Szechwan Palace
| Address: | 668 N 44th St #108, Phoenix, AZ 85008, USA |
| Phone: | +1 602-685-0888 |
| Site: | szechwanpalacechinese.com |
| Rating: | 3.7 |
| Working: | 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–9:15PM 11AM–9:15PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 7
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Terri S
Good Food, Lots of Choices, Overwhelming Menu... First of all, I have to go back here again. There are so many things I want to try. Eating here did however require that I take considerable time to study the menu, and that I ask lots of questions. When I was arrived shortly after they opened for lunch, I was seated quickly, and provided a menu and water. From the moment I was seated, every minute or two someone approached me to take my order. I finally explained that this was my first time and that I needed to be left alone for a bit. Mission accomplished. No one else approached until I put the menu down on the table and closed it. I ordered hot tea, and from their Authentic Szechwan menu, C107 - Spinach in Garlic Sauce and C124 - Yangzhou Style Fried Rice with egg, shrimp, chicken, roasted pork and peas and carrots in a white sauce (not the usual dark colored fried rice). My food didnt take long to be prepared, and was fresh and satisfying. The Spinach was perfectly seasoned and cooked. A nice mild dish with lots of garlic aroma and flavor in a lovely light sauce. The Yangzhou Style fried rice was not like any other fried rice I have had before, and if I hadnt read the description carefully and seen the picture, I would have been confused by it. The shrimp and the chicken in the dish were particularly delicate, moist and delicious and clearly cooked to order. The roast pork was chopped into roughly 1/4 inch cubes, and the rice was mildly flavored and had a sort of melt in your mouth texture. I needed to add a bit of soy sauce to the dish, along with a small amount of hot oil for bite, but I ate as much of it as I could. The leftovers of both dishes reheated well at home in the microwave (loosely covered). At no point did I lack for service, with servers constantly checking back with me. My only disappointment was that I could not try everything I wanted to, including items from the "Americanized" menu - such as Egg Foo Yung - which I didnt go for this time because I was a little disappointed that the ingredients (peas, carrots, meat, whatever) are all served over the patties in brown sauce rather than inside of the patties. Only onion and bean sprouts are cooked in the patties. When I go back again, Im going to go for it and see how I like it. It was also a bit pricey, but now that Ive experienced the equality of other menu items, Ill spring for it. When I finished my meal and pushed my plates away, my check was brought immediately, along with take-out containers for my leftovers. The payment process went quickly, and soon I had my delicious left-overs in my car to smell all the way home.
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A Private User
The place was packed for lunch (some sort of festival was going on outside at the Cultural Center), so I really shouldn’t fault the service. There were 3 of us and the hostess asked if we would mind sitting at the bar. No problem. We were hungry. We had Mongolian beef, sesame chicken, & General Tso’s chicken. All 3 entrées came with a bowl of soup, steamed brown or white rice, or fried rice, and an egg roll. All 3 of us had the steamed rice which was cooked well. The soup, egg drop, or hot & sour were eaten without complaint, and the egg rolls were pretty tasty. It was the main items that had fault. Although the fellow that had the Mongolian beef enjoyed his meal. The General Tso’s chicken & sesame chicken were virtually identical. The chicken pieces were batter dipped and deep fried. NOT what you’d expect. Both had a sauce ladled straight across the chicken so only a few pieces were covered. To make the General’s spicy, crushed red pepper flakes were added on top of the sauce. A couple of strips of red & green peppers were tossed in for good measure. I don’t know what they put on top of the sesame chicken it looked like the same sauce with sesame added. To sum it up, 2 out of 3 were disappointed with their meals.
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Melanie Molina
Love the food not the service!!! We Eat here several times a year and have never ever had bad service until now. Food is always good.It took 15-20 minutes before our sever acknowledge we were there. I got my food 15 minutes before my husband did. Never asked if we were ok, never filled our water (had 2 empty cups). Got up and went to the server station and filed up our own glasses. When she came by finally when we had been fine for 20 minutes I was in the middle of a sentence and she just left. She ignored several other tables as well. Was focused on her two large tables. But she was quick with the check. I finally asked for a manager and she said no manager available so I told her what she did wrong. I was polite but stern. I dont care that she discounted out food it was the point. Be wary if you get the taller thin lady with short short hair.
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Warren Togami Jr.
My Chinese friends in Phoenix and I tried this restaurant tonight. I often eat Sichuan in the Boston area, but I am not an expert at recognizing if this is authentic Sichuan. In any case we ordered 5 Sichuan-style dishes. The food was maybe 10% of the spiciness level that I come to expect from Sichuan food, but it has plenty of complexity in flavors. We were surprised that it was actually quite good. Their spicy crispy duck was not crispy, but it was very tasty. It could be slightly less salty, but I can definitely recommend it. Be warned: Stay away from the Americanized Chinese dishes like General Sao or Orange Chicken. I am not Chinese, but all my Chinese friends say they never heard of this stuff in China. I suspect it is on menus of better Chinese restaurants such as this so they have things "familiar" to Americans.
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Thomas Choi
We ate here earlier this week. Received terrible service. An elderly couple next to us asked for a dessert menu and the waiter in a condescending tone replied, "no, this is Chinese restaurant". I asked for a beer and the waiter told me to order it from "your waiter" but he was one that had brought us one of the dishes. When we wanted containers to bring home leftovers, they acted as if they were doing us a favor and threw down the containers on our table and disappeared. Sad, because this used to be our favorite Szechuan restaurant. Will not be going back there any time soon.
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Dot Larson
We are new to the Phoenix area and were invited, by a Chinese friend, to join him for lunch at this restaurant. The food and service on that occasion were exceptional. So, when my daughter and her Chinese partner came to visit we went here for lunch. The service was not nearly as good, we werent even given chopsticks ( in a Chinese restaurant?), and the food was average. Im not sure why there was such a difference in the two experiences and I do plan to give the place another chance.
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A Private User
The ambiance and the service are good, but the food is spectacular. If you like authentic spicy Szechwan cuisine this is the place. I suggest you request the Chinese menu. It has many more items than the American menu but it has name only English translations of the menu items. Some times the English name can be deceptive, the “Water Boiled Fish” sounds boring, but it is so good, and it is hot enough to make your teeth sweat. I highly recommend this restaurant.
