Szechuan House

Flushing has its fair share of great Szechuan restaurants (like Szechuan Mountain House, Szechuan Absolute, Guan Fu to name a few), but Szechuan House is the oldest in the area. It’s been around since 1985, and still makes dishes like fish with pickled cabbage, plump wontons in chili oil, and numbing mapo tofu. While it’s possible you’ve encountered mapo tofu in a thick, pork-heavy sauce, Szechuan House’s version isn’t like that at all. Theirs is served in a pool of thin red oil with a dusting of ground-up Szechuan peppercorns on top. If you like your mapo tofu on the extra tingly side, you’ll love this one.

Szechuan House currently offers takeout and delivery, as well as limited indoor dining. In case you’re looking for a spot to eat outside, walk your takeout bag down the block to a parking lot where the New York Food Hall has set up about a dozen tables under a tent.

photo credit: Hannah Albertine

photo credit: Hannah Albertine