We didn’t go out to eat this past weekend. The missus is out of town and the boys and I spent what felt like the entire weekend setting up our community garden plot in advance of the rain that has been pissing down in southern Minnesota since Monday evening (and will continue through Wednesday). But I have a Twin Cities meal report for you anyway this week. It’s of another meal at Grand Szechuan in Bloomington. We’d eaten this meal with friends just about a month ago. At the time, I’d only just reported on another meal eaten at Grand Szechuan just a few weeks prior, and so I’d held off on posting the report, expecting to merge it with a report on our next meal there. I do hope we’ll eat there in June before our summer travel plans get going but if not the memory of this meal will have to tide us over till the next.

We ate there with most of our usual Grand Szechuan crew on a Saturday. We arrived not too long after opening. There were already a few groups seated—a couple of large family groups among them—and more people trickled in steadily over the course of our meal. We were a group of 11 ourselves and were there to celebrate a birthday. The birthday girl had a number of favourite dishes she wanted to order and so those formed the centerpiece of the meal. I added on a few dishes along the edges to round out flavours and textures.

As is our normal practice at Grand Szechuan, we ordered in waves. The first wave included soup, smaller dishes and an order of their fabulous green beans—the absence of which on our table at any point makes many members of the party anxious. The soup we chose on this occasion was the Mustard Tuber and Shredded Pork—it was very good. Also on the table as part of the first wave were Bamboo Tips in Chilli Sauce, Pork Belly in Garlic Sauce, Dan Dan Noodles, Garlic Pork Ribs, and an order each of the Chengdu Spicy Wontons and Chengdu Spicy Dumplings. The Garlic Pork Ribs were just okay (which is what I think every time I order them) but the others were all very good.

In the second wave arrived the following: Eight Second Potato (from the specials board in the entry area), Country-Style Chicken, Chairman Mao’s Pork Belly, Cumin Beef, Chengdu Spicy Shrimp, Steamed Flounder Fillet, Eggplant in Sweet Bean Sauce, Stir-Fried A-Choy, and another order of the green beans (see above). I was not enthused by the shrimp but everything else was ace.

You might think all of the above was more than enough food but there was a third wave. This featured two orders each of the Spicy Squid Roll aka Triple-Flavour Squid and the Chengdu Grilled Fish Fillet. When these arrived we thought we’d messed up by ordering two of each but soon it was almost all gone (okay, some leftovers went home with the birthday household). Both were excellent and I think I may actually have liked the fish even more than the squid.

For a look at everything we ate, launch the slideshow below. Scroll down to see how much it all cost and to see what’s coming next.

We were taken care of by the server we are always taken care of by and she was as nice to us as she always is: which is very nice. Price for this excessive meal? With tax, tip and a small credit card surcharge, the total was just about $418. That’s $38/head but it was easily enough food for 14 people (factoring in leftovers and the fact that we pushed ourselves to finish a few things just to finish them). So the real per head price would be closer to $30/head. Either way, a fantastic deal for the quality and quantity (I don’t believe any of the adults ate dinner that night).

Alright, what’s next from the Twin Cities? The missus is still going to be out of town this coming weekend but the boys and I will probably go out to eat Mexican food in St. Paul. I’d like to go somewhere we have not been before and am eyeing Taqueria Los Paisanos on 7th Street. If you’ve been and would endorse or redirect—or just have a strong recommendation of someplace else—please write in below by Friday.