Sichuan

I seem to be on a roll right now of working through several places that have been on my list forever.  Hubby and I intended to head to the west side to try one of the great ethnic options over there, but ran short of time and decided to head to Carmel and try Sichuan instead for lunch.  They have a really interesting looking buffet, but hubby isn’t supposed to eat from them (long story) so we just ordered off the menu. 

We made the mistake of ordering a couple of appetizers that were just too generic and not very good—the crab rangoon ($3.50) and the dumplings ($3.99).  They were certainly generous portions for sure, but pretty sure you can get that same crab rangoon anywhere (and honestly, I am not a big fan of them anyhow).  The dumplings were just pot stickers that weren’t pan fried.  Typical minced pork filling.  I thought the skin was a little overly doughy actually so we weren’t doing that well to start. And I kept eyeing the buffet wishing I had gotten it anyway. Lots of interesting looking things.

Then we got our entrée—chicken in garlic sauce ($7.99).  Wow, was it good. There was a lot of white meat chicken that was not cooked to death with various veggies—mainly celery and carrots but with a few bamboo shoots and water chestnuts mixed in.  The celery and carrots were a tad too al dente for my taste, but the chicken and the sauce alone were so good—a decent spicy kick with a lot of garlic flavor—I mean look at the close up shot and you can see all the minced garlic.  We both really liked this.  If it were close by my house, I would be getting this dish for carry out a lot.  I really liked that it was spicy enough that you could feel it too; so many times I think Chinese places around here don’t really adequately spice their dishes, even when they are designated as spicy on the menu.

Sichuan

11588 Westfield Blvd

Carmel, IN 46032

317/844-7559