the decor... kind of boring, but that's ok. that way you don't get distracted from the food.well LF has been telling me to go to sichuan bistro for probably six months now ("liz, it is the best chinese food in cincinnati") and i just had never made it up there. any time i suggested it, people were like "drive to MASON for CHINESE FOOD??? are you insane?" but when alex and lina came into town, i knew i had some willing diners to go with me. and by "willing," i mean "people who have no idea where mason is and therefore would not bitch about the drive, and anyway live in new york and are totally used to the idea of taking an hour long subway ride for good food."
fook yu! fook mi!last weekend we went up there. like many restaurants in cincinnati, sichuan bistro closes early (9:30) so you have to hurry to get up there in time, at least if you are like me and always forget to eat on time and also have late-eating guests visiting you.
fish filets with sichuan saucedo not be alarmed by the fact that this place is in a strip mall. i am a huge fan of strip mall eating... i think anywhere that can hack it in a totally nondescript location and is not a chain probably has some damn good food. also, mason is pretty much overrun with really tasty little places to eat, thanks to all the internationals living in the area for their jobs at p&g.
scallion pancakeif... i mean, when you go, make sure you ask for the chinese menu. they have an american menu too and if you don't have your token chinese friends with you, they might mistake you for a typical fried rice and almond boneless chicken loving american. and then you will miss out on the truly amazing dishes available at this very authentic and delicious restaurant. and then you will come on my blog and leave bitchy comments about how it wasn't worth the half hour drive up there. you have been warned.
baby bok choy with minced garlicsichuan bistro did not disappoint. we ordered a variety of items off the menu to share and we loved everything. the vegetables were so fresh and delicious. the fish was crunchy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. lots of garlic and hot peppers and peppercorns. the silken tofu melted in your mouth. it was excellent.
beef with soft tofuthe prices? good. it's average chinese food prices. for three of us and five items, we paid $55. we also took home a shitload of food... seriously it was enough for all of us to get a second meal out of it. so you could totally spend less.
the spread... the fifth dish we ordered was dumplings with chili oilif you love chinese food, do yourself a favor and make the trek up to mason for sichuan bistro. i'm with LF... this is seriously the best chinese i have ever had in cincinnati.
6 comments:
i tend to prefer king wok near UC. although, i'm not picky about my chinese.
there's a noodle place in tri-county that's interesting. you should also try the sri lankan place in loveland... however, unsure if it's still there.
my favorite asian food, though, is riverside korean. it's pricey for my starving artist budget, but it's where i choose if i want to "splurge."
My husband and I had been groaning lately about having no good Chinese options around here. King Wok is meh, and we had a fantastic Chinese place when we lived in Lexington (Panda Cuisine, not far from the UK campus), so we've been dying for something along those lines. So we jumped on your recommendation and went to Sichuan Bistro tonight - and it was fantastic!! It was by far the best Chinese we've had here in Cincinnati - thanks so much to you (and Liberal Foodie!) for a great tip - we'll be returning there many times for sure!
Sara
I can't wait to go there. We need to check out Uncle Yips soon. I love it when I get to be on your blog.
glad that you liked it, as well as Sara! try the cumin lamb, medium spice level, it's one of the best dishes on the menu! or if you want to test the limits on your hole get hot! the husband always gets hot and burns his taste buds off.
LF: yum, cumin lamb sounds amazing!
drew: i like king wok too, but sichuan takes it to another level (in my opinion). riverside = really good when it is good, but i have noticed it can be a little hit or miss. i really want to try the sri lankan place and from what i hear it's still there. re: the noodle place, are you talking about lulu's noodle shop b/c actually i don't like that place (i think it's bland).
sara: i'm glad you liked it too!
maggie: we definitely need an uncle yip's run soon.
This is for margaux patel - even though I'm not sure if it'll get read... Don't go to Uncle Yip's! Ugh it smells bad there and their dim sum is not the best in Cincinnati. I like what is now called "Jan's Chinese" in Montgomery. They have the better dim sum.
Sichuan has been 'yelped' now and it's always busy with people asking for "Kung Pao Chicken" Ok, I will give them that they are in the right province, but that is the wrong dish to get at Sichuan! If you go back, you should try the Pork/Chinese/Leek scallion dish. Don't know it's rightful name as my mother-in-law always orders in Mandarin and I don't speak that.
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