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A Bite of Szechuan: MaLa Marvel

A Bite of Szechuan: MaLa Marvel
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  • Post #121 - September 19th, 2017, 8:51 am
    Post #121 - September 19th, 2017, 8:51 am Post #121 - September 19th, 2017, 8:51 am
    Got takeout from Asian Bistro on Sunday.
    Specifically asked for spicy hot on the Kung Pao Chicken and Lamb with cumin and got an acknowledgement.
    Mu Shu Pork is Mu Shu and not spicy for my wife.
    Lamb was outstanding, spicy, great flavor, as good as any I have had.
    Kung Pao was very good but very little heat.
    Mu Shu had great flavor.
    I go to Mitsuwa ever few weeks, so Asian Bistro is literally right around the corner.
    I noticed that Thai Little Home Cafe is also quite close.
    So next time, some Thai takeout!
    Thanks for the recommendation.-Richard
  • Post #122 - September 19th, 2017, 11:45 am
    Post #122 - September 19th, 2017, 11:45 am Post #122 - September 19th, 2017, 11:45 am
    The idea of going to Mitsuwa and eating at a different place nearby does not compute in my brain. How are you not leaving so full of ramen and tempura that all you can muster is eating half of your sushi on the drive home?
  • Post #123 - September 20th, 2017, 6:03 am
    Post #123 - September 20th, 2017, 6:03 am Post #123 - September 20th, 2017, 6:03 am
    Both Mitsuwa and Asian Bistro supply my coolers for the trip home to Wisconsin. Mitsuwa supplies mostly ingredients rather than prepared anything. I make my own sushi/sashimi, while the quality of the rice Mitsuwa uses has recently improved, the rice is bland. But I do purchase Mitsuwa Sushi/Sashimi on occasion, stuff it in a cooler with ice and head for home which is usually an hour or less depending on the vehicle I use and traffic in the Hammer Lane. Thank God for Open Road Tolling!
    Asian Bistro was take out.
    I never stop and actually eat at Mitsuwa.
    If I do eat in the area it's at Johnnie's or LaRosita.-Richard
  • Post #124 - October 25th, 2017, 11:46 am
    Post #124 - October 25th, 2017, 11:46 am Post #124 - October 25th, 2017, 11:46 am
    This past weekend, my husband noticed that ABoS's online menu had reverted to its former bounty. Curiosity got the best of us, so we ordered takeout Sunday night. We got wontons in chili oil, pork with garlic sauce, beef with green onion, Szechuan-style stir fried green beans, twice-cooked fish, and chicken fried noodles (a favorite of the kiddo).

    It was... OK. In fact, it was OK enough that I'd probably even get takeout from there again. But some of the qualities that used to make ABoS outstanding are noticeably absent. The best way I can describe it is that there just isn't the same level of care and attention to detail put into the ingredients and the cooking process.

    The biggest disappointment was the pork with garlic sauce. Formerly, this consisted of delicate strips of pork with a beautiful thin layer of fat on the edge. In its new incarnation, it's a thick-cut, fatty mess. There were several slices that were nothing but fat. I wouldn't get it again, sadly.

    The wontons with chili oil... oof. They were so salty. It almost tasted like the chili oil had been diluted with salt water.

    The beef with green onion was pretty good, but the white onions in it were too thickly cut and not cooked for quite long enough. The sauce still had that good smoky flavor, though.

    The green beans were fine, but the portion was smaller. The chicken fried noodles looked and tasted a little different, but they were still good (definitely not the worst incarnation of those I've had at ABoS). The standout was the twice-cooked fish.

    Like I said, we'll probably get takeout again from ABoS (it's the closest Szechuan to us), alternating with House of Wah Sun, as long as it stays open... but with all of the recent inconsistencies, I wonder how long it will survive.
    "If this sauce was a person, I'd get naked and make love to it." - Sophia Petrillo, The Golden Girls
  • Post #125 - October 25th, 2017, 2:33 pm
    Post #125 - October 25th, 2017, 2:33 pm Post #125 - October 25th, 2017, 2:33 pm
    LPython, thanks for the report, even though it made me sad.
  • Post #126 - October 25th, 2017, 2:42 pm
    Post #126 - October 25th, 2017, 2:42 pm Post #126 - October 25th, 2017, 2:42 pm
    I've been curious about what's been going on there lately. I noticed that they started offering this "new" menu via GrubHub and I was tempted to give them another chance, after they broke my heart by making the ill-advised change of chef and menu. Now, I'm not so sure I'll bother.
    Steve Z.

    “Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.”
    ― Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Post #127 - February 21st, 2018, 7:05 pm
    Post #127 - February 21st, 2018, 7:05 pm Post #127 - February 21st, 2018, 7:05 pm
    i do not live an empty life.
    but this is the most heartbreaking story of 2017.
    I agree that something doesn't add up.
    I wish we knew more the circumstances of the inexplicable goings ons
    I have heard that in Los Angeles, many chinese restaurants bait and switch
    They build up a clientele and then sell the joint.
    But not sure that applies here.
    No reasoning has seemed plausible to me.
    A sad mystery.
  • Post #128 - August 8th, 2018, 5:46 pm
    Post #128 - August 8th, 2018, 5:46 pm Post #128 - August 8th, 2018, 5:46 pm
    And.... it's closed!

    It flamed bright, then suddenly killed of its own hand, existing as a zombie restaurant for months until mercifully given final rest.

    We shall never forget your first rendition, A Bite of Szechuan!
  • Post #129 - October 18th, 2018, 10:30 pm
    Post #129 - October 18th, 2018, 10:30 pm Post #129 - October 18th, 2018, 10:30 pm
    A phoenix stirring in the local(ish) ashes is the aforementioned 1415 (https://1415.life/ ), also rendered One Four One Five. I'll split this into a / the separate thread if more interest or discussion emerge but wanted the North Side cravers to see this.

    I had particularly enjoyed lamb with cumin, sesame dried beef, and cold steamed chicken on initial lunch visits. This week in a large dinner group I was able to sample many things, and all was above average:

    - house hot and sour with seafood: lots of chili oil and cilantro
    - cashew chicken and beef with broccoli: crispy vegetables, highly competent
    - salt and pepper shrimp: delicious though somewhat sodden, but they tried to warn us against shelling the shrimp and we asked for it anyway
    - scallion pancake: great lamination, oily in the right way, very light scallion presence
    - vegetable potstickers and pork potstickers: seemed homemade, very tasty, thin-skinned, more steamed than fried
    - Mongolian beef: real flank steak, not over-tenderized, leeks and onions
    - twice-cooked pork: excellent, with reconstituted dried mushrooms, fermented black bean, Szechuan peppercorns
    - sauteed string beans: stellar. These seemed to have a ma la salt coating; the texture and mouthfeel was more like shishito peppers with fleur de sel than your usual Szechuan prep. Distinctive and addicting.

    There are lots of off-beaten-path chicken, pork, vegetable, and dessert items I have yet to sample. I'm somewhat fearful since I've sat in the same booth for the last four restaurants at this address, around the corner from a place I gig often. Service was wonderfully accommodating and interested in feedback. They brew fresh pots of tea by the order and have large pitchers of citrus water at the ready. Would love to learn more about the owners / chef / special dishes, and I hope they persist.

    1415 [One Four One Five]
    Fullerton west of Southport
    Menu: https://qmenu.us/#/one-four-one-five/menu/1528444559504

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