We got back to Minnesota on Wednesday, March 27. On Sunday, March 31 we ate our first meal out. Of course, it was at Grand Szechuan, our family’s favourite restaurant in Minnesota. It’s always one of our favourite ways to welcome ourselves back to Minnesota after extended travel. And given that we hadn’t eaten any Sichuan food in three months—and no Chinese food beyond one Korean Chinese lunch in Seoul and one Indian Chinese dinner in Delhi—it was a particularly great way to welcome ourselves home after a long time away. We were joined by two friends who often eat with us there. Here’s how the meal went.

March 31 was Easter Sunday and as Grand Szechuan is usually pretty busy on the major Christian holidays, we got there right as they opened. We waited outside with another party till they opened their doors a little after 11.30 and were the second table to be seated. They were going to put us at a six-top but as we were going to order enough food for a lot more people we got them to move us to a larger table. And a good thing too as we almost ran out of space on that table as well!

We quickly got down to business. To keep the table from being overwhelmed fast we ordered only a few things at first: Fried Eggs & Tomato Soup, Chengdu Spicy Wontons, Dan Dan Noodles (for the boys) and Pork Belly in Garlic Sauce. The latter three are favourites that we get quite often (and were very good on this occasion as well). The soup, on the other hand, we hadn’t ordered in a while. I’m very glad we did on this occasion as all of us enjoyed it very much. If you haven’t had it before, it’s an unlikely sounding dish, but believe me, it works.

By the time the first couple of these came out the restaurant had begun to fill up and our server warned us to get the rest of the order in before the kitchen got slammed. And so we added on the following right away: Cumin Pork Ribs, Chengdu Grilled Lamb (it being Easter and all), Fish Fillet w. Bean Jelly in Spicy Sauce, Fish Flavour Eggplant, and Szechuan Green Beans (of course). All of these were very good as well with the fish and especially the eggplant the standouts. If you are not familiar with the “fish flavour” genre of Sichuan dishes, you should know that the name does not mean that the dish is flavoured with fish but that it is cooked in a manner usually applied to fish dishes in Sichuan cuisine. I highly recommend the Fish Flavour Pork at Grand Szechuan as well, but it’s the eggplant version we like the most of all. If you haven’t tried it, you really should.

By the time we were done the restaurant was hopping, with many large tables occupied by extended family groups. Not that it’s a surprise but I’m always happy to see them doing so well (even if many of the tables always seem to be ordering primarily from the American Chinese side of the menu).

Anyway, for a look at the menu and what we ate on this occasion, launch the slideshow below. Scroll down to see how much it all cost and to see what’s coming next.

Service was very good. We were taken care of, as we usually are, by a staff member who has been there for a very long time—possibly from the very beginning—and who knows our preferences and over-ordering ways quite well. Price? With tip the total came to $167. For a party of six that’s about $28/head. That’s already a good deal for the quality and quantity but really it was enough food for at least 10 hungry adults: between our friends and us we took enough food home for 5-6 more adult meals. So really the true per head price if this food were eaten by the right number of people would be closer to $16/head. Which would be pretty crazy.

As always, I will urge you to go if you have somehow never been—and take a look at my ordering guide if that’s the case. And if you’ve been before but not recently, you should go as well. I’m guessing we’ll be back again next month to try some more of our favourite dishes.

Alright, my next restaurant report will take me back to Seoul. It might be of one of those fancy meals I’ve been promising to write up for a while now.