Dining Guide

Chengdu Taste

Chengdu Taste, an award-winning Szechuan restaurant from L.A., has opened an outpost in our own Chinatown to welcoming crowds. A late weekday lunch required only a ten-minute wait, just enough time to check out the long, beautifully photographed menu. We concentrated on the fiery items: mung bean jelly noodles (slippery, bold, crunchy, and complex), boiled fish with green pepper sauce (the heat subtle but numbing), toothpick lamb with cumin (enough to feed six), and delicate wontons roiled by pepper sauce. Portions are large, service is good, prices are modest, and our kind waiter hailed from Chengdu itself. Next time, we’ll order some milder dishes to temper the heat.