Dining: Rockville's Sichuan Pavilion seeks authenticity
The 2-month-old Sichuan Pavilion, tucked behind the firehouse on Hungerford, has attracted Asian and Asian American diners with a taste for the genuine article. Owner Henry Pei and his chefs are from Sichuan province, as is his sister Tian Wen Pei who joins him in the new venture. Until four years ago, she was co-owner of Joe's Noodle House just down the Pike.
The unpretentious eatery formerly housed Taste of Saigon before it moved across the street to Rockville Town Square. Among its 80-odd seats are three round tables, each accommodating 10 to 12 people. Behind these a large wall landscape presents a watery scene.
Skipping over 23 appetizers, two adventurous eaters choose among the 32 small plates. They dig with gusto into a dish of beef tendon and tripe. Its spicy sauce contains diced celery. The dark red-brown sauce, rimmed with chili oil, is hot stuff and the diners bemoan that a welcome bowl of rice arrives only with the main dishes. Our non-adventurous diner sticks to his orange chicken whose tender nuggets repose in a marmalade-like glaze.
Basil chicken with ginger in hot pot is otherwise known as three cups chicken. Rife with basil, it is served here on a hot cast iron tray rather than in a traditional hot pot. "I didn't know the Chinese used basil," admits an Asian American at the table. They sure do, and it tasted even better at a picnic the next day.
With a menu this size, we refer to our waitress for suggestions. Her pick, pork and crispy rice cake in sweet and sour sauce, turns out to be a sizzling rice dish. To their credit, the rice cakes remain crisp in the well-balanced light brown sauce that complements the sliced pork.
Taiwanese thin rice noodles studded with shrimp, vinegary red peppers, snow peas, large black mushrooms and carrot shreds round out our meal. Each sauce is different and carefully composed.
Lunch is an excellent time to explore the cuisine of Sichuan. Two special menus, available weekdays from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., highlight American Chinese-style food and authentic Chinese dishes. On the former menu are 15 dishes, $6.25 to $6.50, served with a vegetable spring roll. Forty authentic Chinese style dishes served with rice and a choice of soup are $6.75 to $6.95, or three dishes for $20.
At lunch one day, we find among the five soups the familiar hot and sour soup as well as spinach and tofu soup. We don't know what to expect of our pick, pork, sour mustard and rice noodles. The soup, served family style, turns out to be a pleasant surprise. Its flavorful broth holds well-cooked Chinese mustard greens with very thin rice vermicelli.
We explore familiar Sichuan territory with our entrees starting with eggplant with spicy garlic sauce, aka yu-shiang eggplant. The tiny Chinese eggplants bear none of the bitterness of their larger cousins. The tender vegetable is a perfect vehicle for a complex spicy-sweet-sour sauce with a heat content well within our tolerance.
Chengdu is a major city of Sichuan province, and the chicken dish that bears its name is a worthy one, studded with famed Sichuan peppercorns, whole red chiles, green scallions and, one diner declares with a warning, sliced green chiles. Sichuan peppercorns, although mild in flavor, have an interesting effect in the mouth. They make your tongue vibrate. The Chinese have a word for the sensation, a friend recently returned from five years in China says. Alas, she has forgotten what it is.
She does have words for the ma po tofu looking up at us in its red chile oil-laced sauce. "If it is edible, it's not authentic," she says. I take that to mean authentic ma po tofu is searingly spicy. Mine isn't, but I admit I have preemptively drained the excess sauce, and I like it that way.
The best, my companion says, is saved for last – braised whole fish in a brown sauce dotted with shiitake mushrooms and soft tofu. He happily goes about fileting the tilapia that covers the plate, serving the delicate, delicious fish. We can't remember enjoying a whole fish, even a small one, for such a modest price.
One more good thing: Sichuan Pavilion has its own dedicated parking.
Sichuan Pavilion
410 Hungerford Drive, Rockville
240-403-7351, fax 240-403-7358
Hours: Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m., Sat. 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m., Sun. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
Style of cuisine: Chinese
Dinner entrees: $6.95-$14.95
Credit cards: MC, V
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