When I first wrote about Famous Szechuan Pavilion, I said it would possibly be a review in chapters, so intrigued was I by the menu. And so it has come to pass that I've returned.
It's not that this is a long menu, by Chinese restaurant standards. The food and the dishes are so different that it lures the curious. However, as I write, we are about to go into another late-summer hot spell, and on both recent visits, the air conditioning was barely functioning. They have fans and direct people to a table where there's a breeze from them, but it's really quite warm. Given that and the bare-bones decor, a visit is for the truly dedicated Eater.
A couple of new items have been added, handwritten, at the bottom of the menu. One of them is crispy pork in spicy sauce is a clear winner, thin slices of pig in a very light batter, in a spicy brown sauce studded with the kitchen's favorite sliced green onions. We also investigated the kitchen's way with organ meats, starting with the chicken gizzards. Poached and thinly sliced to about the thickness of a nickel, they were more tender than, say, gizzards found at the occasional independent fried chicken purveyor. But the connective-tissue texture was still there. They came with copious amounts of minced garlic, ginger, green onion and plenty of red pepper, good but not deeply exciting.
Beef noodle soup turned out to be an excellent choice, and even better the next day. (Even cold!) A tasty broth, nicely chewy noodles and slices of beef carried the buzz of the Szechuan peppercorns, all sashaying through the mouth. One of those dishes it'll be hard not to order on every visit. But as a tripe lover, I am sorry to say the cold tripe was a disappointment. More of the minced garlic-ginger-onion mixture I spoke of above, strips of cold cooked cabbage, limp rather than crisp, and the tripe, tender enough but cooked to a faretheewell and showing no trace of the earthiness that normally marks its presence in a dish.
A repeat warning: "Hot" means HOT here, and I request medium – on one of these recent visits, the heat was in sufficient control that other flavors could readily be detected, but on another, things had been cranked up a little more. Non-metalmouths, be warned.
Famous Szechuan Pavilion
8615 Olive Blvd, University City
314-685-0888
Lunch & Dinner Tues.-Sun.
Credit cards: Yes, but cash preferred
Wheelchair access: Fair
Smoking: No
$4-15