The conquest of the city by Sichuan restaurants is nearly complete. When the earliest eateries from that remote region of China first appeared on the Upper West Side in the '70s, they were palaces of the pallid, with a sticky-sweet stir-fry of baby shrimp in a barely spicy red sauce as their marquee dish. Later, as actual Sichuan immigrants trickled into the city, and the chains Wu Liang Ye and Grand Sichuan arose to spread the gospel, we've had real—and really hot—Sichuan food in many Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens neighborhoods, "mah-lah" (numbing-spicy) peppercorns and all. Our portfolio was completed by the appearance of stalls at places like Flushing's Golden Mall, where the offal-intensive cuisine was showcased at its... More >>>