Szechuan Impression (Alhambra)

So, work has me going up to Irvine occasionally these days. It makes for a long drive, so recently, I had sessions all day and the Missus was off, we decided to head up and spend the night. I had wanted to stay in our old 'hood, Hacienda Heights, but the Missus wanted to be fairly close to my location so She wouldn't have to drive far to drop me off and then could do whatever She wanted. turns out She'd been working so hard and slept thru my texts when all my meetings were over. So I ended up having a nice 2 1/2 mile walk to the hotel. Which wasn't too bad; though it was pretty hot on Chapman.

And things seemed a bit seedy as well....I kind of stood out walking up the street and two different guys asked me if I was interested in "stuff". Strange.

Anyway, I got back to the hotel and we headed off for dinner. The Missus was really missing good Chinese food, specifically Sichuan. My first thought was a visit to Chengdu Taste, but since I'd recently checked out the Rowland Heights location, I thought we should visit Szechuan Impression, which has been creating quite buzz since opening a few years back. Yes, it's been that long since both the Missus and I have been able to take our time visiting our old stomping grounds. And yes, we've really missed the food in the SGV....but really haven't missed the traffic. A whopping 75 minutes from Garden Grove to Alhambra, without an accident to be seen.

I had actually planned well for this as we arrived right before Sichuan Impression opened.

This restaurant is on the small side; though there seems to be outdoor seating. Like the nice clean and well lit interior. We also enjoyed the rather professional service....we watched a couple come in with a young boy and the Server actually brought a little child's bowl for him.

We decided on a couple dishes from the menu. I love Sichuan Liang Mian, but have struggled to find anything like the version at Ba Ren, which closed in 2012. So, I had to order that here, since I'd heard good things about this version.

This was a disappointment. The sauce wasn't bad; though it was spicy enough, not enough vinegar tones, not enough sweet, not enough garlic....not enough. The noodles were a disaster; really hard and crumbly, with no "pull" at all.

Of course we had to have the Toothpick Lamb, which was better than what I had at Chengdu Taste in Rowland Heights.

The meat had been cooked at least twice, since the interior was pleasantly toothsome, which indicates some sort of braise and the exterior light and crisp. Good amount of cumin going on; with some spice, and a touch of the Sichuan Peppercorn signature numbing effect. I appreciated the cilantro, still don't enjoy the toothpicks, and the Missus wanted a bit more salt on this.

I miss the winey-porky-slightly sweet Chinese style sausages that Missus grew up eating in China. The closest facsimile we've had in the states had been at QingDao Bread. It was pretty hot out; so I ordered the "Impressive Sausage".

I enjoyed these a lot; nice cured pork flavor, decent wine, nice heat. The texture was a bit on the crumbly versus the nice waxy side and it wasn't salty enough. There was a smokey component to this that was seemed strangely reminiscent of paprika to me. The Missus wasn't going for this; as Her "Northern Sausage genes" kicked in....not enough wine, no sweetness, not salty enough, wrong texture. Still, I really liked this.

I didn't care for the Mapo Tofu.

There seemed to be a rather medicinal taste to this dish that was somewhat off-putting to me. It hit the Missus as well, but the more She ate it the more She enjoyed this. Loved the texture of the tofu; good "ma" (numbing), but not enough "la" (heat).

As we ate, we noticed that all the customers, save the couple with the young child, coming in were young. It seems that this is the new wave of Chinese regional restaurants, catering to the younger, "hipper" crowd of Chinese. The dishes aren't as salty, use less oil, and isn't quite a spicy. The Missus and I enjoyed the portion sizes as it seems that trend of "quantity over quality" is coming to an end. Cuisine isn't like the Mona Lisa, it's not a moment caught in time, it is constantly shifting. Though our meals are moments caught in time and we keep reaching for that moment.......and to be honest; for now I prefer the more traditional.

So, as it seems that another trip to China is not in the works; I'll keep searching for some good Sichuan Liang Mian.

Szechuan Impression
1900 W Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91803

 

Comments

[kat]

glad you and the missus got to hang out in your old neighborhood

[Kirk]

We really enjoyed it....in spite of the traffic Kat.

[nhbilly]

Too much ma is just a turn off.

[Kirk]

You got that right Billy.

[James]

We ate there about a month ago - surprisingly, no wait at 8 on a Saturday night. We liked it but didn't think it was leaps and bounds better than (or all that different from) Spicy House.

[Kirk]

I think the food is a bit less spicy; the ingredients are better, but it isn't that much better than your average Sichuan place James.