Szechuan Bean Flower

A friend of ours suggested Szechuan Beanflower and we’re so glad we decided to try it out. My boyfriend and I LOVE coming here on a cold day for the spicy beef noodle soup with rice noodles. I’ve always stuck to ordering it every single time cause I love it so much, but my boyfriend has tried some of their main dishes (Szechuan chicken, general tso’s chicken, and Mongolian chicken) and enjoys them all as well. Service is super fast, and the price is pretty decent for how much food you get!

A bit on the pricier end for the décor and ambiance of the place. However food was legit. We got the eggplant and mushu chicken, both were delicious.

My cousins and I had a very merry Christmas lunch here. We a few dishes, including dumplings, hand shaved noodles, dumplings, fried rice, happy family (super cute I know), Szechuan boiled beef, and bean cake. The boiled beef was perfectly spicy and tender, my favorite of the dishes. The bean cake was delicious, freshly baked, warm, soft, crispy, and sweet. The happy family was a bit soupy for my tastes and I didn’t care for the dumplings (more meat less random green stuff please), but we were all all happy with the food overall STUFFED at about $ 12 a pop. Definitely a good spot for a family style meal with your «happy family»

Stopped in here one day for some take out on the recommendation from an acquaintace. The smell was super gross! Hit us right as we walked in. Smelled like a combination of amonia, bleach and a nasty, nasty public restroom. The person we tried to order from did not speak English. After a few minutes of trying to communicate while holding our breath — we had to get out of there! We did not order anything — so i can’t comment on the food, but the place DID NOT seem clean and the sewer smell scared me off for good! Yuck.

This place seemed nice. Got laughed at by the server when I asked if I could add shrimp to eggplant. Just a questions she laughs and never comes back. Wait 30 minutes before we decide to go to the desk. Ask a different server to take our order. Food is mediocre at best. Terrible service. OK food. Good prices.

Love: house special duck (crispy and spicy)
Love: beef noodle soup
Love: green onion pancake
Love: #119 Chicken (can’t remember the name but 119 is the number on the menu)
Love: friendly server
Don’t love: vegetable dishes are over priced
Don’t love: salty at times
Don’t love: like another reviewer, I sometimes think they use the same spices and seasoning on dishes so making certain dishes taste like each other.
It’s a must try at least once!

I came in for lunch. I ordered pork garlic sauce. Not very very poor but tasteless and plain. Not worth it. And the server was very impolite. I definitely never come back again.

I am upgrading the rating on this restaurant. It deserves 5 stars.
My suggestion– dine in. The food just does not taste the same in a take out.
The food is fresh, delicious and spicy. Their 2 stars spice level is usually a 3 star in another Chinese restaurant. The lady who manages the place is really sweet. Service is prompt.
I love their curry chicken, green beans, eggplant, broccoli with garlic sauce.
My wife and in laws are vegetarians and this place offers many vegetarian options. This is by far our favorite chinese restaurant in WA.

First time trying this place and got take out. Was surprised by the location, thought I got mislead by my GPS but i was very happy I wasn’t because it was really good food. I had the Kung pao tofu and it was very flavorful, lots of tofu and the veggie mix was great with giant slices of mushroom, crisp water chestnut, onion, mixed greens and nuts. I definitely recommend a side of rice to make use of all the sauce and make the meal last for the next days lunch unless you are feeling real hungry. The egg rolls were not great though but they hardly ever are in this area. The sweet and sour chicken had too much breading but i don’t eat meat and I loved my dish so it’s an easy 5 starts dirty me. I’ll definitely be going back to try some of the other main dishes.

Terrible. Just terrible. Don’t go there. The egg rolls are like little spring rolls. The duck is plain and bland with no sauce whatsoever. My family liked the orange chicken but other than that it was terrible!
The service was terrible as well.
Just skip this place. There are too many choices aside from them!

Wanted to try something other than our standby favorite (shanghai garden)… Unilocal disappointed! This place doesn’t even hold a candle to Shanghai Garden. It’s dirty, the staff is not warm and friendly, but most importantly, the food was just subpar. Too much heavy breading on fried meats and mushy texture to the shrimp. Will not return.

I came here with three others around 2 pm on a Saturday… we randomly found it through Unilocal and I’m glad we gave it a try. It’s located behind the Gilman area and is easy to miss. Based on the exterior, one might be skeptical, however I found the food to be delicious and full of flavor. It appeared to be family-​run, and I was surprised to see how expansive the menu was… over 100 items!
We ordered Szechaun green beans (2 stars), Szechuan fried chicken (3 stars), a boiled beef dish (3 stars) and fried rice (0 stars). 3 stars actually turned out to be pretty spicy — so beware! The boiled beef was thinly sliced and tender, served in a peppery sauce. I really enjoyed the Szechuan beans, as they had the perfect amount of spice /​seasoning and were still fairly crunchy. The Szechuan fried chicken was a favorite between all of us, as it was infused with garlic, onions and red peppers… the chicken was lean, but the pieces could have been a little bigger. The fried rice was pretty flavorful and a nice break from the heat.
All four of us split the bill, each paying around $ 14.50. The prices are slightly high, but I was pleasantly surprised by the food, so I would recommend.

God I can’t believe this is rated up to 4 stars. People who gave good scores must have never tried authentic Sichuan food!!! The flavor was sooooo bad. I could not even find one thing really related to Sichuan flavor. Sorry for being mean… I’m just mad. I used to live around Sichuan so I think I’m qualified to criticize the food. And I really should not have blindly trusted Unilocal on this. *sigh*
We ordered dandan noodles, spicy tofu (the restaurant is even named for it!), oil spicy wonton, and beef rice noodles. They all tasted the same (exactly the same!!! That takes skill actually…). I can find way better tasting instant replacements that are cheaper and yummier!!!
Service was meh. The server just walked to a table while talking on the phone when we came in. At least the food came out fast so we didn’t have as big of a letdown. I gave one star for the beef.
I’m not trying to convince anybody to not go there. The choice is yours. I’m just expressing myself. That’s it.

This is a hidden gem. I almost don’t want to share how great it is because it is never too busy and we always have a seat.
But, I love it and I am happy to give a review.
Now, here is the thing that I learned from my first visit and other Unilocalers. the food is made fresh, there is one waitress — the owner, and there are not a lot of white people there. If you see a happy white couple in the corner with blissful faces, that’s probably my husband and I.
But what you find is that the food is so good that it is worth the wait. As vegetarians, we are always a little nervous about what might be in the food. But there are so many wonderful options for us here. I love the crispy tofu, the hand made noodles are amazing, and don’t miss the pea vines!
Now I’m hungry…

Thank God for GPS! Due to nearby construction, this place is tucked away in the neighborhood armpit. Happened to feel this out on way to Monkey drop off point.
Monkey do:
PEA VINES w/​Garlic — good veggies
79. TOFU & FISH STEW — the hapa wanted fish
176. HAND MADE NOODLES w/​Chicken — Monkey sucker for hand-​shaved noodles
We asked for less salt, less oil and no msg. Server did that hand wave thing while nodding, «of course, of course…» Monkey knows it’s the same thing as in the South, where they say, «Bless your heart…» It means, «go fuck yourself you dumbass.» Lo and behold, we got oily, salty dishes, ate and left. Eventually. Before we could get the check, the dining room filled, the nephews got antsy and sole server was overwhelmed.
Food’s okay, it was on the way… but not planning on going out of our way to return. …but they got hand-​shaved noodles! Sukka!

Hard to find restaurant. My choice is still Yea’s Wok in Newcastle, WA.

I can’t imagine why or how this restaurant got four stars on Unilocal.First of all, there was an ant crawling on the table, but I would like to pretend it was alone. More importantly, food and service quality was so seriously lacking, that this had to be a one and done experience for me.
The kung pao shrimp was a total flop for me, as it had the most overpowering sour flavor I have ever tasted in that dish. Flavors were completely out of balance, and not enjoyable. The unpleasant sourness totally drowned out any other taste of spicy, salty, sweet, etc.
The egg rolls were mediocre at best with such limited and boring filling… mostly air… The blah egg rolls were served with a heavily rationed and quite miniscule side of sweet sauce. Were they trying to be stingy? The server looked shocked when I asked for hot mustard, although she did bring it. The hot and sour soup was the brightest aspect of the meal, but just average to me at best.
Service and communication (if you don’t speak Chinese) was also quite poor. It seemed like Chinese customers got better service, or at least better communications. I am not sure why they do not have more of a bilingual server working there.
I just hope I don’t catch whatever made the server cough so much. Water was never refilled ever, and my glass remained empty from the time I was eating until I paid and left. Very inattentive, but maybe water needs to be rationed too, to only one per customer. They also charge an extra fifty cent credit charge surplus fee on any bill paid by a credit card that is not over $ 10.
All these penny pinching moves definitely did not earn my trust or repeat business. They just drove me out the door without any desire to return. Parking was quite limited on the property too.
I surely won’t be rushing back to this out of the way disappointing restaurant that I would only rate four stars MINUS THREE!

Szechuan Bean Flower restaurant is a great value for lunch but a little pricey for dinner. It doesn’t look like a restaurant from outside, more like a little house and can be hard to find as it’s tucked away down the lane across from Safeway. The parking is not too adequate but you can usually park down the street.
The restaurant owner often does prep right in the middle of the restaurant during lunch time or the family is often eating there if you go nearer 2 PM, which is a little weird but I don’t really care.
I have been to this restaurant several times for lunch and once for dinner. I found that the dinner portions are a little larger than lunch portions but cost so much more making the whole meal fairly expensive. It’s also more crowded during dinner and the service is variable. I prefer going there for lunch — better if you go after 1:00 PM.
They start out by giving complimentary hot jasmine tea, I like that as their tea is usually piping hot. The owner who also doubles as server often does not bring water to the table until you ask, probably because it’s not good to drink cold water with your meal as per Chinese tradition. She and her daughter are usually serving food and I’ve found them to be pretty cheerful and talkative while taking my order. I’ve dined alone and with people and my overall experience is positive.
Since I found out about Szechuan Fried fish I order that most of the time. It’s fish deep fried with a spicy top coat, crispy on the outside and super soft and fluffy on the inside and not too oily. It’s dressed with chilli flakes and cilantro and is my favorite dish on the menu. The other items aren’t bad either. I’ve also tried their chopped fish, and shrimp dishes as well as chicken with vegetables and all of them have been pretty good.
The $ 8 lunch special also has free rice and free soup as well as hot jasmine tea, both hot and sour and egg flower soup are good but I really like the sweet corn flavor in the egg flower soup.
I would recommend this restaurant for lunch time. For dinner I think it is a little too expensive and the service can be variable.

It’s good food in a very unassuming location. We made a pact to try a different restaurant a month and while in Issaquah we decided to give this place a try. It is out of the way, watch the signage or use your GPS. It won’t stand out to you at all. Once inside it’s a very small operation. We were th only two there on a Thursday night at 6pm.
The female owner was very pleasant and patient as we made our decisions. We went with their dinner special for two that came with crab wontons and egg rolls. The egg rolls were great while I found the crab to be lackluster. The Mongolian beef was chewy but very tasty. The rice did not look special but was fantastic. It’s not going to win any awards for atmosphere but give the food a try.

Hello spice fest !!
Picture a long rainy drive into Issaquah~
Now picture driving around in that rain with crazy traffic and getting lost. Finding this place was no piece of cake. It is tucked away in the not so popular street. it is small and almost cute. We walked into an empty restaurant around 2:30 pm. There was no one in the restaurant and I mean absolutely no one. For all we know: we could’ve invited some passer by and throw ourselves a random Chinese siesta!
After 10 – 12 minutes later: the owner finally came out from the kitchen! Phewww~ thanked my lucky stars for that one. On to our foooood: I love all things spicy! I love my hot oil and I love my spicy red peppers and the occasional heartburn that comes with it. My lovely intern however have yet to venture out on his pallet. Having just tried some thai food prior to this lunch during our lunch meeting: my intern was pretty pump about trying yet another new thing!
Food:
Spicy beef noodle soup– 5 stars spice
Szechuan Chicken — 2 stars for Jeremy
Pickled pepper fish — 4 stars

The food came out pretty fast. Well at least our entrees anyways. The beef noodles took a while to come out. I almost took it to go. My intern’s szechuan chicken came out so much red-​der in color and my 4 stars fish look harmless. Or so he thought. I watched him tried a piece of my fish and choked on it for a good 5 minutes. Poor guy!!! They really don’t mess around with the spice here. I love it. Intern: not so much.
Last but not least: spicy beef noodle soup! That thing was hugeeee and loaded with tons of beef. I mean a good fatty tendon-​y chewy pieces of meat. It was soooo good and so hot! At this point: my intern’s face matched my red shoes. He was inflame with spice from inside and out. First time for everything I supposed ;)
Our lovely lunch came to a halt when we lost one of the giant tendon piece from our soup bowl. Holy red oil batman! That thing just splashed us all over! Overall: it was a fun lunch! My intern nearly died from the spiciness AND we had to go buy some emergency shirts for our next meeting but the food was good. We’ll probably be back next time we are in this part of the town!