Sichuan in Flushing: Spicy & Tasty

I decided to try to participate in WordPress’ Challenge to Post More in 2011. My goal is to update once a week with a review. Maybe at this rate, I’ll no longer have a backlog of restaurants I need to review on my blog. Anyhow, I’m making no promises in keeping this up. Maybe I should just try to post once a month? Start small!

Mmm cucumbers!

I have been to Spicy & Tasty quite a few times. They were reviewed by the NY Times in 2006 and received two stars, which is unheard of for a restaurant in Flushing! Since then, there have been an influx of customers. For awhile, I had to wait to get a table. After taking my cousin G, who LOVES Sichuan and spicy food, my little sister, J, has been slightly obsessed with this restaurant. She is always asking us if we can go to Spicy & Tasty when we are heading to Flushing for dinner. My boyfriend, JRA, came to visit me over New Year’s weekend and of course my parents wanted to meet up with him for a Chinese meal in Flushing. Usually, we have shabu shabu and were planning to try the newly renovated Minni’s, but J was able to convince JRA about trying her new fave restaurant. JRA is a big fan of spicy foods, so I thought this would be perfect!

Similar to mapo tofu, but with fillets of fish

When we arrived at Spicy & Tasty, my mom had taken the liberty to order all our dishes. We had some delays at the airport and then parking on a block of ice in the parking lot. The dishes arrived promptly. We had a few cold dishes: pickled cucumbers, fried pork ribs, eggplant, spicy bamboo shoots, etc. As for our entrees, my mom ordered: fresh fish with bean curd (one of my favorites), stir-fried pea shoot sprouts, minced pork and cellophane noodles, cold Chengdu noodles, enhanced pork (J’s favorite), stir-fried spicy beef, chicken and cashew nuts, etc. I was a bit nervous about the minced pork and cellophane noodles dish because the last time we got it at Spicy & Tasty, they were over-cooked and a bit slimy. When the dish arrived this time around, they were perfectly cooked. My cousin G introduced me to this dish. It’s a perfect alternative to the usual dan dan noodles. I prefer these mung bean sprout noodles as they are softer and chewier. They basically taste like dan dan noodles, but with cellophane noodles. Also, it’s bigger in size so it can be shared with larger parties. The cold Chengdu noodles were pretty chewy and short. My mom is a big fan of these noodles. The fresh fish with beancurd was another favorite. The fish fillets were perfectly cooked and I didn’t find one fish bone. I also liked that the dish spicy, but bearable.

J's favorite pork dish

For those who aren’t aware, Sichuan food is known to be spicy because they utilize Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers. If you can’t handle the spice, the wait staff is more than happy to adjust the spiciness level to something more mild for you. I’m not quite sure why the English name of J’s favorite dish is Enhanced Pork, but I do agree that it’s quite tasty. I think the pork has been deep fried before being stir-fried with the vegetables. I think almost anything fried is delicious, so I might be biased!

Spicy & Tasty is the perfect place if you are craving something spicy. It’s ideal for the winter since it will more than warm you up. I look forward to my next meal there. How many more months of winter are there?

Spicy & Tasty
39-07 Prince Street (between 39th Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue)
Flushing, NY 11354
718.359.1601
Cash Only