Sichuan Pepper

I’m pretty sure this is the best Chinese food restaurant in the greater Hartford area. Having lived in Taiwan, it’s either legit Chinese food, or it isn’t, and this place is legit. The cold sesame noodles were just what I was hoping for, and the eggplant casserole was fabulous. I was nervous to eat Sichuan food because I can’t handle spicy, but was planning to make the sacrifice for real Chinese food. But there are definitely non-​spicy options and even the spicy ones were delicious! I’m sure they can ramp up the spicy level if you want though.

Excellent preparation with the largest choice of Chinese food I’ve encountered in many years. The staff were very helpful and friendly. Will return when the yearn for Chinese food strikes.

Great food, authentic, spicy, you get what you pay for.
Deep fried diced chicken and wontons in chili oil are my go-​to choices.
I’ve been eating here for a year.
Never disappointed and I haven’t had Chinese food anywhere else since I’ve discovered this restaurant.

I had the Chengdu sliced pork belly extra spicy it was amazing. Must try this restaurant amazing food!!!

The reason I give one star is they served us with bad fish meat! And the owner don’t admit it! Horrible service…

I’m only sorry I don’t live closer to this fantastic Sichuan Restaurant near Hartford, Connecticut. As it was, after stopping by chance on my way down to NYC, I made a detour to stop on the way back to Boston — so impressed was I with the two dishes my wife and I ate (a tofu dish for her and a pork dish for me). On my return trip I over ordered just to sample as much as I could: sichuan pickled cabbage, pork wontons, and Mala pot delight. It was all dazzlingly tasty, fresh, beautiful and delightful.
It looks like I’ll be taking many trips down to New York (or at least as far as Hartfod). I may have to start traveling with an entourage — so we can make a reasonable dent in the fantastic looking list of items on the menu.

Me mind on fire — Me soul on fire — Feeling hot hot hot
(Buster Poindexter-​Hot, Hot, Hot)
So I’ve been seeing these reviews of Sichuan Pepper piling up on Unilocal for a while. The main themes are 1) this is authentic Schichuan (and not Americanized) Chinese food, and 2) the food can be pretty darned hot.
Well I’m not sure I can swear in a court of law that the food is authentic Schichuan, although it sure seemed that way, but I can surely testify with full confidence that the food is super spicy and absolutely delicious here.
What made it seem «authentic Schichuan?» How about the fact that the blackboard specials were listed in Chinese? How about the many customers speaking Chinese among themselves and the waitstaff? How about a menu that proudly offers sliced tripe, sliced tendon, or diced rabbit in red chili oil, hot and spicy bean jelly, spicy pigs feet, spicy frogs legs, hot and spicy pork intestine, hot and spicy eel, pork intestines casserole, stir fried sponge gourd, and braised tripe and omasum (stomach).
Not exactly chicken fingers and crab rangoons, agreed?
What made it so spicy? Well, I had lunch today with a co-​worker who lived in California for many years and is a veteran of real deal spicy Chinese food. By the end of our meal, he said his lips and tongue were AWOL.
We zeroed in on the lunch menu, I had the Guizho Spicy Chicken ($ 13.95) and my friend had the Kong Pao Chicken and Shrimp (also $ 13.95). The lunches include your choice of white or fried rice and either egg drop soup, hot and sour soup, or an spring roll.
I had never seen Guizho on a menu, so of course I went for it –it had one of those red pepper icons next to it to signify hot and spicy. A spicy plate of wok fried chicken with green onions, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, and what seemed like a quarter cup of those skinny and super potent red pepper chilies arrived in front of me. The peppers were cut up pretty small, and I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to eat them or push them aside. I decided to banish them to the outer rim of my plate, but the spice level for this incredibly delicious dish was way up there, but in a good way.
I tried some of my buddy’s Kong Pao; it was very good, but didn’t deliver the firepower of my dish. He tried a forkful of mine, and his eyes lit up like the Fourth of July.
Everything about our lunch was tremendous. I can’t wait to dive a little deeper into the menu next time.

We had dinner here with friends of ours from Taiwan who suggested this place for dinner. I was excited to try more dishes that were not Americanized, that really were about traditional Asian cooking. They do have some Americanized dishes on the menu, so for those of you who are not too adventurous, it’s all good. We were seated in the back at a 4 top (there were 4 of us) but one of the owners, the wife, wanted to know if we wanted to move to a larger circular table for comfort (two of us are big guys), but we were fine. It was very nice of her to offer.
We ordered cold noodles, pork dumplings, scallion pancakes, Fish Filet Cooked with Pickled Chili Pepper, Chengdu Style Sautéed Sliced Pork Belly, and then someone wanted Chicken with Cashew Nuts in case he didn’t like the other choices.
We ate almost all of it. it was SOOO good. I thought my other half wouldn’t eat the fish dish — but to my surprise he had two servings! That alone says how awesome the food is here!
I am very much looking forward to returning real soon!

Difficult to rate on take out but I definitely hope to try it again soon.
So, their bean leaf stir fry is so good… just simple greens served over rice. I add chili oil and it’s amazing. The sausage dumplings got raved about on here but I found them to be skimpy on stuffing and doughy but maybe they are better fresh in house; they got stuck together and were difficult to pry apart without compromising the integrity of the dumpling. (take out has a tendency to get soggy).
My fiancé got beef and broccoli and dry string beans… the beans were great and the beef/​broccoli was standard.
They should deliver. Very few places in this area deliver and I feel it’s a disservice to consumers. I’ll pay a fee to have my food brought to me, offer it. I cannot even tell you how far my eyes roll when I find out I have to put on pants to eat Chinese food at home.
I can’t wait to try again. Honestly, finding a place that stocks a variety of family style greens, veggies or cabbages is a rare find in this area.

One of my fav goto chinese restaurant in Vernon.
My favorite dish is their dan dan noodle (if you’re craving something spicy) and shredded beef with pepper. I also love all their veggie dish its really healthy but super delicious. I usually get my food for takeout because the restaurant gets very busy at night. I wish they delivered then it would be PERFECT!!!

Ok, been eating Chinese food in America my whole life but now there is Szechuan food. Way better than your regular chinese place. More spices, better prepared, more ingredients, more variety etc. Regular hole in the wall chinese places have either white or brown sauce and thats it. Im never going to another regular chinese place again after trying Szechuan food. Amazing. Cant get enough.
I recommend Szechuan Pepper for their food. Their service is good. I come here all the time and always get the mapo tofu, hot and sour soup, cumin shrimp. My cousin tried the General Tso and he said it was the best he ever had. My girlfriend isnt big on Chinese food but when she ate here she loved it.
The prices are pretty modest.

We ended up here quite unexpectedly l when we didn’t realize that Rein’s deli was closed. By happy accident, we found ourselves next door here. The gamble really paid off! This is truly an authentic Chinese restaurant. We had things recommended by the manager that we’d never tried, and in ample portions.
We had a very spicy tofu dish I’d never heard of. Really, Tofu!?? Who knew it could be so amazing! The little one ordered his shrimp & noodle dish, which was yummy, though not so adventurous. Light sauce, nice light taste. Not so much shrimp, but a big portion. Good for families and comfortable padded booth seating. Appropriate fun décor.
Service was pleasant and attentive, without being overbearing. We had an unrushed, interesting & delicious meal. Definitely, highly recommend!

Wow!
The food is so flavorful. They will tailor the spice to your individual taste. Ask your waiter for suggestions. Every time we go we try something else and everything is soooo good.
Best Chinese restaurant in the area. Very authentic.

If you enjoy spice, this is a spot you must try. Great authentic food and friendly service. The Dan Dan Mein is a delicious spicy starter that you won’t stop eating until the entire bowl is gone! Noodles have great chew and the chili oil flavor is outstanding. Same goes for the homemade dumplings in chili oil. The cumin lamb had great flavor but the game changer was the sliced beef hot & spicy bowl! The flavor was incredible and the beef was extremely tender. I will caution you that this dish is extremely spicy but I kept going in for more! It’s a huge portion but it does reheat very well.
I’m definitely adding Sichuan to my go to spots when staying in Manchester for work.

Really delicious food. I’ve lived in China and in NYC, and this food is pretty decent. Very different than typical American «Chinese» food.
However, if you eat there often enough, you begin to notice that all the food tastes exactly the same.
It’s like they have the same exact base sauce and they just add an ingredient or two more and call that a whole new dish.
If you don’t eat there often, it’s a nice treat.
Drink a lot of water. Super salty dishes.

After eating here more times, I feel like my previous review didn’t do this business a good enough of a justice.
My favorites from this place are beef slices in chili cold sauce appetizer. It really spices up your appetite, getting your taste buds ready for the main dishes.
Scallion pancakes are heavenly delicious, served with a sweet and salty sauce. They are always the right crispness.
Pork feet has recently made its way on my order list. I do find it to be quite inconsistent. Sometimes it tastes more flavorful and actually has meat while other times its bland and absolutely no meat in the dish. I personally like the combination of both skin and meat in my plate. So it was rather disappointing to dig through the whole dish without seeing any piece of meat.
Water boiled fish is also good if you like strong tastes. It’s very salty so just be aware of that.
The staff give top notch services. The owner is always there whenever I go. It’s good to know that someone is always there to check up on things.

Came here for my first-​ever authentic Chinese cuisine, and I was quite impressed.
We ordered pork dumplings to start; I got the stir fry with leek and pork (because I’m normally a wimp when it comes to spicy things) and my boyfriend got some spicy fish plate with plenty of sichaun peppercorns. To be honest, I liked his dish better: the depth was just unheard of, and the spice was different from what I’d anticipated. My pork dish was alright; the pork was cooked perfectly but it was a tad too oily for my tastes. The dumplings, however, were PERFECT; I’d go back and just order plates of them.
My boyfriend had previously spent three weeks in China on business, and he said the food was exactly like what he remembered it had been in Chengdu. He asked our wait if they had hot pot; they do, but they have to cook it in the back because the building’s ventilation doesn’t allow for patrons to cook it themselves at the table.
I’m no expert on authentic Chinese, but my boyfriend also mentioned that if some of his Chinese clients were to ever come to Connecticut, he’d take them here for dinner… so I’m pretty sure this is the real deal. I’m definitely planning on coming back and trying something adventurous and new.

I grew up on Cantonese cuisine and was only introduced to Sichuan/​Szechuan when I began dating my Caucasian boyfriend this past summer. At first the heat was too intense but now I love it. Sichuan Pepper is so good that we make the drive ½ hour drive from West Hartford on a weekly/​biweekly basis when we Shu right in town. It’s just better.
We’ve tried many dishes but among our favorites are the homemade dumplings in red chili oil, deep fried diced chicken sauteed with dried chili pepper (a.k.a chongqing chicken), and stir-​fried pea leaves. We get these just about every time in addition to whatever else we’re in the mood for. We also love the cucumber with scallions, Guizhou spicy chicken, double sauteed sliced pork belly (a.k.a twice cooked pork), homestyle cooked tofu, stir-​fried water spinach, and stir-​fried sponge gourd, to name a few. We liked but didn’t love the duck with ginger and scallion, and only thing we’ve ever strongly disliked was the stir fried cabbage.
About an hour ago I had leftovers from earlier in the week and was pleasantly surprised by how great everything still tasted! The word is getting out about how awesome Sichuan Pepper is and it has been significantly busier. Along with Taste of China in Clinton (and probably New Haven but I haven’t been), this is the best and most authentic Chinese food I’ve had in Connecticut.

This is the kind of place you dream about having in your neighborhood if you love authentic Asian cuisine. Sichuan Pepper has just raised the bar in Vernon and the surrounding area, so if you’re up for a real treat look no further. Michael the restaurant manager has shown that his many years of experience is a tough act to follow when it comes to managing a staff well trained in the art of providing outstanding customer service, he has also created an exceptional menu that uses the freshest ingredients available, the dishes are bursting with flavor and if you’re looking for some heat you’ll find whatever level you crave. I love the fact that the dishes also incorporate homemade components, this not only ensures consistency but also quality.
My intention was to try multiple selections I somewhat accomplish my adjective but it’s impossible to experience all the wonders that exist here in just one visit. Rest assure this will be a regular stop for me when I’m in the area.
— Hot and Sour Soup — I very seldom order this type of soup but the falling temperatures out had me hoping this was the starter that would thaw me from the inside out and fortunately it delivered. This soup is a masterful mix of flavors including spice, heat, savory, this soup really packs a punch it was some of the best I’ve eaten anywhere.
— Homemade Pork Wonton with Red Chili Sauce — I envisioned what this might look and taste like. It was that and more it exceeded my expectations on several levels. The portion is plenty for two people to share but you won’t want to share it. The texture of the wonton was absolutely perfect they were light and tender and filled with a pork mixture that will blow you away the red chili sauce wasn’t pure heat but it was very hot the flavor was the star of this dish and I’m sure they will tone it down for the faint of heart but I actually asked for them to bring on the heat and let me tell you they can please any palate. This is a true work of art nothing competes with homemade.
— Chengdu Style Sautéed Sliced Pork Belly — If you haven’t tried Chengdu of anything this will make you a life long fan. The pork belly is sliced raw verse tradition methods which includes boiling the pork belly first. This raw delicacy is then trimmed to remove the rind and stir fried crisp, then blended with an array of hot peppers and other finely chopped flavorful seasonings and finally fresh chopped leeks are added to almost create a braising affect that tenderizes the pork I didn’t realized I liked leeks until I had this dish it was incredible and the amount of pork belly incorporated was surprising there is plenty to share if you dare. As much as I want to experience it all this dish will be tough to pass on my next visit.
I paired all of this with an ice cold Two Roads Double IPA, now I’m not claiming to be an expert on pairing anytime except maybe a shot of patron tequila and a lime but this was no doubt the right choice for this meal.
And lastly I’d like to tip my hat to my friend Rick L. for his review that convinced me to try this place out.

Wow, simply incredible! I’m really quite mad at myself that this restaurant was right around the corner and I settled for vastly inferior Chinese Food for all of these years. This is absolutely authentic Szechuan Cuisine and they have the chops to back it up.
For my first visit I just tried a few of the samplings. The Pork Wontons in Red Chile Oil is absolutely delicious. The heat of this dish is absolutely perfect. I also had to try the Pork Fried Rice for comparison purposes and it is superior to anything that I have had. This is probably because they actually take pride in the pork they put in this dish. It actually has a deep flavor compared to much of the stuff you get at other Chinese Restaurants. I ended with the Smoked Pork with Dried Chili Pepper. You could just smell the smoke from this dish and it was laced with chunks of Chili Pepper… simply delicious.
I did end up getting take out, but the restaurant looks quite nice with a bar that has ample seating. Honestly, I can’t wait to go back, take a seat at the bar and start sampling their extensive menu.
If you are afraid of spice and flavor than maybe this place isn’t for you (but I’m sure they can dial the spice back a bit if you would like). However, if you enjoy deep rich authentic flavors… let Sichuan Pepper bring you back from the deep fried hell of the Chinese you normally eat.