the modern 'Murcan press and in food aficionado sites. Why is that? I am not referring to the gloop that constitutes "Chinese Take Out" which is associated with "Cantonese Food" for better or for worse, dating from early days. But correctly-prepared and proper Cantonese food has always been regarded as amongst the finest of cuisines from China amongst even the Chinese. There is even an old saying that one should dine on Cantonese food (the phrase involves being born in, living in, (eating in), and dying in certain parts of China)

Yet I read so often of 'Murcans having no use for Cantonese - some reasons given include that Cantonese does not HIT them with ferocious flavors - as if ANY Chinese food was presumed to be of overwhelming taste. Tom Colicchio being amongst such offenders. So True Cantonese, which often requires one to appreciate delicate, ephemeral tastes. gets short shrift.

Sigh.

Maybe a new kind of Sichuan restaurant for NY, but this is a standard one in China. Good thing to see more upper scale Chinese food!

What exactly is the logic of having a Chinese restaurant in NYC whose Website is in Mandarin without any English language companion. It is either insensitivity or stupidity certainly not a welcoming ambient. www.guanfuny.com

I largely agree with you Pete. This is the closest I've come in the US to tasting dishes like those in Sichuan or at Chuan Ban in Beijing. I see the unevenness hasn't improved since February, but glad to see the Mapo Tofu has. Looking forward to a return trip this fall.

Thanks but no, thanks. I'll stick with Sichuan beef and lamb with chili peppers.

A huge shout out to Pete Wells. The review of Guan Fu was brilliant and one of his most enjoyable pieces I've read to date. I actually feel like I’m siting at the restaurant right now with beads of sweat on my brow. That’s quite a response to a restaurant review.

I see that in spite of the elegant setting, no one dresses for dinner anymore. And the beverage of choice is Coke, served in a can. Sigh.

Thanks! I just gained five pounds from reading the article....

Authentic no doubt, but I thought we'd progressed past the sadistic thrill of live animals killed to order. Or maybe I just hoped.

Good review. it sounds good. Tilapia is a terrible fish cheap in price and cheap in quality and of poor food value with no omega 3 at all farmed badly and fed the worst stuff. Still I am not going.

I am always skeptical of Pete Wells' Chinese restaurant reviews - for many of the ones I've read, his opinion has reliably been the opposite of mine and my other Chinese family members'! (How can this be - Are we using different criteria? Are our palates so far off? Am I going on the wrong days to these restaurants??? Help!)

That said, I truly appreciate the attention he has been giving to our cuisine. I look forward to trying out Guan Fu Sichuan!

The food sounds good, but serving Tilapia is surprising and disappointing in a serious restaurant. This is a fish whose only reason for being is cheapness, convenience, and constant availability--all due to mass-farming, usually in Asia or Latin America. They should take it off the menu and switch to something real, flavorful, and healthful.

Yet again, I would like to thank Pete Wells for his coverage of authentic Sichuan food. I get the impression that his coverage of this cuisine has spread word to the uninitiated who now will seek it out. His coverage certainly has educated me, and my life is better for it. Common dishes such as Dan Dan Noodles or Mapo Tofu, and my fave, the savory and oh so mouth numbing Chongqing Noodles (XiaoMian) seem to be appearing at more and more places, or more and more places are popping up in unexpected neighborhoods which offer these and other authentic dishes. It's a far cry from the days of Empire Szechuan Gourmet on the Upper West Side in the 1980s, and my tastebuds are eternally grateful for the change. And for Pete.

Boiled fish? Live turtles? My mouth is not watering, Pete.

Come to think of it, my entire family has been following NYT critics' advice about authentic Chinese restaurants for decades now and every expedition has been disappointing to disastrous. I remember when the legendary Mimi Sheraton sent us running to the greatest new dim sum palace in Chinatown; we had a miserable time and found no comfort when the board of health shut the place down the very next day.

Hmm, no mention of hou gou (hot pot)? The essence of Chengdu style cooking is the hou gou, and the most important part of that is the balance between the chili pepper (lajiao) and the wild pepper (huajiao, called in this article Sichuan peppercorns).
Variable service in a Chinese restaurant isya part of the fun. If you don't have that refill, just lightly yell "Fuyuan" and he/she will come running, surprised that you know the expression for server.

Never thought I'd see the day when a three-star restaurant serves a dish on aluminum foil. Then again, I'd probably rather spend money at Guan Fu than at two-star Per Se. So, while the initial waft is one of exaggeration, substance marinates beneath the surface, like the filling of an eggplant dumpling.

Is it just me or was this a strange choice of restaurants to review for Pete? Who doesn't disclose the name of their chef!!?!!??!??? What is happening? Is this a thing? I'm so confused.

Also agree with other reviewers about the inconsistency of a three star. If inconsistent service happened at a restaurant located in Manhattan I think the star rating would have been a little different.

Sorry, you lost me at Flushing, Queens.

"... cups of very good jasmine tea weren’t refilled as often as we would have liked."

Is this referring to the teapots or the actually pouring of the tea by waiters? Were teapots at your table, suggesting a "serve yourself" style? I only ask as pouring tea is usually not the domain of the waiters at Chinese restaurants.

I ate here a few weeks ago and while the food was fairly tasty, I am quite surprised at the three star rating Pete Wells decided to give Guan Fu. It doesn't seem illogical to assume that Wells eats at far more New American/French/Italian establishments than Chinese---and as a result, he is judging Guan Fu merely by how it compares to other Chinese restaurants he has (which may not be comprehensive list) been to rather than how the restaurant stands by itself. Compared to other place with three stars from the NYT, Guan Fu seems a little misplaced. There are far more celebrated Szechuan restaurants known within the Chinese community that I would love for Wells to visit and report on.
Aside from that, I am glad that the NYT food section is giving more awareness to Chinese food (which far too many people associate with cheap, overly sweet recipes from take-out places). Chinese food is complex, rich, and surprising, which this article conveyed quite well.

Pete!!!!!! You're back!!!! Your last few reviews have been a little lackluster????, at least that's my opinion, and the relatively few comments seem to point to that. As a huge fan of Sichuan food I devoured every sentence, which as always was brilliantly written by you. I think there's a difference in the reviews you write when you truly appreciate the food vs the ones where you're just going through the motions. Either way, both are always interesting and a great read, and I've never been steered wrong by your reviews. Well done!!! The NYTimes restaurant reviews are the only ones I read, especially since you came on board. Can't wait to try Guan Fu Sichuan.

Good to see a Sichuan restaurant that acknowledges just adding endless amounts of chiles (and all too often, copious amounts of sugar with it) is not the end-all and be-all of this regional cuisine.

I am now lost completely on what stars mean. Inconsistent service usually dooms any restaurant to 1 or 2* range.

I chuckled that the owners wouldnt give the names of the chefs. Probably the last review that will ever be written where the chef is left unnamed.

Is the same as Szechuan Mountain House which has the same address?