DKoblesky wrote:Thanks!

Someone like you all who seem to know the menu well should offered guided tour for the price of your lunch or something like that. I'd do it.

Navigating menus for those of us that just don't know is both daunting and intimidating---having an 'expert' along for the price of lunch isn't a bad idea!!
That said--I ate at there once(with an expert ordering)--the 'chicken crack' is great, mayo shrimp is addicting and we had a tofu dish that maybe was the star for me!
good luck!

Thanks to those who have clarified the difference between the dry chili chicken and the three chili chicken (which would be even more confusing to those from Germany! ). The three chili chicken is one of my favorites and is the one called "chicken crack" around here. I don't remember ever trying the dry chili chicken but it sounds good too.

Even if you enjoy spicy food (and I certainly do), don't make the mistake at one dinner I went to there, where someone ordered almost all extremely spicy dishes, without any milder dishes for contrast. It was a one-note dinner and it didn't work. Try to have at least a little variety when ordering.

Not to confuse things even further, but my current favorite spicy chicken preparation at LSC is the La La La Spicy Chicken Pot. It's served on the bone, which makes it a bit more treacherous, but also more delicious imo. It comes in a neat conveyance with a sterno that keeps it hot, which I appreciate given the length and breadth of some of my meals there. My current favorite dish overall is the Boiled Beef In Spicy Szechuan Sauce (I'm keen to try the version with sole, as I've heard it is also spectacular)...just thinking of that beef (usually paired with an order of Garlic Chinese Broccoli to cut the heat) has got me salivating.

Thanks all - been to my first Lao Sze Chuan lunch and can report back with news you can use, and also that is was awesome.

Tony's Chicken with Three Chilis is only available for dinner
Crispy Shrimp in Mayonnaise Sauce is only available for dinner

However, thanks to some other recommendations, I got:

Hot and Sour Soup
Salt and Pepper Prawns (shell on)
Boiled Beef in Spicy Szechuan Sauce

All three were awesome. I am not sure I can do justice with my writing but the flavors were all rich, deep, and spicy, but spicy in that way that is warms your stomach nicely, gives pleasure, not pain. Absolutely fantastic. I took much of it home and picked up some rice on the way home so that I can soak up that flavors of the sauce that boiled beef is swimming in.

I have to say - if this is a representative meal - it is really worth all that writing. I feel like going back for dinner to get those dishes above I could not order.

By the way, the place was packed. Thanks again for your help!

(Sorry for lower res, forgot my camera was set that way...)


Hot and Sour Sour, Eggroll, Tsingtao by dkoblesky, on Flickr


Salt and Pepper Prawn (shell on) by dkoblesky, on Flickr


Boiled Beef In Spicy Szechuan Sauce by dkoblesky, on Flickr

buzzd wrote:That said--I ate at there once(with an expert ordering)--the 'chicken crack' is great, mayo shrimp is addicting and we had a tofu dish that maybe was the star for me!
good luck!

Buzz, that was a terrific meal, the tofu dish was Mapo Tofu with $2 worth of pork.

DKoblesky, sounds as if you had a wonderful lunch, thanks for letting us know how it turned out.

Has anyone tried the Braised Pork Elbow in Brown Sauce?
I'm thinking of heading over shortly and it caught my eye.

Stopped in Saturday night, lemon shrimp, orange beef and Tony's Three Chili Chicken were all very good.
Not to mention, for $4.50 the very good Manhattan's are a steal!

After ten good years between Westmont and Downers Grove, I had a really atrocious carry-out meal tonight. The main cooks must have stayed home to watch Blackhawks-Lightning. And I wasn't even adventuresome, just old favorites... Usually I order two mains and an appetizer... eat half for dinner and have the remainder for lunch the next two days.

I called in, was told it'd be 20 minutes... showed up in 14 and the food was ready. I should have been worried then. Drove it the 10 minutes home, and found that:

1. Tony's chicken was dry as a bone and barely spiced. Could easily have been a misfire from lunch that they put back in the refrigerator. Couldn't finish it.

2. Twice cooked pork was so tough yet simultaneously fatty that I couldn't chew it. Since the taste was good, I've attempted to salvage it by dicing the meat (some of which literally wouldn't dice under a regular 7' chef's knife) and frying it up to try and render the rest of the fat. I may run it through the food processor and mix it with some rice for Saturday's breakfast. I'm sitting here eating the veggies, rice, and sauce.

3. Chengdu dumplings were unremarkable, not as full as usual and not spicy at all.

It's been about five months since I've been there, so hopefully it's just a bad night and not a downward trend or a diversion of staff to another location.

I was there for lunch last week and had the Boiled Beef. It was awesome as usual. Hopefully your experience was just a misfire.