We finally got back to Sichuan Cottage, and picked up food for a couple of days after my cataract operation on Tuesday. And so I discovered that their menu has changed again (though not much). I checked only a few sections (authentic, noodles, and Thai), but a general observation is that prices have gone up a dollar on most main dishes.
Specific changes include dropping Chinese Bacon with Leek, Tea Smoked Duck, Braised Whole Fish with Hot Sichuan Bean Sauce, Salt & Pepper Shrimp (in shell), “Fire Pepper Fatty Sausage” (translated by me), another untranslated dish, and and Lamb Stew Chinese Herbs in Hot Pot, as well as the entire “Little Thai” section. There were a few additions to noodles and vegetables, though: Spicy Noodle Soup (Jong Bond), Pa Thai (moved from the now-defunct “Little Thai” section), and Stir-Fried Green Vegetables.
It’s still take-out only. They have moved their cash register to face the door rather than be next to it, and they have boxes of sauce packets, fortune cookies, and plasticware, from which you take what you need. (Hopefully, this means less waste, particularly of plastic.)
We got the Spicy Braised Beef Soup Noodle in Hot Oil for today–okay, but the beef was too fatty/gristly for my taste. (Mark liked it, though.) For later in the week are the ever-popular (with me, anyway) Three Pepper Chicken, Double Sauteed Pork, and Dan Dan Noodles.
Hadn’t been in a while, but we are going to a pot luck tomorrow and rather than try to make my own Spicy Cold Noodle with Sesame Sauce, I figured I would just pick up Sichuan Cottage’s, and a container of West Lake Beef Chowder while I was at it. Also got Three-Pepper Chicken, Mongolian Beef, and Thai Red Chicken Curry, the latter for the first time. The curry was good, but not really spicy, and certainly not Thai spicy, nor as spicy as when I make it at home with Maesri curry paste.
As for the Three-Pepper Chicken … in ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, the leader of the theater company says, “We’re more of the love, blood, and rhetoric school. Well, we can do you blood and love without the rhetoric, and we can do you blood and rhetoric without the love, and we can do you all three concurrent or consecutive. But we can’t give you love and rhetoric without the blood. Blood is compulsory. They’re all blood, you see.” For me, Three-Pepper Chicken is compulsory.
Oh, and prices have gone up again, even over what is on the menu scan on their web page. Main dishes haves gone up by $1, and the soup by $0.50. The Noodles are the same, but I suspect a $0.50-$1 increase is probably accurate for most of the items. They are still take-out only, but they haven’t sold the furniture yet.
With tip, ours came to $75, and we have at least two meals for the two of us (possibly three), two dishes for the pot luck, and 3 or 4 extra cups of brown rice. Still a bargain!
Indoor dining is open, but when I was there yesterday (Saturday) at 12:30, it was totally empty. This made me think to remind people to tip on take-out (which is what I was getting), because if the restaurant is doing dine-in, there is presumably a server there, but if no one is actually eating in, that server isn’t getting any tips unless people tip on take-out as well.
And in good news, the prices have held steady for the last year–what we got charged for our five items were the prices listed in the menu I picked up last November.
(The Shredded Beef and Hot Green Pepper seemed hotter than usual. I don’t know if that’s intentional, or just the luck of the draw on peppers.)
Yesterday I took a ride to SC, as I’ve been craving some legit Sichuan for weeks. I’ve been telling friends who used to live in Philly that it’s the only place I’ve found down here in 7 years that qualifies, so they also placed an order. I got my usual: dumplings in hot chili oil, sesame noodles, and #922, fish and tofu in hot oil.
I’ll start by saying I haven’t had SC in close to a year (since my last post) AND I was feeling the pressure of having told my friends how great it is. Sesame noods were spot on w great kick. Dumplings were different but delicious, so no complaints. Sorry to say that wasn’t the case w the fish dish, which @joonjoon introduced me to a few years ago. The broth that came with it yesterday was minimal (it used to be almost like a giant bowl of soup/hot pot), and while it had some heat, it was missing the deep color and depth of flavor that I had come to love. It also had no contrasting texture - just fish + tofu. It used to have bean sprouts (and MAYBE glass noodles?). When I have the leftovers later today, I’ll add some bok choy, since I have some in the fridge (channeling @MsBean ).
Bottom line is I suspect they have a new chef. SIGH. It’s still the only place that’s been consistently good, but I’m sad.
P.S. I did have the foresight to stop at Nicholas Creamery on the way home for some Rainbow Cookie ice cream, as I always want something sweet after spicy food.
Sorry to hear the fish was disappointing. Have you ever been to Jinli? It’s the one in the plaza with the Asian Market up the street from SC. We did take out from there and thought the food was very good.
The one time I tried Jinli, they were closed. That’s because I had tried going to SC was closed, so it was probably a Tuesday; haven’t tried again, but it’s certainly worth a shot based on what you and others have said!
Re: the ice cream, I did like it - although I’d like double the amount of ‘stuff’ (cookie pieces, chocolate) in it. I also liked the fact that it’s more ‘solid’ because of the almond base vs. their regular cream bases. I do often feel like I’m racing/eating NC’s ice cream faster than I want to because it’s melting quickly. Oh, and the PB Whiskey is pretty damn good too!
I think we ended up at Jinli the first time because SC was closed.
Totally agree about the rainbow ice cream. The Sprout and I both thought it would have been better with a raspberry swirl. And yes, NC’s ice cream does melt too fast - or I eat too slow.
There is an entire Jinli thread (https://www.hungryonion.org/t/jinli-sichuan-cuisine-marlboro-nj/14347). Summary: About on a par with Sichuan Cottage–better on some things, not as good on others. Was a bit pricier, a couple of years ago, IIRC, but who knows now. For dine-in it seemed to be very noisy. Of course, since all we’re doing these days is take-out, that wouldn’t matter as much. Not sure of their current hours, but it had always been the backup place when we managed to forget that Sichuan Cottage was closed on Tuesdays.
We picked up food at Sichuan Cottage Sunday: Three Pepper Chicken (of course), Shredded Pork with Sweet Bean Sauce (very good), and Fish Fillet with Chopped Chili and Black Bean Sauce (very spicy, but not much black bean). Gong hei fat choy!
Does anyone know if Sichuan Cottage still (again) has their Chinese lunch menu? Or is it part of that pre-pandemic paradise that has been lost forever?
Not what I meant; those are the"American" lunch specials. The menu I’m asking about was entirely in Chinese. Message #108 has an English translation of what the Chinese menu was then.
I was in Sichuan Cottage today and saw a lunch menu behind the counter.It was mostly the usual Chinese restaurant stuff, though they did have Three Pepper Chicken on it. I didn’t see any other “Authentic” dishes, and I didn’t see any special Chinese menu.
Notes: Noodles with Cold Sesame Paste was a bit gloppy. Chicken with Hot Garlic Sauce, and Double Sauteed Pork we’re both great.
Apparently Three Pepper Chicken has been on their Lunch Specials menu for a while.
They have a sign on the counter that there is a 3.95% charge for credit cards. They didn’t seem to add that to my bill; I don’t know if that means they discount for cash, or what. There is also a minimum amount for credit and debit cards.
Prices have gone up since the last menu I had (01/22) by about a dollar a main dish.
At some point I think they renumbered their “Authentic Sichuan Dishes”, so double-check if you tend to order by number. (Or just think of it as a grab bag. )
I like that the plasticware, sauces, and napkins are on a table at the front and you can take only what you need. (I never need plasticware or soy sauce, for example.) This is so much better than giving you a bunch of stuff you don’t need.
They now have booths along one wall, replacing the “all-table” format they has before.
I asked them about the cc fee recently. They told me there was only a minimum charge of X and that there was no cc fee. I never see a fee on the bill, either.
I also liked the fact that it’s more ‘solid’ because of the almond base vs. their regular cream bases. I do often feel like I’m racing/eating NC’s ice cream faster than I want to because it’s melting quickly. Oh, and the PB Whiskey is pretty damn good too!
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